The Soft Sing-a-long

I have always been a fan of church choirs.  I have never had any minister of music invite me to join, or even do a sing-a-long.  Not sure why.  What some of them did not know is that I often sang along without permission.  As I sat in the pulpit chair listening to the choir right over my shoulder, I would often sing along with them.  True, I sang softly.  I made no big production out of my singing with them.  Sometimes I just could not help myself.  There have been many times when I thought the choral director should at the end turn around to face the congregation and invite everyone to sing it again with the choir.   

Church choirs, of course, come in different sizes and shapes, and have different degrees of musical skills.  Though there are some, none of the choirs in the churches I served required an audition, or offered payment to exceptional singers.  All the singers were volunteers who were exercising what I perceived to be a spiritual gift.  A few may have made the choral director cringe, but they were all offering praise to God which is what I saw myself doing from the pulpit chair.  

What I must confess is that I still do very soft sing-a-longs from the pew with choirs on some Sunday mornings.  The music and the singing just lifts my spirit in such a way, it is impossible not to offer my voice along with theirs in praise to God.  Some folks raise their hands, or say "Amen!"  I just sing softly hoping no one can really hear me, but God.  After all, He is why we gather to sing.  He is our real audience which is why on those rare moments when someone showed up at choir practice who could not carry a tune in a bucket and the choral director wanted to do something which might persuade them not to sing, I was always in their corner.  No one who wants to praise God with the voice God has given them should be denied the opportunity.  Even me!