A QUESTION OF FAITH

With Rev Angela Tarry of St Mary’s in Hinckley

I have recently joined a choir. There are two main reasons for this: first, I enjoy singing; second, someone asked me.

When I agreed I had no idea what I was letting myself in for. As if learning the music and singing the high notes wasn’t hard enough, half of the time we’re singing in Latin! I have found myself well and truly outside of my comfort zone: my brain is desperately trying to read music and unrecognisable words at the same time.

Sometimes it succeeds first time. However, more often than not I fail, but am finding that I improve with practice. The more I sing something, the more likely I am to hit the right notes and to sing the right words.

Being a Christian is a little bit like learning to sing. It can very be enjoyable at times, but it can also be hard work, and we all make mistakes along the way. There are always new things to learn about God, just as there are always new pieces of music.

It’s often reported that St Augustine once said “to sing is to pray twice”. Whether that’s true or not, when I hear good singing I can understand something of what he might have meant. Singing engages my brain and emotions in a way that nothing else seems to do. When we sing it’s impossible to concentrate fully on anything else.

And if when we sing we are praising God, then in those moments of song, God has our full attention: we are fully present with Him as He is always present to us.

But what about bad singing, and people who can’t sing, I hear you ask? A friend of mine freely admits that he cannot sing well. Ironically, he has been living in a monastery where during their prayers they sing three times a day. In this monastery he tells me that the singing is particularly poor, and he does not improve it.

Yet, he also says that when they sing to God, however poor the sound may be, what is sung from the heart is what gives the music its beauty: they sing with all that they are and offer it to God in song. And through their singing together they are all drawn closer together in love and friendship.

So if you’ve not sung for a while, or think you can’t sing well, why not give it a go?

And pray to God at the same time with all your heart. It may not be easy, or sound perfect, but God who always listens to us will hear your praise and prayers.