July 6 – "Live in Harmony With One Another"

A group of young people once visited the Abbey, a vocal group of thirty or so voices. They had been trained to the point of musical exquisite-ness, and the concert they gave was unforgettable.

When they sang of the rain, the nuns could hear the first little drops falling on the roof and then the crescendo of the storm. When they sang of the sunset, their voices sank over the horizon and darkness could be “heard.” Their happy songs made the heart rejoice, and their songs of trial and oppression were deeply moving.

All of this was resultant of harmony and control. One voice could sing one note in the midst of a swelling of chorus, and it would be heard as it was meant to be, soft and sweet, or clear and ringing, like a bell.

An unforgettable experience.

So will be the effect of the church in every nation when she begins to practice that kind of harmony. These young people were intent upon their director like no musical ensemble ever before observed. They had to be. Music is fluid, and voices and timing are never exact. Their performance, however, was the epitome of precision, because they watched and exactly obeyed their director, and they listened to one another, that every individual voice would be perfectly harmonized with the others, perfectly modulated, whether in concert with all the others or rising above or sinking below.

Yes, sometimes certain voices sang soft songs below the other voices, taking a humble stanza; that was perhaps, the most unique and exhilarating sound of all.


"Ring Out the News!"
photo by Kerry