Normally the West Grove Friends Meeting's carol sing is an introspective, low-key, reverent event. It's held in a tiny, mostly unused meetinghouse that is illuminated by only a few candles. It's so dim that you can't recognize people from very far away; plus everyone is bundled up in layers because the only heat comes from a pot-bellied stove. When the fire-tender opens the door to add another log, you can see a mephitic red glow from inside the stove.
Usually, in Quakerly fashion, a small group of hardy singers settles into atmospheric silence, and when the spirit moves you, you start signing a Christmas carol, and everyone else joins in.
This year it was considerably more jolly. First of all, the benches were full, not just the ones closest to the stove. Second, people came prepared to sing, really sing, and not just traditional religious carols but secular Christmas songs. Even after the formal part of the carol sing ended, a bunch of us got our hot chocolate (heated atop the stove) and cookies and brownies and then returned to singing.
Everyone knows the first verse of songs, but there was a lot of hesitation over the second verse.
At one point I started "Good King Wenceslas" and when we finished the first verse ("Deep and crisp and even"), I kept singing -- "He rules the world with truth and grace" -- feeling a little smug for knowing the rest of the song. Gamely, my fellow singers joined in.
At the end of the verse I stopped.
"That wasn't `Good King Wenceslas,' was it," I said shamefacedly.
It was a lovely event, full of fellowship, and not spoiled in the least by the fact that people used their cellphones to provide both light and lyrics.
No comments:
Post a Comment