Summertime

With strains of George Gershwin's famous aria in my head, I look at the summer weeks ahead and wonder: For how many of us will "the livin' be easy"? It seems that we manage to fill up our lives with activities regardless of the season. And though those activities are a change from the "normal," they may not be a chage of pace.

With the Chancel Choir finally joining the ranks of College Church musical groups now on summer hiatus, I find that a significant part of my weekly calendar is freed up for other important projects. Will I approach them with at least the same purposefulness and joy that I use for choir rehearsals during the school year? How will this change of focus affect the pace of my work week?

More importantly, how will the change from normal, and the potential change of pace, prove useful to the church and her musicians? Will this summer matter when things pick back up at the beginning of the school year? Will I be better equipped, refreshed for fresh starts, and raring to go in late August? Hey, good questions! Would you pray about those things, for me and for yourselves as well?

I normally take summers off from writing this column in "Knowing the Score," but try to keep musicians informed about events and prayer needs via weekly email. This summer I want to briefly update this space weekly, along with the Prayer Column. I won't be writing while on vacation. And I won't go very "deep" in this column! But because our work does not stop for the summer, I'll keep checking up on it on Wednesdays.

Sing on!