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| “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” |
| —Romans 15:5-6 |
Have you ever sung in a really good choir?
I am grateful that Myra Parkhurst, the choir director at my home church, allowed me to join the adult choir when I was still only in eighth grade. I learned so much from those rehearsals and from singing in worship on Sunday morning and Sunday evening. And yes, in those days we had worship services both in the morning and evening on Sundays.
I also am grateful to F. Hamer Campbell, Sr., who taught public school music in seventh and eighth grade. He introduced his classes to opera. In fact, we studied Bizet’s Carmen. I still greatly enjoy the storytelling of the great operas. And, that introduction also led me to study the plays of Shakespeare—another experience for which I remain very grateful.
I owe yet another debt of gratitude to William Brocklebank, who directed the high school chorus at Bradford Area High School. I only was able to fit chorus into my schedule during my senior year. But, again, I learned so much from Mr. Brocklebank. He graciously selected me to attend the District Chorus and later the Pennsylvania Regional Chorus. It was there that I experienced the great joy of singing with a large number of musicians, far more musically talented than I am.
In my three 12-month years as a student at Houghton College, I only had the opportunity to sing in an ensemble—The Oratorio Society—for one year. I did have the distinct privilege of sitting next to applied music major C Thomas Brooks, Jr., who became a very dear life-long friend, best man at my wedding, and later served for many years as the chair of the Music Department at Gordon College in Massachusetts. Again, I was far out-classed as a musician, but greatly enjoyed being a part of an ensemble with well over 100 members.
As an adult, I have sung in many church choirs, including one directed by my wife, Shirley, another directed by Tom Brooks, and yet another one directed by Steven Skinner.
My point in recalling this walk through my vocal musical history is that the sound of blended voices, singing as if they had but one voice, is a very powerful force.
The Apostle Paul obviously knew this fact, even though we don’t know very much about his own musical ability. Notice what he wrote as a very hopeful and prayerful Benediction, as recorded in Romans 15:5-6:
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God intends His children to have one mind and one voice in praising Him. We need to remember that, as we start another day.
We must put aside our petty differences and lay our grudges against each other at the feet of our Lord. Only when we can allow the Holy Spirit to make us of one mind and one voice will we be able to secure our destiny as ambassadors of the Great King, Jesus.
