Jose Miguel Yamal is my hero

Choir this morning was nowhere near as terrifying as I thought it would be. In spite of dreaming all night that I was on a different planet and couldn't get a flight home until Monday, and thus missed Sunday morning mass. Um... Okay. And then the dream right before waking up that I counted of the wrong song in the wrong meter, assuming a pick up note on beat three that was actually on beat four. That one had me sitting bolt upright in bed ten minutes before my alarm went off.

Night terrors aside, things went incredibly well. I ended up having three singers and a trumpet player in addition to the piano. I simplified a bit, deciding to do chant where I needed to start quickly and eliminating one sung mass part in favor of just having Father speak it. I didn't announce anything at the wrong time, and Jose Miguel is AMAZING. He came to the last half of rehearsal, and just glanced over some things. He was able to follow my starts or start on his own as needed, and of course played everything phenomenally. He'll be back next week, so I definitely think I can handle this lead-the-choir gig for one more week.

What was most amazing though, was the realization somewhere in the middle of the first song, that I wasn't just leading the choir. I was leading the entire congregation. I love my congregation. They sing along! So much of the time I'm really focused on the alto lines and making sure I balance within the choir. Being at the top of the choir, announcing the tunes, counting the instrumentalists off, and then taking a deep breath and raising a hand and having everyone there singing with me, that was amazing. I remember that feeling from my drum major days. I remember it from directing the Phils. The idea that a group of people has now become the instrument I play, and the knowledge that I *can* play it. Well. And that the instrument is an amazingly beautiful and flexible one, one with a heart and soul full of joy and worship.

Wow.

It was a good morning.