When I’m not writing this blog, baking cakes or fawning over ducks, I also run a community choir. It’s an informal group who enjoy singing together. We welcome anyone that would like to be part of the choir, no prior experience needed. We don’t audition people, we aim to accept people as they are and help them to grow a little. Or at least, be a space where they can feel welcome, where they can belong and, most importantly, have fun.
I wasn’t a founding member of this choir, I joined when it was a few months old. That was in 2014. We are still going. We must be doing something right because people keep coming back! And we have grown. I am reliably informed that when they started, there was a handful of people sitting in a circle singing ‘Three Blind Mice’. Before the pandemic, we had around 40 people, and we were singing ‘The Rhythm of Life’ and ‘Happy’. We restarted properly in January, sang a concert at Guildford Cathedral in February, and are now learning some new songs.
What’s the point of this? We run a no pressure policy. The concerts are an added extra, a bonus to give us something to work to. But the focus is on being a place where people can come on a Thursday, and leave feeling better. There’s no pressure to do performances if you don’t want to. There’s no pressure to come every week. You can turn up when you want/need to and know you will be welcome. We sing a mixture of songs, some everyone will know and be able to sing along with, and some that will stretch the singers and give us a sense of achievement when we master it.
And there we reach the point. At tonight’s rehearsal, we were able to welcome someone back we haven’t seen for a while. And they were welcomed back. Smiles, waves, general catch-up questions… It is a privilege to stand up front of that wonderful bunch of people.
Feeling like you belong is a powerful thing. It shows you that you aren’t alone, that there is somewhere you can go and be accepted for who you are. It gives you a refuge in hard times, somewhere to celebrate in good times and a group of people who will be glad to see you, no matter how much time has passed.
I struggled with this, I’ve written about that before (I think). But the bible has something to say about this.
I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me – just as the Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd
John 10: 14-16
What I observe with the choir, the way people welcome and accept each other, is what I interpret God’s flock to be like. There is a personal choice to come or not, but as we’ve explored before in the prodigal son parable, making the choice to come back will equal a welcome from God. And knowing it is there, knowing there is somewhere we belong, is a comfort, at least to me. Loneliness and isolation are only fleeting, because God’s flock is forever and we will always belong there.
The Reason for my Hope Blog 