Most Beautiful Sky

There are probably a lot of things you miss right now.  Perhaps you miss potlucks or concerts.  Or you might miss going into the office to work.  Maybe flying in an airplane to distant places has been calling your name for months.  For me, one of my greatest longings these days is to sing with others.  Most people who know me, even if we’re just acquaintances, know that I love to sing and will often shamelessly hum while I go about my day.  Though it is possible to sing by myself in many circumstances, I still crave the intertwining of voices.  Zoom church and virtual song circles just don’t cut it.  I’ve even taken to recording myself singing multiple parts of songs so that I can at least feel like I’m singing with other people and voices.

I know I’m not alone.  Choirs across the world have gotten very creative with “virtual choir” videos and some have even found ways to sing masked and distanced.  But if you’re not in a choir and still trying to follow Covid precautions, your chances of managing any sort of choir experience are slim to none.  Though all I want to do is pull together a group of people and teach a simple round, I recognize that all I really can do is wait.  And dream.

But while I wait, I’ll still sing.  I’ll sing with the birds.  I’ll sing in the shower.  I’ll sing as I work.  I’ll sing while I cook.  I’ll sing along to my music in the car.  My voice will be prepared for that blessed day when we can stand in a circle and hold hands, when we can breathe the same fresh air, unmasked and unafraid, when we can sing praise to God and Creation as we never have before.  That will be a magnificent day.

Until then, I can look around me and relish in the pause – in the rest.  Most importantly, I can take this time to listen to the music of nature and of the seemingly mundane that surrounds me.  There is beauty in the simplest and the vastest of things.  Can you hear it?

Written by Solveig Orngard

 

Most Beautiful Sky

Melody and lyrics by Jennifer Levenhagen, harmonies by Annie Zylstra

Most beautiful sky,

I see how you change each day

And each day remain.

 

 

Though I prefer to learn songs in person with others, this song is one I just recently learned from a recording.  Here I share it with you as a recording of myself singing all the parts.  I hope the melody sticks in your head.  The simple lyrics manifest grounding, observation, awe, and gratitude and seem to hold special power in this time when so much feels heavy.  Maybe someday we will be able to sing it together! -Solveig