Grace Cathedral

Dear Friends,

As I write to you I can hear the clanging of a cable car bell, the splashing of streams of water in the plaza fountain, and recorded traditional Chinese music accompanying tai chi practitioners. The organ has fallen silent like a midsummer Maundy Thursday observance and each colleagues’ step seems a little more pronounced against this backdrop. 

This relative quiet comes as some of my nearest collaborators have decamped to The Bishop’s Ranch with 38 young choristers. Pastoral scenery, yes, but a far cry from monastic silence. And yet: in my avocational relationship to singing, I’ve learned that before anyone can sing, they must listen — to both anticipate the sound that will be produced, as well as take in the auditory environment. They also need to hear within themselves. So I wonder: what will those boys learn to listen to, what do they learn to hear?

Also, before anyone can sing, they must also breathe. Our voices, part of human bodies consisting of as much as 60% water, are nevertheless wind instruments. To produce a beautiful sound, the breath has to support the voice, and move freely through the body. I imagine that as they learn to sing, they become more sensitive to what is moving through them, but also more versed in letting it pass. I imagine they know at a visceral level that the biggest source of strength is also invisible to the naked eye.

We can sing and experience this for ourselves. But even if we don’t sing — at least not in public! — these are good operating principles for our life together, and at work in the church around us. 

In the cathedral context, we offer an annual survey, so that the Dean, Chapter and Clergy have a regular time to hear back from the congregation, about how you engage, what you value most, and what you hope for the future. It’s a fascinating exercise, and always yields helpful feedback. We’ll hear the results of that survey in the annual Town Hall Meeting, this year on Sunday, August 25, 9:30 am in the Nave.

In the diocesan context, in his first pastoral letter, Bishop Rios has asked us to participate in a time of listening to one another as part of a strategic visioning process. This process will inform strategic and practical decisions, but it is also a pathway to trust, healing, and all of the intangibles that make for a rich common life. We are all invited to take part in one of these four sessions.

As you give feedback, and as you listen and hear, I invite you to let it move through you like the brush of the Holy Spirit, like wind and breath, meant to support us, propel us forward, refresh and animate our lives… and also sweep us up in a song not of our own making.

See you in church,
Anna