Senseless acts of singing

The Decatur Five

I had the pleasure of singing for no good reason at all today! Five of us from the Community of Hospitality brought songbooks and gumption to downtown Decatur, GA and sang on a street corner for about 30-40 minutes. We had one complete stranger jump in to join us, several encouraging comments, and lots of interest by kids smiling, pointing, and walking by with their parents. The point was simply to sing and to share music with those walking by. I personally see such actions as movements towards creating the type of world I want to live in. But even if nothing happened today other than 5 people singing, isn't that reason to rejoice?!

Our Worship circle sings every Sunday night, we have for the past 25+ years. Someone mentioned the other week that the only time each week that they sung was on Sunday nights at our service. This got folks thinking that we should just get together and sing in public.

I was relating my singing afternoon to friends tonight and it reminded them of a trip they took to China recently. They said that every morning and afternoon, they would see dozens, even hundreds, of people in parks throughout Beijing who also gathered to sing as well as ballroom dance, do Tai Chi, and ribbon dancing gatherings (see below). That makes me smile! I am happy anytime people are gathering in public as citizens, are engaging with their friends and the larger community. We've gotten so disconnected from each other in this American society. I'm heartened to hear such that such gatherings are common in China.

So this was round one--let me know if you want to join us next time. Or do it yourself! Or dance in public. It's your and my community out there, let's engage it. Do something beautiful today that makes no sense--it's quite liberating!!!