Our spring thoughts went swiftly to thoughts of home, gathering at home for the holidays, and going home. But, we went pretty deep into what home is and where home is. Family, and more specifically for most of us, mother makes home. The Beatles had us thinking about how family isn't always a warm embrace for everyone. People can feel lonely at home when they they don't meet expectations, their authentic selves are not acceptable. This is a big theme in my work on inclusivity in the church. And, we also talked about the landscape of Ontario feeling like home, or how some specific "country roads" will take you home. We marvelled at how songs can mean different things at different times, how we hear different things, and how talking about them makes them so much more meaningful. This is something I remember discussing at my old Book Club, about reading. I wonder if you've had that experience too, a book club. Singing together and then puzzling over the messages and t...
Our Spring theme continued, and it was more about change and life this time. Celestial events, and moons and stars took a small role. It was a rainy day, so we started with Blame it on the Rain, and only remembered the chorus, and the short bridge: I can't, I can't, I can't, can't stand the rain! Useful lyrics. We talked about how the world can shrink down to 2 people sometimes, and then the rest of the world can be a nuisance. Change the World reminded us of Rewrite the Stars.When you're in them, life's changes feel so big sometimes. Then we remember that it's mostly just seasons we're going through from childhood to old age, same as it's always been. We don't really want to be forever young, do we. And, what's next is something we need to go through. And then, we're told that there could be life everlasting, there is eternal light, eternal rest. We saw that pop songs are easier to sing than John Stainer (even for choir folk). And, we...