This is a difficult time for many of us — being forced to stay home, unable to see those we love and cherish. And for choir members — who usually gather in person to connect through song — this can be an especially difficult time. Because of this, we’ve decided to offer some support.
Every two weeks, we will add a prayer written with choirs specifically in mind. Read them aloud to yourself and share them with your fellow choir members. It is our sincere hope that the poetic entries below, written by Jeanne Hunt, will instill hope and confidence in your faith community.
August 5, 2020
"Oh, Thomas"
Good and Gracious God,
These days after Easter remind us that even the best
of us have our doubts.
Our choir is a smaller version of your Church,
We experience the same highs and lows in these seats
as in the rest of the pews.
When we are overcome with disbelief, sadness over loss,
or even just the blues...
Remind us of Thomas who let the darkness get the
best of him.
In this Eastertide may we have faith in your presence.
Let us sing as if we know for sure that our Redeemer lives,
lives in our music,
lives in the parish,
lives in every moment of our life.
Amen.
June 26, 2020
"Sometimes I Feel like a Sad Song"
O Lord,
When your story is a sad one,
when your mother’s heart is pierced,
Your disciples abandon you,
Lazarus has died and his sisters grieve…
We sing a hymn of quiet tears.
Adagio is a comfort in the strangest way.
We learn through our music that resting in the rhythm
of the solemn heart brings healing and peace.
Our gift to you in sorrow is to trust
That the slow, dark tones of a sad song
have goodness,
a truth all their own.
Allow this sad song to be a quiet grace
that betrays the Paschal mystery.
Hope, rebirth often begins with a somber beginning.
Amen.
June 11, 2020
"Be Still"
God of silence, teach us to appreciate the rest,
a moment of stillness in our music when all our
voices become united in a soundless breath.
May we not be impatient to sing again.
Teach us to take the rest as a call to be mindful of silence.
The pause leads us to anticipate,
relish,
what came before and what will come after the quiet.
It is as important as any sound we make.
It can be the calm before the storm or the peace after
the onset of joy.
In this choir, let us see the space between the notes
as alive with contrast and expectation.
And so, it is with our lives; in the stillness we hear you,
when all is silent you lead us more deeply into
your Spirit.
Stillness allows us be near to you and hear your voice.
In music, the stillness becomes heavy with your presence
enhancing the sound to come.
You bring us through the mountains of song and the rest
beside still waters.
Bringing us to understand that both are a necessary grace.
Amen.
May 27, 2020
"A Well-Earned Rest"
O Gentle Maestro,
Let us learn to take a sit with you.
Our music is not all about movement and sound.
Sometimes the best sound is no sound.
Stillness, silence, a hush.
In that pause between,
you meet us to refresh the wind within,
to return our spirits from tension to resting.
A rest is more than a musical pause,
it is an invitation to stop,
to anticipate what is coming,
to let go of what has been.
May this musical sign
remind us to do the same with our souls.
Teach us to take time out to rest with you,
to pray our prayers,
to see you in the sunset.
For good music takes good souls.
Souls that know how to take a sit with God.
Amen.
Find more beautiful prayers like this in Jeanne Hunt’s Choir Prayers, Volume 3.