Retirement is affording me the time to sing. Now that I am no longer committed to speaking engagements and multiple deadlines, I can attend once-a-week rehearsals for our local women’s chorale, The Noteables. Our director is a talented and no-nonsense musician who challenges us to stretch our vocal capacity through proper posture and breathing techniques along with creative warm-up exercises. The repertoire for an upcoming concert includes both familiar and lesser known numbers, each with a complex arrangement of three and four-part harmony. As such, it makes every selection a “new song.” 

I would wager that most of us feel intimidated by the notion of singing solo or even as part of a choir. Even so, the psalmist’s invitation to “sing joyfully to the Lord” requires no audition or musical expertise. What, then, causes us to muffle our voices over the years? Is it because we have heard the songs once too often or assume there is nothing noteworthy to sing about? Perhaps we have become jaded and thus unable to see the signs of God’s goodness all around us. I, for one, put off joining a choir out of a “too busy” mindset. 

It takes time and intention to recognize the generosity of God in everyday signs of wonder and beauty. Once we start to pay attention to hand-clapping rivers and mountains of grace, however, singing our hearts out comes easily.