Blending Voices, Blending Faith

In our church we have no musical instruments, only the beautifully blended voices of our congregation. During each service we sing five songs and almost always, during one of those five songs, I stop singing in order to listen to the beautiful sound of all the other voices rising to the high ceiling of our meeting place.

Lately I have found myself praying as I rejoin the singing. My prayer is that my voice be according to the will of God, free of affectation, with no thought of how I sound to others but with my heart filled with the words and meaning of the songs and with a joy in the blessings of God those songs represent. Perhaps everyone in our congregation sometimes words this same prayer in their heart, because while some of us are good singers and some of us aren’t, the blend is always beautiful. They say oil and water does not mix; but if you sing with a voice as smooth as oil and I in a thin watery quaver, God can make our voices blend into a beautiful tone.

I thought about this after singing concluded this past Sunday and I found myself wondering if this might be a metaphor for what people of faith are able to do in the world. Perhaps a few faithful folks, aided by the mind of God, can walk through the flood of humanity and improve the entire world. As I pray to God for harmony in song, I will henceforth pray that my faith and belief may somehow be added to those in the world who do not know God and in some way influence them to come to Him.