An article for The Cathedral Times
by Dr. Dale Adelmann, Canon for Music
It will be no revelation to people who know me well that I try to view life as pilgrimage. I believe one’s trek – in life and faith (as well as in music-making) – should be dynamic rather than static. In each season of our journey as we travel on, the state of awareness, understanding, and empathy in which we find ourselves – next year, or next month, or even as soon as tomorrow – should seldom be the same place where we began.
For many of us, the Cathedral of St. Philip plays an important role in that pilgrimage. We come together week by week to study, to listen, to contemplate, to pray, and to find inspiration for our journeys. And – when we are engage with one another with grace and hospitality, as the embodiment of the Body of Christ in this place – we welcome others, wherever they are in their respective journeys. By encouraging one another in those moments, we leave inspired and strengthened for the steps in our paths ahead.
The Cathedral Choir will soon embark on a pilgrimage to serve as choir-in-residence for a week each in two of England’s most awe-inspiring cathedrals. We will offer fifteen choral services (with only Thursdays off) at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London (July 15-21) and York Minster (July 22-28)… sites on which prayers and praises have been offered to God almost daily since the 7th century! While any encounter with glorious architecture or art can be profound, singing “in residence” is a very different experience from simply visiting one of these magnificent edifices as a tourist. Singing in residence joins us with the continuum of priests, musicians, and laity through the ages who – since pre-Christian times in the Temple – have taken time out of each day to hone their God-given gifts to “praise God with all your skill” (Psalm 47:7). In York, our voices will bounce off stones that have reflected the praises of God since the 12th century… indeed, off stones laid upon foundations that resounded with such praises as much as 500 years earlier.
Whether or not we travel or intentionally set aside time for the purpose of making pilgrimage, I believe we have an opportunity “to be a pilgrim” (see hymn 565!) every day. I suspect “pilgrimage” has more to do with intent than activity. Do we expect to encounter the image of God in others somehow, somewhere, every day? Do we anticipate and actively look for some revelation of the Divine each time we come to worship? Do we consciously “seek and serve Christ in all persons” we meet — as we promise to do every time we renew our Baptismal covenant? One of the many things I personally find so life-giving about the branch of Christianity called The Episcopal Church is that we can recommit, “we will, with God’s help,” and also know that we are beloved by God, “marked as Christ’s own, forever…” even when we fall short of Christlikeness.
The Cathedral Choir and I are deeply, deeply grateful for the incredibly generous support of friends and parishioners who have helped make our England pilgrimage possible. At the 11:15 a.m. service this Sunday, July 7, here at home, we will offer the choral setting of the Eucharist and two anthems that we will sing at St. Paul’s Cathedral (London) and York Minster this month. I encourage you to come, to delight with us in such “beauty of holiness.” What we most ask of you now, though, is your prayers: for safety in travel, for good health, and that we—and all who hear—may be so acutely attuned that we catch a glimpse of heaven as we “sing and make music to the Lord” every day.