“When morning gilds the skies, my heart awaking cries, May Jesus Christ be praised. Alike at work and prayer to Jesus I repair, May Jesus Christ be praised! Be this, while life is mine, my canticle divine, May Jesus Christ be praised! Be this th’eternal song through all the ages long, May Jesus Christ be praised!” (translated from an anonymous German hymn by Edward Caswall).
I was eight years old when I sang this hymn in church. I practiced it for weeks; I was prepared. I think I did a pretty good job until the last verse, when I choked. I literally got no sound out. It was a pattern which repeated itself every time I played or sang a solo, and to this day, the idea of public performance terrifies me. I have accompanied musicians on the piano and organ, and always make some unforeseen error somewhere, usually known only to me, but as a perfectionist, it spoils the performance in my sight. There, I’ve admitted it.
However, music is one of my passions. I’ve faced that fear more times than I’d like to admit. Auditions, solo and ensemble competitions, quartet singing, you name it. I have a music minor and completed all the coursework to teach except for applied music classes. In retrospect, working with those wonderful professors could have cured this phobia. One outstanding woman, Mrs. Baufmann tried. She provided me voice lessons and pushed me way beyond where I thought I could go. Bless her for that. But mine is a deep-seated stage fright no one to this day has chased from my personality. It haunts me to this day.
It’s ironic that I was determined my children would not suffer from this malady. They are both outstanding musicians, mastering violin and cello and teaching others to play, to develop their talents, and to participate in competitions where they perform for large audiences. They’ve achieved where I have failed. It is their calling; obviously it is not my gift.
Nonetheless, I have enjoyed conducting choirs, singing in choruses and choirs, and supporting the arts in church, school, community, and serving as a patron of choruses and orchestras. I’ve sung with great groups, even at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, and with the Philadelphia Symphony and Space Coast Symphony. What a joy.
So, humbly, I consecrate these words, the message which is the important part, and recognize that even a broken vessel like me can carry the thought forward, hopeful that others will be blessed by my efforts. And so, this morning, I raise the hope that this message, unblemished, will speak to you, Reader, and it is my prayer, to the world: “Ye nations of mankind, in this your concord find, May Jesus Christ be praised! Let all the earth around ring joyous with the sound, May Jesus Christ be praised!”
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