(Each Saturday, a faith leader in Franklin County offers a personal perspective in this space. To become part of this series, email religion@recorder.com or call 413-772-0261, ext. 265.)
My eyes squint. Then, they widen — a lot. The shoulders relax. Right wrist flicks, while the left arm dangles. Perfect ictus. The soundless melody of Derek Weagle’s The Tempest floats from the right side of my brain to the left. I smile at the absent Dennis with his also-not-there clarinet.
I’m practicing my conducting of the A Natural Concert Band’s world premiere of Weagle’s piece, 359 days ago. (Yes, I did the math.) That’s what I do in my 20+ year career as a music educator. I also tell my students that practice does not make perfect. Practice does make, as many music professors have told me, “permanent.” Practice make permanent. Perfection is never achieved, except in the Holy Trinity.
I recently gave the United Church of Bernardston youngsters — and adults — an assignment: “Practice Christianity.”
As an educator, I cannot leave such a daunting task without some clarification. I explained that Christians follow Christ, our perfect model. For us to follow Him, we need to practice what He did. The children supplied a list of Christ’s actions: Loving everybody, feeding the hungry, helping people. A 5-year-old Sunday School student completed the list with “napping.” According to the youth, we need to practice our loving, feeding, and helping, to become the permanent followers of Christ. This takes a lot of effort; naps will be needed.
Practicing to become a better Christian is a wonderful concept; I wish I’d thought of it. A public school third-grader complained to me that a classmate wasn’t “practicing the Golden Rule.” My mouth stood agape as the youngster continued, “He keeps saying mean things about me. That’s not the way I want to be treated, and I don’t think he wants to be treated that way, either. He needs to practice being like Jesus more! We need to figure this out.” After my stunned silence, I answered something like, “Um … OK — let’s figure this out.”
We figured out the 9-year-old’s problem, which led me to ponder how to better practice being a Christian. The UCB kids had offered me a succinct list, but acting more like Jesus would take a lot longer. Unlike my undergrad practice list — which contained many different oboe pieces, how to conduct a soloist with an ensemble, and how to analyze harmonically Bach chorales — the How to Practice Being Christian list contained more difficult aspects of life.
My How to Practice Being Christian List:
Give thanks and rejoice in all God has given me.
Don’t worry. Trust that God will guide me.
Read Christian writings.
Help others.
Follow the Golden Rule. (Thank you, third-graders!)
Pray by myself and with others.
Tell others about Christ.
Feed the hungry.
Don’t judge.
Forgive. (I told you these are difficult aspects of life.)
Question what I know about Christ.
And, if there is one aspect Jesus taught us, Love.
This practice is made exponentially more difficult when Matthew 6:3 pops into the head. This famous quote declares, “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.”
Practice, but make sure nobody knows about it? I see how this scripture makes sense. I do, however, hope that there is a group of people who notices the practice. That group: the young! My son. Your children. The world’s children. Let your practice be seen by those who follow your lead — especially when you’re following Christ.
Now that I think about it, doing Schenkerian analysis on Dvorak’s late string quartets sounds quite simple.
I have plenty to practice. Some points on my list will be completed easily: pray, help, read. Others (Don’t judge. Forgive.) will need extra attention. Really, Paul McCartney and John Lennon summed up Christianity with, “All You Need Is Love.” There is no need to go for perfection; I know I would miss the mark dramatically. I will, however, practice so that my life is devoted to God and Christ. Permanently.
United Church of Bernardston is a United Methodist Church/United Church of Christ federation. We are located at 58 Church St. (Route 10). Our worship services are Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. (9:30 a.m. during the summer). We are a Reconciling Ministries Congregation (UMC classification) and Open and Affirming Church (UCC classification) who welcomes — invites, actually — all who want to continue in Christian growth. Many church members gather on a monthly basis for UCB Pub Talk, where we share in a meal and discuss Christ’s parables. To contact us, call 413-648-9306. We are online at unitedchurchofbernardston.org and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ucbernardston/