Any day without road rage is a good day- but today was in fact a marvelous day. It began with church, which included the fun of being assisting minister (deputizing for my wife) – and connecting for a precious few moments with Nick Barootian, a former student who was back in town for the weekend. We played phone tag, exchanged about eight words and a quick hug during second service, and then actually chatted on the phone for three minutes before he had to head back to the Twin Cities. Better than nothing.
And then came a lovely afternoon at Carthage with the 34th annual Alumni Recital. I had the pleasure of accompanying the alumni choir, under Weston Noble’s direction- and also of accompanying Andrew Geocaris for his really impressive euphonium solo. Best of all was another performance with Musici Amici – Musical Friends – alums who sang under my direction in the Chamber Singers. After several requests to do so, I put them on today’s alumni recital singing my arrangement of “Amazing Grace.” As luck would have it, several different people who sang on the big How Sweet the Sound concert in June were unable to be there today – but the silver lining to that was that it allowed for some other singers to join in the fun. My thanks to Melanie Mills Taylor, Megan Dieschbourg, Sarah Gorke, Erin Gaffaney, Jennifer Cobb, Katie Nagao, Eric Leitzen, Rob Goldsmith, Nick Sluss-Rodionov, Justin Maurer and Anthony Gullo for singing so beautifully! (I was thrilled to see that Jamie Wilson was recording today’s concert, and I’m hoping that the recording will demonstrate that the performance was as good as it felt at the time.)
One wonderful surprise in the afternoon was that as I was slipping out for a little fresh air and a chat with Steve Smith, who had come for part of the concert, up walked Crystal Steinberg, who had been our intern at Holy Communion and who had such a strong impact on our congregation. (She was there to do some research at the Hedberg Library.) A few moments later, Kathy came tearing out of Siebert, having just caught sight of Crystal and SO thrilled to see her for the first time since her farewell celebration back in the spring. The two of them had a nice talk and this has to rank with one of the sweetest surprises we’ve had in a long time.
As they talked, I went back to Siebert and settled in to enjoy the Alumni Band under the direction of my good friend and boss, Jim Ripley. They played three nice pieces, but it was the third that was truly splendid. . . Ron Nelson’s “Mayflower Overture.” It’s a depiction of the Mayflower’s voyage to North America and of the Pilgrim’s entrance into this scary but splendid new land. The piece climaxed with a soaring rendition of “Praise God from whom all blessings flow” which was such an ideal way to end the concert and this homecoming weekend. Because once you have sung great music and reunited with old friends and been transported to another sphere, one has to feel richly and even absurdly blessed.
And then – as if to drive the point home – I found myself crossing paths with a homeless person later in the day. It was about 4:30 and I was back at Holy Communion to close up after a Racine Theater Guild rehearsal – and a woman was there looking for help for herself and her husband. They were in rather desperate need for some money to get gas and food – and perhaps a place to stay, or they would be sleeping in their beat up car that night. I did what I could (which wasn’t too much, I’m sad to say) and then as I walked her back to her car, I saw her husband – a heavy-set guy whose skin was covered by some kind of terrible rash or skin deformity. He was sitting on the front steps of the church – waiting for his wife and hoping (I’m sure) that she was coming back with good news. As I watched them walk to their beat up car, with about three dollars in change from me and some phone numbers for more help, it threw the blessedness of the day into even sharper relief and brought some lyrics from “Mercy and Love” to mind-
“Lord, help me always be
grateful for the blessings you have given me.
And Lord, help me thank you not in just the words I say
but in how I live and give in each and every day.”
pictured: Dr. Jim Ripley leading the Alumni Band in the aforementioned “Mayflower Overture” and that stirring finale based on the doxology. It was enough to make me wish that I’d learned a band instrument way back when.