The picture says it all. Weston Noble, my choral director at Luther and now directing the Carthage Choir, came to Holy Communion’s second service yesterday. He’s had several invitations, but he has been out of town for quite a few weekends – and on a couple of other occasions he has been invited to other churches. But finally it happened yesterday- and no, it wasn’t exactly scary, but it certainly got my heart pumping a little harder than normal.
I told the Senior Choir at Thursday night’s rehearsal that he was very likely coming Sunday, in the hopes that everyone would be on the top of their game- and also that everyone would get there if at all possible. And it worked- I had four sopranos, six altos, five tenors, and three basses- which is close to a full complement and probably the biggest turnout I’ve had all fall. (I’ve got a wonderful group of singers, but they are busy people with other obligations, so I basically never have a Full House on hand. So it was nice to have such a big turnout on such a big day.)
Originally, I was going to pick him up and bring him – which would probably have been a bad idea in that I would have been so high strung that I would have probably driven the car right into a telephone pole. Plus driving him there would probably have made me even more acutely aware of the immensity of the moment. Fortunately, Steve Smith offered to be the chauffeur which allowed me to devote my energies to staying calm, which proved to be more than a full time job!
It was good that we weren’t singing some 12-part Thomas Tallis motet. . . just a couple of Berg specials, with a third thrown in as a little bonus. We did my Amazing Grace arrangement, which I know he likes – plus my setting of Psalm 46 (based on the melody to ‘Jesus Loves Me’) and my setting of Micah 6:8 – “What is it that the Lord desires, but that we love kindness, do justice, and walk humbly with our God” – in a very chant-like style. I was especially proud of the last one because the choir sang like they’d just got back from the monastery . . . very smooth, very blended.
As fun as it was to have my church choir singing with the great Weston Noble in the room, and as nice as it was to hear his compliments afterwards, I think in some ways my favorite part of the morning was just watching him interact so warmly with the good folks of Holy Communion. Mr. Noble has this truly exceptional gift for connecting with people he’s just met – listening to them as though every word really matters and treating people with such grace and class. Pictured above is Mr. Noble talking with one of my tenors, Ken Harris, who was sharing with him his recollections of having heard Nordic sing in Milwaukee a few years back. It was also fun to watch Mr. Noble chat with Pastor Jeff – who’s someone else with that same gift for connecting so easily with people he’s just met. (A valuable talent for a pastor to have.) The Lutheran world is actually a rather small world and the two of them had all kinds of mutual acquaintances to talk about, and it was fun to eavesdrop a bit.
Then, and also at brunch afterwards with my wife and Steve Smith, I found myself marveling at Mr. Noble’s mental clarity. His memory for names and dates and facts is astonishing – as is his continuing appetite for new experiences. And his sense of humor is, if anything, sharper than it’s ever been. Mentally I have never met anyone who wears 85 as effortlessly as he does. And I believe that if anything he is sharper today, November 12th, than he was on August 12th. Such has been the impact of his work with the Carthage Choir. He has been so great for them- and they are so great for him. This whole venture may go down in history as one of the great Win-Win situations of all time.