Our church did not make a habit of inviting open prayers from the congregation but with a succession of priests that has been changing. Many of us find that this broadens our worship.
When asked “For what are we grateful?” I often defaulted to “family and friends” sometimes being more specific as when we were blessed with our first grandchild or when a friend unexpectedly happened to be there at the right time such as prior to surgery.
I just recently realized how grateful I am for the gift of music. I have held a corner in the bass section of our smallish choir for several years. Recently we have been blessed with a larger number of basses but not so many tenors. My first efforts in that area drew a comment of “no tenors would be better than almost tenors.” I learned a little more about vocal technique and took a closer look at the range of our many hymns and anthems. Sometimes I get it and sometimes I don’t. I count it as a gift when I can as there is just no other explanation
Recently we sang the beautiful Thomas Atwood setting of Psalm 119 "Teach me O Lord the way of thy Statutes." The tenor line floats like a trumpet descant through the other parts. Thursday’s rehearsal earned me a thank you and my voice stayed with me through Sundays warm up and worship service as well.
Dear God, thank you for your gift of music.
