Bruce's Singing Cyclist Musings
A blog about life as seen by a retired Middle School Science Teacher from California
We’re on the third full day after the 2020 Election and we’re still waiting for results. Despite not sleeping well from Tuesday night on this week, I have been able to maintain an almost surreal state of calm during this turbulent time.
I can’t explain it. Maybe that explains it.
Yesterday was great. I had three Zoom sessions and each one filled a totally different niche in my life. The first was a small group Lunch meeting with our Financial Advisor, Tom Vaughn followed by a 4:30 Yoga session for an hour and the “working” day finished with a church choir rehearsal at 7:00 p.m.
This was a well timed busy day to keep my mind occupied while the wait for the results of the 2020 Presidential Election to be finalized. I’m getting tired of hearing the words “battleground” states. It makes it sound like we are at war. I for one am not at war. I want the Election to be conducted as elections are supposed to be conducted in this country and then let’s get on with the business of making the country great. So much rides on this presidential race. So much rides on this election.
I don’t think that many folks on the Republican/Conservative side have a grip on the true nature of the horse they are riding. My hope is that Biden-Harris can garner the Electoral votes that they need and start bringing us all back in the direction of together. It’s going to take a long time and lots of sincere, focused positive energy to get this country back on track.
The White Supremacist culture must be addressed before this country can be linked to the word great. President Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again,” is simply not a true statement. Greatness has not yet been achieved. It will begin to be achieved as soon as we acknowledge our national problem of race.
My feeling is that we can begin to address the issue of race by creating a process similar to the one used in South Africa after the collapse of Apartheid. South Africans began a dialogue on race through a Truth and Reconciliation Commission which gave people a chance to hear the experiences of others and begin to reconcile their differences. We simply need to start communicating with each other again. This division stuff must come to an end.
Along with a Truth and reconciliation Commission, we need a common media outlet that every feels comfortable watching and listening to with each other. When we have the same basic information, we then have a common foundation on which to debate our differences because we will know what our differences are. I don’t think that we have that now.
My passionate fear of “The Right” is undoubtedly matched by a passionate fear of “The Left.” The way to start addressing these largely unfounded fears is get rid of “Right Wing” media and “Left Wing” media and replace them with a “Middle Media.” It will need to be a place where people all along the political spectrum can gather, listen to, think about and converse about the issues of the day. In the media market we have today, common ground is nearly impossible to find.
We need dialect on guns, immigration, reproductive rights, health care, regulations, law enforcement and so much more. It’s time to get busy. Let’s use this moment in time to get it done.
A little anxious, but still calm. Thanks to Joe Biden’s steady, consistent, confident voice, I remain calm. Thanks, Joe.
Still feeling calm. Thanks to MSNBC Journalists for preparing me to be patient in waiting for 2020 Election results.
I woke up this morning with a wonderful sense of calm.
Some of you know that this is shorthand for “What Would Jesus Do?”
My political belief system, in fact my entire belief system is based on the Biblical New Testament teachings of the man known as Jesus of Nazareth. These teachings can be found in the books of Mathew and Luke in the Bible. These teachings are attributed to Jesus. This is important because the teachings of Jesus are the foundation of the Christian religion.
I bring this up right now to make a point about how many Christian denominations have strayed from the core message of Jesus as expressed in the Beatitudes from The Sermon on the Mount and The Sermon on the Plain. The link above goes into some detail on the 10 Beatitudes.
Christianity is at the core of my beliefs, although my religious affiliation has broadened over time. I found that the Christianity of my youth was becoming more dogmatic and less in line with my liberal religious upbringing. Christianity now is a part of my Unitarian Universalist faith.
I urge you to read about the Beatitudes in more detail in the second paragraph link above. As you read them, I encourage you to judge yourself and your political views with them. If you are a Christian, do your current views and political leanings align with the teachings of Jesus? Here is a list of the Beatitudes:
As Mr. Spock says, Live Long and prosper.
Dear Mr. President,
Let me take this opportunity to wish you the best on your upcoming retirement. The country and you are very deserving of this unselfish service that you are giving your country.
You have been of great service to the United States of America. You have shown us how we can “Make America Great.” Notice that the word “Again” isn’t included. Sir, that’s because “Great” hasn’t happened yet. We as a country will be “Great” when we live up to the words of our founding Fathers and the living document called the Constitution of the United States that they wrote over 250 years ago. But, thank you for bringing greatness to our attention. We needed that.
“Great” will happen when all citizens of this marvelous country are treated equally and have the same access to life, liberty and and the pursuit of happiness as those with white skin. You have taught us to face up to our collective national ignorance about race.
“Great” will happen when Americans see government at all levels as a tool for bringing the Constitution to life for all Americans. Thank you for alerting us to the value of a government that works by showing us what it looks like when it doesn’t work.
“Great” will happen when Americans learn what is in the Constitution and how it translates into everyday life. Thank you for putting a spotlight on the Second Amendment. By doing so, you put the light on the entire Constitution. I have not been this attentive to the Constitution since my high school Civics class.
Sir, I need to list a few things on my mind before I continue:
COVID. I have been trying to figure out how to say this without being too blunt about it. But, I can’t believe that all of the mistakes that your administration has made on the handling of the Coronavirus have been done out of ineptitude.
It would be easier to think that your Coronavirus policy was done out of ignorance. I don’t think that this is the truth. How do I say this without using the “G” word. Your administration intentionally has allowed the virus to spread non-stop because that is exactly what you wanted. Maybe not you, maybe it was someone in your Administration or with outside influence on your administration. This virus has hit our minority populations with the largest number of cases and deaths.
The Affordable Care Act or “Obama Care.” You seem to take some special satisfaction in referring to the Affordable Care Act as Obama Care. I’m sure that the former president is proud to have his name associated with a measure that provides health care to millions of Americans who would otherwise not have it.
Congratulations to you and the minority of Americans that you represent on getting three Supreme Court Justices onto the court during your Term in office. I’m sure that you are collectively quite pleased with yourselves. Now you can appease the large share of your base that supports you only because they want to see the Roe v. Wade decision overturned. You must be proud to have based your re-election campaign on taking away rights instead of granting them. I do hope that you understand that you took two of those Justices away from another president, not that this means anything to you.
There. Those are a few things I needed to get off my chest. I’m sure that I missed a few, but this is good enough for me. I feel better.
Sir, I’ll close by saying that as much unnecessary pain as Americans have suffered during the past three years and ten months, that the suffering has made us all stronger and appreciative of our Democracy. It looks like more people will vote this year than in any past Presidential election in American history. Thank you for that.
Sir, I will further close by sayings that I might sound a bit sarcastic, but I mean all of this sincerely.
Finally, thanks again for your service to this country and enjoy playing retirement golf on your own dime.
A Grateful American
More specifically, baseball during COVID. I grew up on baseball. When I was in elementary school in the 1960’s, baseball was the sport American boys had in common. I am pleased and proud that girls now enjoy “America’s Pass Time” as well.
Every single one of us dreamed of someday playing major league baseball and being a World Series hero. Maybe it was hitting the walk-off home run in a deciding game 7, making the game saving catch, striking out the last opposition batter. Whatever it was, we all shared that dream together. We didn’t always talk about it, but we all knew what we wanted to do when we grew up.
Well, it’s now 2020 and our playing days are over. For that matter our kids playing days are over, save for those slow pitch softball teams that some of us belong to. But, those dreams never go away. Today they are being lived by a new generation of young boys and girls. The dreams of playing in the “Big Leagues” are now theirs.
I’m inspired to write about this now because the American baseball season ended yesterday as the World Series (not the World Baseball Classic which really is the world series of baseball) of this difficult and trying year of 2020 was decided.
“My” team, the Los Angeles Dodgers won the series in six games over a young and exciting Tampa Bay Rays team. I watched the players, manager, coaches and families celebrate on the field as you would expect them to celebrate during a viral pandemic.
But, underneath those masks were those school boys who, 10-15 years ago, were like me in the 1960’s. Kids with a dream of one day being a hero on the biggest stage in baseball.
This World Series is special. We needed this. We needed this sense of connection to the normal. We needed to see these men go out and play this little boys game with the same joy and unbridled enthusiasm that they played with when they were little boys not that long ago.
They brought me joy. They brought me happiness. They brought me hope for next season. Yes, there will be a next season and next season will be better than ever.
One last thought. The post game celebration for the winning Dodgers and their fans (including me at home). I watched the celebration as braodcast by several different news organizations. Each one had it’s own take and angle on what it looks and sounds like to be a champion.
But, what stood out to me were the names of the backs of their uniforms. Hernandez, Urias, Jansen, Betts, Kelly, Floro, Rios, Gonzales, Kershaw, Roberts. They were a diverse community of human beings coming from many different countries, socio economic groups, races and beliefs. But there they were as a unified group. Smiling, laughing, hugging (yes, even hugging) and enjoying this common moment of celebration together reminding me that we are indeed more alike than we are different.
So, there are lessons to be learned from sports. Many of you probably don’t look at the Sports Pages (I date myself because you find those in newspapers although. I guess you’ll also find them on Web Sites). Sports offers us a chance to be those little kids again, all with a common dream and a color blind eye.
I am a singer. Singing is a very important part of my mental well-being and provides a connection and an outlet for my musical talent and social community. Singing side-by-side with my friends and colleagues is what keeps me going during the hustle and bustle of normal 21st Century life.
It is important during normal times. It is more important during COVID times. But, singing in a chorus involves sitting in close proximity to your mates and moving large amounts of air and the contents of that air into the shared air space of a choral rehearsal or performance space.
This air is a very effective medium for the spread of potentially virus carrying aerosols to your fellow singers and to you. For that reason, singing in-person was quickly identified as a sure fire way to spread virus containing aerosols rapidly and effectively.
Back in mid-March when California shut down in response to the novel Coronavirus, both my church choir and my audition choir very quickly realized the risk of viral spread among choristers and halted live rehearsals.
It’s hard enough to be socially isolating, but it goes to another level of impact when that isolation takes away an avocation that is central to your health and happiness. A previous post on this site goes into some detail about the benefits of singing in a group.
In the early days of the pandemic, the double whammy of social isolation and choral isolation began to take hold. Soon, individual performers, usually professionals, began finding ways to perform online.
These performances were very pleasing to hear. But for me, they were further reminders of the fact that we were unable to sing together at our normal Monday and Wednesday rehearsals for my two respective choirs.
So, what about choirs? Digital platforms were not set up to work with performers performing together in real time. There was the issue of how to sing together in real time. Performances can be recorded and mixed together in an asynchronous way, but rehearsals need to be done in real time.
Our now familiar virtual meeting platforms are not yet capable of allowing choral groups to rehearse together in real time. But, that has begun to change as the months go by. Techniques to utilize the online video meeting platform for choir rehearsals and performance began to evolve.
These techniques have eased the pain of not being together to sing, but they haven’t yet been able to duplicate the singing experience online. This is of considerable significance to me as a singer, especially since the Unitarian Universalist Association, the guiding body of our church community, announced that it was strongly advising that congregations not meet together until the Summer of 2021 at the earliest.
What were singers to do in response to not being able to sing together?
Well, we all are now familiar with digital meeting platforms like Zoom, Google Meets etc. We are spending many hours on them for work, so the time that we spend online for our hobbies and enjoyment are under pressure to happen in a more concentrated and efficient way. No more two and three hour rehearsals. Some groups are trying to solve the technical problems of rehearsing online by meeting in expansive outdoor settings like in parking garages or parks, but many people are uncomfortable with this solution.
As we learn how to practice our craft in the socially distanced reality of COVID, we are learning to record ourselves in isolation from our peers and waiting for our choir directors and sound engineers to gather those individual recordings and compile them into a choral sound. This can be done. I have experienced the joy of harmonizing with my fellow choristers. It brings tears of joy to my eyes just writing about it.
Virtual singing is a temporary solution to singing remotely. It isn’t perfect, but it will serve to hold our choral communities and audiences together until we once again can make music together. Here’s a personal testimonial on the power of singing together even in the virtual world.
“I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight, I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice.”
Unitarian Minister Theodore Parker
Barack Obama used these words often, including at his inaugural speech on January 20, 2009. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. used these words in a speech given at the National Cathedral on March 31, 1968 titled “Remaining Awake Through A Great Revolution.” Listen to the full speech here.
Professor Clayborn, a professor of history at Stanford University, discusses this quote in an NPR interview with Melissa Block on “All Things Considered.”
This quote has been used many times over the last nearly two centuries. The quote is attributed to the Unitarian Abolitionist Minister, Rev. Theodore H. Parker in a sermon that he gave in 1853.
Wherever the words came from, they ring true for me today. In the face of great darkness, know that through it all justice will prevail. I believe that.
October 15, 2020