Young Eyes Watching the Choir

The worship service was over.  Most of those in attendance had finished their after-church conversations and had made their way to their cars and were on their way to their next holy ritual, Sunday lunch.  Our choir gathered for a quick “right after church” rehearsal, a practice that lingers from the days of Covid restrictions.  As they began singing, the sound of their voices struck the ears of a little boy just outside the sanctuary, his family among the last to leave.  Just two years old, he is in a state of constant discovery.  He followed the sounds he heard into the sanctuary and stood very still in the aisle, transfixed by what he was seeing and hearing.  His grandmother had the presence of mind to save that moment and share it with us by taking a picture. 

 I look at this picture and wonder what my young friend is thinking and feeling as he watches a group of adults working together to praise God and proclaim the Good News.  I’d like to believe that his wide-eyed eavesdropping of choir rehearsal made a lasting spiritual impression upon him.  He doesn’t know how to read music or the meaning of many of the words the grownups sang.  But I hope he knows, in his two-year-old way, that people who love God have a song, that we combine our different voices to give that song richness and depth, and that we work together to share our song with excellence. 

Some of my earliest memories are of church.  I think those experiences shaped my heart and mind for God.  I’m glad my young friend is making church memories of his own.  I think every child deserves and needs that opportunity.