Sunday Devotion: With a Voice of Singing

Janet Rubin

Fifty high school students dressed in black shuffled onto risers probably designed to hold twenty. One girl stumbled in her spiky heels, sending a wave of giggles through the group. A teen in the audience faked a loud sneeze and others chortled while the chorus lined up. In the seat behind me, a woman whispered a pizza order into her cell phone. After several moments of arranging themselves, the chorus faced forward and watched the director. My Chelsey was to the left, a nervous smile on her lips. I scanned the faces, picking out her friends. All of them looked beautiful.

With a count of four and a wave of Mr. Fiorvanti’s hand, the teens erupted into their traditional singing of The Carol of the Bells, then moved onto December’s Keep by Frederic Chopin. Mr. Fiorvanti turned to the microphone to tell us about the last piece, a song called, With a Voice of Singing by Martin Shaw- a song he said had been sung by choirs since 1923. It seemed to me there was a twinkle in his eye and pride on his face as he said, “I hope you enjoy it.”

They burst into song, voices crystal clear, harmonies perfect. Rising, falling, annunciating each word, and yes, bringing me to tears. As I thought about the joy the performance brought me, I considered how much work went into it. The kids had practiced every other day for months, but before that there was an author—someone who wrote the lovely, passionate lyrics, composed the music, and arranged the parts. It had to have taken a lot of hard work to write such a beautiful and complex piece, and it took a lot of hard work to learn to perform.

Works of excellence take time, but if we write to honor an awesome God, we must strive for excellence. The Bible says, “Do everything as unto the Lord.” Everything would include my writing, wouldn’t it? If I were writing for the Lord, I’d want my finished product to be good! Sometimes, in my rush to put my stuff “out there,” I consider submitting work that isn’t my best. I’m too lazy to do the mind-stretching, dictionary-opening, thesaurus-searching, information-seeking work that will make my writing excellent.

How might you improve your standards of excellence? Waste less time on the internet? Edit more? Research more? Listen to that annoying crit partner who is so hard on your work? Above all, don’t try to do your task without God’s help. He is our source of strength and the Giver of all wisdom. Like any good parent, God doesn't expect perfection (He knows we aren't capable of that), but He wants our best efforts.

I’ll bet that Martin Shaw got tired during his writing and composing, but he pressed on. And because his song is so well done, students in public high schools are singing its lyrics of praise to God nearly a century later.

Lord, You are worthy of our very best efforts. You have entrusted us with the gifts of imagination, a passion for words, and a desire to write. We want to be good stewards of these gifts, and we want to offer our most excellent work back to You. Please help us to persevere through the hard parts and invest the amount of time needed to do our best. Thank You for giving us Your best. Amen.