Soundtrack for Living -- FPC sermon excerpt
Threshold Choirs.
These are groups that sing at the bedsides of seriously ill people, many of whom are in the final stages of life. They sing a capella — without instrumental accompaniment — in homes, hospitals, and hospices. Their music comes from a 300-piece repertoire of songs and hymns, ranging from “Ave Maria” to “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.”
Started in the year 2000, there are now 35 chapters in a dozen states. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune (February 26, 2007), usually two or three members of a Threshold Choir gather at a bedside and sing a selection of songs. Says Kate Munger, the founder of this choral movement, “We think of these as lullabies for [people] on the way out.” People on the threshold between life and death.
When the singing starts, the face of the dying person often softens, and there is a sense of relaxation taking place. Kate Munger says that it’s often a comforting moment, as when a mother softly croons a lullaby at the end of a day — only in these cases, the lullaby comes at the end of a life.
Some of the people receiving this music are hooked up to monitors. Frequently, as the singing begins, the patient’s heartbeat steadies and their breathing becomes less labored. Once in a while, the patient actually recovers, and some of them credit the singing as playing a role in their healing. Clearly, this kind of singing can be a very comforting and healing gift to people who are facing death.
So Threshold Choirs provide people with a Soundtrack for Dying. But what about a Soundtrack for Living? That’s the job of our songs of faith.
To get a sense of that soundtrack, you can flip through a hymnal. You’ll find pieces about some very heavy themes: Sin, death, war, social ills, pain, and personal emptiness. But when you sing or read these hymns, you find that they are written from a perspective of faith, praise, thanksgiving, forgiveness, and spiritual affirmation.
That’s what our Christian Soundtrack for Living provides: A set of tunes that take the pain of life very seriously, but at the same time offer us a perspective of faith and spiritual affirmation — a perspective that can helps us to deal with our difficulties.
These are groups that sing at the bedsides of seriously ill people, many of whom are in the final stages of life. They sing a capella — without instrumental accompaniment — in homes, hospitals, and hospices. Their music comes from a 300-piece repertoire of songs and hymns, ranging from “Ave Maria” to “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.”
Started in the year 2000, there are now 35 chapters in a dozen states. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune (February 26, 2007), usually two or three members of a Threshold Choir gather at a bedside and sing a selection of songs. Says Kate Munger, the founder of this choral movement, “We think of these as lullabies for [people] on the way out.” People on the threshold between life and death.
When the singing starts, the face of the dying person often softens, and there is a sense of relaxation taking place. Kate Munger says that it’s often a comforting moment, as when a mother softly croons a lullaby at the end of a day — only in these cases, the lullaby comes at the end of a life.
Some of the people receiving this music are hooked up to monitors. Frequently, as the singing begins, the patient’s heartbeat steadies and their breathing becomes less labored. Once in a while, the patient actually recovers, and some of them credit the singing as playing a role in their healing. Clearly, this kind of singing can be a very comforting and healing gift to people who are facing death.
So Threshold Choirs provide people with a Soundtrack for Dying. But what about a Soundtrack for Living? That’s the job of our songs of faith.
To get a sense of that soundtrack, you can flip through a hymnal. You’ll find pieces about some very heavy themes: Sin, death, war, social ills, pain, and personal emptiness. But when you sing or read these hymns, you find that they are written from a perspective of faith, praise, thanksgiving, forgiveness, and spiritual affirmation.
That’s what our Christian Soundtrack for Living provides: A set of tunes that take the pain of life very seriously, but at the same time offer us a perspective of faith and spiritual affirmation — a perspective that can helps us to deal with our difficulties.
posted by Henry Brinton | 8:16 AM
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