The Cost of Kindness

I saw something yesterday that I was very proud of. Just proud to have seen it, just proud to have been there to experience it. Last night, the church I attend regularly had an evening of music shared by members of the congregation. This church is particularly strong in its music program of contemporary music, complete with an absolutely fantastic rock band. Occasionally at services, we have a guest band or singer from the congregation that is equally fantastic, so I was really looking forward to the program last night, thinking that it would be just as high a caliber as the rest of the music services. However, I will say that I did temper my enthusiasm a little, figuring that it was a non-audition type show.

The level of musicianship varied greatly through the show....from people who had performed before and made money at it, to people who just love this form of worship. I tend to agree with them in this, as there are songs that can express what simple unadorned words cannot. The range of music ran from acoustic folk to grunge rock (they were really excellent, even though that's not my genre of favor) to Chopin. One thing I noticed all the way through was the open encouragement from the audience. For particularly good acts, perhaps the enthusiasm was a little less restrained, but even for just passable acts there were cat calls and whistles of appreciation.

Then we got to the part that made me so proud. A young woman took the stage and began with a quiet prayer, eloquent in its simplicity. She ended her prayer with a demure dedication of her song to God, saying that though her voice may not be the best, it was for Him. I felt sure that this was modesty on her part and that she would be fine. I'm also sure that I was not the only one who thought this.

Unfortunately, this girl was about as tone deaf as tone deaf gets. She DID have a sense of rhythm, so she kept up with her background music without much problem. If you've ever seen the karaoke scene in "My Best Friend's Wedding", you will get the idea. She sang with just as much enthusiasm. To watch her, you'd think there was no greater perfection coming from her vocal chords.

Here's where I became proud. I looked around at the audience. Everyone was watching. A few people had their heads bowed and were singing quietly with her (that's what I was doing before I looked up). There was no restlessness. It was all very polite, encouraging, and kind. I was so proud. Even the children seemed quieted. When she was done, the applause was enthusiastic and appropriate for a crowd of people who wanted that girl to know that her offering was appreciated.