[Oe List ...] MORE ON SINGING

[Carol Crow]

What a great idea!  I'd love to hear more about this as it evolves!

In Community,
Carol


On Jul 4, 2009, at 3:00 PM, David & Lin Zahrt wrote:

> The Dialogue about singing—
>
> I believe singing is an essential ingredient in community life.  
> Some of you may recall 4 of us graced the presence of the 2000  
> Reunion in Vail with a Barbershop Quartet. I solicited and found 3  
> others who were ready, willing, and able to do so. We hadn’t given  
> ourselves a name, and when we arrived at the Reunion we were asked  
> what we should be called. We decided the name should be In-Transit.
>
> Perhaps I’ve shared all of this with you before. In search of  
> meaningful singing I had tried Barbershop singing in Sioux City.  
> Finally I had to admit that it was too much ‘old-mood’. The Chorus  
> even sang a lot of theological pablum.
>
> Dick and Amelia Kroeger visited us several years ago. I shared our  
> B&B alternative table blessing with them. 2 weeks later we received  
> a book in the mail from them: A GRATEFUL HEART: Daily Blessings for  
> the Evening Meal from Buddha to the Beatles. I digress and will  
> come back to the book and its prayers.
>
> Four voices in careful harmony with each other create 5 to 6 tones— 
> the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. In an attempt to  
> share this kind of harmony I have a vision of a quartet that is  
> singing 20th Century metaphors about the demand to adopt a  
> lifestyle in concert with our environment and our society; a  
> lifestyle that is futuristically sustainable. The name I have in  
> mind for the quartet is The Meta-Fours.
>
> Because of the possibility of creating musical learning tapes the  
> members of the quartet could do their practicing in 4 separate  
> geographical locations. Once they had an engagement, they could  
> meet in advance on-site and polish up their presentation.
>
> My strong suit is the singing. I have a recording of my own  
> quartet. When I was 63 I asked the quartet with whom I was singing  
> to learn When I’m 64, so I could sing When I’m 64 when I’m 64. They  
> refused to work at it. So I learned all 4 parts, went to a local  
> recording studio, and put all four parts on a tape. The studio made  
> me a tape of my qurtet. The problem is there isn’t much market for  
> a one-man quartet.
>
> My weak suit is poetry. I’ve been intrigued by Wayne and Tim’s  
> capacity to wax poetic. Part of my problem may be the need to focus  
> on specific issue or issues. Of late I’ve begun to realize that a  
> topic very worthy of pursuit would be promoting peace—beginning  
> with neighborhoods, moving to states, nations and the globe.
>
> I return to A GRATEFUL HEART. One of my favorite prayers is found  
> on page 22. It is adapted from the Week of Prayer for World Peace,  
> 1978.
>
> We pray for the power to be gentle; the strength to be forgiving;  
> the patience to be understanding; and the endurance to accept the  
> consequences to holding to what we believe to be right.
>
>        May we put our trust in the power of good to overcome evil  
> and the power of love to overcome hatred. We pray for the vision to  
> see and the faith to believe in a world emancipated from violence,  
> a new world where fear shall no longer lead men to commit  
> injustice, nor selfishness make them bring suffering to others.
>
>        Help us to devote our whole life and thought and energy to  
> the task of making peace, praying always for the inspiration and  
> the power to fulfill the destiny for which we were created.
>
> I find this prayer inspiring and foundational. I remember Len  
> Hockley requesting help to establish a Federal Cabinet post labeled  
> Department of Peace. Maybe poeticizing this message is one of many  
> ways to develop the foundation for this Department. Perhaps I  
> should find out what part he sings.
>
> The jist of this is to put the message into poetry, put it to  
> popular and/or folk music, and start circulating the message. Then  
> be prepared to sing where ever we can get engagements: climate  
> change meetings; Blessed Unrest Assemblies; etc.
>
> David
>
> David & Lin Zahrt
> Country Homestead B&B
> 22133 Larpenteur Rd.
> Turin, IA 51040
> -- Doorway to the Loess Hills -
> <http://country-homestead.com>
> Where a change of pace is as good as a vacation, and a sense of  
> place is soothing to the soul.
> <chbnb at netins.net>
> Skype <loesshills>
>
>
>
>
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