Throwback Days

I traveled with the RBC Chorale last week, something I’ve done for the last several years. One surprising emotion the Chorale seemed to evoke was hope. In the midst of a digital culture of isolation and anger, a group of 19-year-olds entered a community and sang…heartily…together. They sang in a nearly forgotten style which emphasizes voices and harmonies. But it’s more than the singing: their presence triggered a response of love and hope, and seemed to evoke pleasant memories of a softer time.

You could accuse the sentences above of appearing grandiose. When I arrived at RBC in 2018, I sincerely wondered if the Chorale Tour had run its course and needed to be shut down. Churches and culture were at a different place then, and instead of hope, the Chorale felt tolerated, like an heirloom of another era that none of the children wanted to inherit.

The last several years have felt very different. Energy, life, joy, appreciation, and of course, hope, are all words that I would use to describe the response to Chorale Tour.

At a small church in north Florida, a recently widowed man grilled the Chorale barbecue chicken in the evening. After spending the night in various locations, we arrived back at the church in the morning, where he greeted us with a feast of sausage, eggs, and pancakes. He and many others served us with sincere joy.

In Tampa Bay, I stayed with a retired couple who shared stories of their adventurous life, spoke glowingly about their church, and offered effusive thanks for their evening with the RBC Chorale.

These are just snapshots of a larger feeling of generosity we experienced from the churches that hosted us. And while our Chorale is talented, I don’t think it’s about the quality of music alone. When people see young men and women pursuing the things of God with joy, expressing a form of music that spans centuries, they are reminded that some things endure our changing world: namely Christ and His Kingdom. That’s hopeful indeed!