The other day I got into the car to drive for an errand and caught a portion of an interview with a person talking about how we can overcome looking at those we disagree with in simply stereotype ways and instead see them as complex human beings. When pushed for concrete examples of actions we can take, they said “sing every day and dance once a week for the next six months.” I was surprised by this answer! But she went on to say that we must learn to get in touch with our own emotions, our own bodies, and singing and dancing help ground us. She said that when we interact with someone who causes our gut to hurt, or our heart to race, or our arms to clench, we need to be able to identify the emotion behind that feeling, and then respond from a recognition of how we are feeling instead of a reaction to those feelings. I was intrigued by the interview, and wished that I had caught the whole thing.
Sing every day and dance once a week. Singing and dancing are actually known to reduce stress, to build and foster community, to help people feel connected. We are one of the few cultures that has little singing in the public sphere, that has many people saying “I can’t sing” and that has left singing to the professionals. The Episcopal Church come out of the English Choral tradition, a long history of singing in four-part harmony, singing as one and needing the diversity of the various parts to make beautiful music. Singing is good for the soul; singing is also good for the body.
Sing to the Lord a new song, it is not just a call to do something new, it is a call to sing! I often think that the “new song” I sing is the same words and tune but in a new day, and so the song is new again every morning. The song might in fact be new, because the new day has its own joys and challenges, but it might also be new because ancient words are brought to new life in current situations.
How are you being invited to sing today? How are you being invited to sing to the Lord a new song? How might we throw off the shackles of “I can’t sing” and embrace the joy that singing a new song brings? And perhaps we can see that question as also metaphor asks about more than literal singing! Maybe as we enter into Lent, a good disciple to embrace is to sing every day and dance once a week!
In a world of increasing polarization, disdain, and contempt for others, let the songs we sing be one of compassion and love. Let the songs we sing be ones of joy and lament, celebration and sorrow. We do not need to ignore the realities of our day, but we can frame them through the lens of Jesus, we can address them through the call to love. So let us sing, and let us dance, and let us stay rooted and grounded in love.
Faithfully,
+Gretchen