An Accounting

The chime choir has been faithfully practicing an arrangement of Joy to the World. Every week we have counted out the beats as we ring - 1 and 2 and a three and four and . . . At first, we would miss notes or get mixed up about just where our chime needed to ring. Joy to the World was more like Messed Up Choir.

Every week, we made progress. After a week we could play the first line fairly well, not falling apart until mid second line when the entrances fell off the beats. After three weeks, we played straight through measure 10 before we got lost. Then we could play everything except one or two measures that were tricky. Finally we got through the whole piece and every note was in place!

It was a marvelous accomplishment! We felt good about our song. But, knowing that we can't really count out loud for the performance in the service, this week we tried playing without counting out loud. Oh, my! It was as if we just couldn't figure out where we were.

We restarted a dozen times, bogging down quickly like we had never seen the music before. Even though we told ourselves to count in our heads, we continued to stumble at the most inopportune times. I could see how discouraging it was. Finally, we decided to listen to the music while we played and not get so caught up in counting.

After all, its a familiar carol. And there are little melodies of other familiar carols woven in here and there - a touch of Away in a Manger, Lo How a Rose, In the Bleak Mid-Winter. Once we knew what to listen for, things began to make sense. Our hard work with counting meant we knew the feel of ringing, the sense of when to come in, who would be playing before us, what to expect.

But our ears kept us together. Its much easier to think the melody of Joy to the World than to count 1and 2anda 3and4 and . . . We did much better after that. Sometimes I think that's how many things function. You practice until you know the feel, until the movements become automatic. But at some point you have to stop counting and listen with your heart. Then it comes together with beauty and grace.

Its probably time for me to stop practicing so hard and just start living. Perhaps I will give it a try.