Organ Delight

Jason and I started the Master of Church Music program the same year. We have sweated through classes and exams and papers at various times, shared concerns, compared notes. Jason is an organ major, but I have never really heard him play.

Tonight is his concert. I am happy to be able to hear him play. Having taken organ literature, I feel as if I know some small bit of information about the skill required to understand the complicated registrations, the necessity of being knowledgeable about the various eras and composers, the complexity of operating both hands and both feet in coordination.

We gather at 7:30 in eager anticipation. Its challenging to attend an organ recital since the pews face forward, but the console is at the back of the chapel. We cannot watch him play. We can only hear him. And hear him I do. I am amazed that I have known this gentleman for 7 years and had no idea how amazing of a musician he is!

There is nothing better to me than Bach bathed in the brilliance of stained glass or Cesar swimming and swirling in the silver silence of semi-dusk. What a confection of delight the music exuded. I was enraptured, gazing up at the ceiling of the convent chapel with the marble columns bathed in the reds and blues of sun streaming through the stained glass windows.

In the pew in front of me sat a family. There was a Mom, a young girl of about ten, and a boy about four or five. The girl had a coloring book and was respectfully engaged in her chosen activity, sitting silently, so well behaved. The young boy was fidgeting and wriggling, laying down, swinging his feet, whispering loudly.

One half expected the Mother to reach out and shush the boy, forcing him to endure the concert with little consideration for his feelings and preferences. But that is not what she did. She reached for him (my mind said, 'he's gonna get it now') and instead of reprimanding, she enfolded him in her arms and kissed him warmly on the head, cuddling and rocking him gently.

Instead of making a scene, the boy responded by wrapping his arms about his Mother's neck, his face grinning. He had just become the focus of her attention and he was eating it up. She whispered in his ear and soon, the young man had settled down, quieted, safe in knowing his Mom was not expecting him to sit like a stone for hours enduring something not his choice.

No tears. No having to get up and cart the kid out. No arguing. No disruptions. Just a simple acknowledgement that a young boy is not suited to an hour of organ recital and should not be expected to take it like a man. Here is a Mom who truly understands her children and is reasonable and trustworthy in what she asks of them.

Mom got to enjoy the concert, and so did the rest of us. I closed my eyes and continued to be blessed by the fabulous music Jason spun into the air. So worth staying for. Or coming for! Many classmates from years before drove up for the recital, supporting their friend and comrade, enjoying his music, cheering him on. Family at its best.