Curling Your Ears Around Peace
On Sunday evening, November 17th, 2013, I attended a concert at Trinity-St. Paul's United Church on Bloor Street in Toronto. It is located in the Annex neighbourhood that began at the turn of the 20th century and has long been an interesting mix of people many of whom have or have had associations with the nearby University of Toronto. Trinity-St. Paul's has served music in a distinguished fashion, being the home venue for the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, arguably more illustrious than its older sister the TSO. The church has been undergoing some acoustic adjustments and the concert on Sunday night benefited for sure.
Last year I was approached by one of our long-time priests to see if I was interested in curling. He told me about an interfaith curling league encompassing the perennial first-line of religious jokes, rabbis, priests and ministers. I had played a couple seasons in seminary 25 years earlier. Last year I was a "sub". This year I've graduated to being a "lead". Being a lead in curling is not as glorious as being a lead on the stage. Like a liturgical procession, the more distinguished personages come later.
Just as the season was getting underway an announcement was made as we did our warmup stretches. A concert was being prepared and our congregations' choirs were being invited to participate. Some seven congregations ultimately did. The concert's theme was to be "peace". Coming the weekend following Remembrance Day this was well-timed. A piece was commissioned by the curling group -- yes, you read that right! It was composed by one of our curling rabbis, Cory Weiss, in memory of a minister who had been active in Christian-Jewish dialogue and curling, who died suddenly last year.
We had involvement from the Catholic world through the kind ministrations of Dr. Sean Mulrooney who is on the faculty of Regis College at the Toronto School of Theology.
The music was beautiful and moving and most of all because of the up-close experience we had with one another. The space is reasonably small and performers and audience could really see each other. Perhaps nothing speaks of human friendship more than singing together and it is hard to listen to much choral music without recognizing that it does bind us together somehow.
The commissioned piece was the finale and it was sung by all the choirs and participants massed together. The evening was a sign that holy conversation happens in creative ways and perhaps this is a great way to change at least some of the conflict in our world.
Last year I was approached by one of our long-time priests to see if I was interested in curling. He told me about an interfaith curling league encompassing the perennial first-line of religious jokes, rabbis, priests and ministers. I had played a couple seasons in seminary 25 years earlier. Last year I was a "sub". This year I've graduated to being a "lead". Being a lead in curling is not as glorious as being a lead on the stage. Like a liturgical procession, the more distinguished personages come later. Just as the season was getting underway an announcement was made as we did our warmup stretches. A concert was being prepared and our congregations' choirs were being invited to participate. Some seven congregations ultimately did. The concert's theme was to be "peace". Coming the weekend following Remembrance Day this was well-timed. A piece was commissioned by the curling group -- yes, you read that right! It was composed by one of our curling rabbis, Cory Weiss, in memory of a minister who had been active in Christian-Jewish dialogue and curling, who died suddenly last year.
We had involvement from the Catholic world through the kind ministrations of Dr. Sean Mulrooney who is on the faculty of Regis College at the Toronto School of Theology.
The music was beautiful and moving and most of all because of the up-close experience we had with one another. The space is reasonably small and performers and audience could really see each other. Perhaps nothing speaks of human friendship more than singing together and it is hard to listen to much choral music without recognizing that it does bind us together somehow.
The commissioned piece was the finale and it was sung by all the choirs and participants massed together. The evening was a sign that holy conversation happens in creative ways and perhaps this is a great way to change at least some of the conflict in our world.
