Imagine the nursing home. Today is the Fourth of July. The residents are lined up in rows in the activity room, but there are fewer than usual -- often on a holiday some of the aides don't show up, and so it takes longer to get everyone up and dressed.
It's sort of like the movie 'Groundhog Day'. As I enter carrying my guitar case, one lady notices it and says 'Oh, you play violin?' I expect this of course, because she asks that every week. She prides herself on being one of the more cogent ones.
Since it's the Fourth of July, I tried to find patriotic songs. Vineyard style worship doesn't strike a chord for this population (no pun intended). I've got America the Beautiful, and Battle Hymn of the Republic, but I don't have God Bless America, so when 'R' shows up, I ask him if he knows the chords. He doesn't know them, but starts strumming and figuring them out, as I madly try to write it down. We end up with a reasonable facsimile of the song, but in the key of C (which isn't a great key to sing it in). There isn't time to transpose it.
We start with America the Beautiful. There is an unusual swell of response from the 'crowd'. The ones who are awake are actually singing along, with gusto. I'm touched, and then blindsided by a flood of emotion when we get to the words "America, America, God mend thine every flaw". I suddenly think of the abuses in the prison, and realize that this should be the desperate prayer of us all. My voice cracks and shakes as we sing on. Then comes the Battle Hymn of the Republic. The last line says "as He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free" and I suddenly realized that this is the World War II generation. They really were dying to make men free. Usually I sing strongly, so that they can follow my voice, but now my voice is quivering. On to "God Bless America". Like many of us, I'll never be able to hear that song without thinking of 9/11. And I really do pray that God will bless America. So now I'm trying to belt out the song, in the wrong key, while trying not to cry. I'm thinking that it's lucky that most are too deaf to notice.
At the end, there is an outpouring of response. The lady who asks about the violin shouts "very good" (she always does). The man who always wants to show me his colostomy shouts "Amen", but the final verdict was unexpected, as he gleefully asks:
"Do you know how I know it was good?"
"No", I reply.
"Because my teeth didn't fall out!"
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