CQ

Westside Way Article

Last week I jumped on a JetBlue red-eye for New York City. The Westside choir had the opportunity to sing Handel’s Messiah on Palm Sunday at Carnegie Hall. What an amazing privilege!

If that weren’t enough, while on the trip we enjoyed a few shows, a game, and some sights. The first night was the rhythmic experience of Stomp. The most remarkable moment was when they played a piece with paper bags!  It takes talent and gifting to transform everyday objects into enjoyable music. We also went to a Mets game, The Lion King, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and the Empire State Building. Two locations that were awe inspiring to me were the United Nations Building and the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. These were all amazing experiential learning opportunities.

I have found that active learning inspires and motivates me to learn more. I find that I take ownership of what I am learning when I experience it first hand. I want to ask questions and find the answers to those questions. There were a couple of moments on this trip that I will never forget.

On Friday afternoon we took the bus from our hotel to St. Paul’s Chapel next to Ground Zero. It was here that we met Charlie, our tour guide. As Charlie began to speak I began to realize the unique opportunity that this was. Charlie was on Church Street on September 11 and saw the first plane strike the World Trade Center. As he described the horrific scenes I could see the pain and the reality of the situation in his eyes. Charlie worked for New York’s Department of Design and Construction which led the recovery effort for the WTC disaster. Charlie supervised the effort and is now designing the survivor’s memorial. As Charlie spoke about the impact of the disaster, his eyes welled up with tears and he admitted that he will never be the same.  I will not forget the pain and emotion I saw in Charlie’s eyes and I will not forget how the horrific events of September 11 had a personal impact on the lives of real people. How do people who have experienced such painful trials recognize the goodness of God? 

God’s plan is a little shocking to me. We are the plan. We are his plan to demonstrate the goodness of God to those who have experienced devastating tragedy, injustice, hunger, and separation from God. It is out of the transforming power of Christ in us that we can be a light to the world.

After sensing the suffering at Ground Zero and realizing the comfort that comes in serving a God who understands suffering, I was able to appreciate at a deeper level the magnificence of Handel’s Messiah. I was overtaken by the experience at Carnegie Hall. Bob, Betty, and I were given tickets to the center box in the lower balcony of Carnegie Hall. These were the best seats in the house and I wondered about the historic figures that had been in these seats throughout the years. As the Halleluiah Chorus was sung by over five hundred voices, I rose and felt chills running down my spine. This was a tremendously worshipful moment where I could fully celebrate the God who knows better than all of us the history and suffering of this world.

The opportunity to sing in such a historic venue was remarkable and all the shows and experiences will be memories we will reflect on for years to come; seeds of interest and inquiry were planted as we practiced active learning. There is value in all of this as well as in the beginning of significant relationships between students, teachers, and parents.
Our choir has three goals that Bob is intentional about communicating and developing in our students:

• Sing Our Best 
• Glorify God 
• Show The Love of Christ

I believe we were faithful to these three goals and that we truly sang the Messiah around New York City in word and deed.

Link to Trackback | Link to RSS Feed for comments on this post