On the advent of change

Last night was our choir director's last Mass with us. She will be missed. It's not good-bye though. She will fill in when I'm unable to play the piano and there are other musical projects that we can collaborate on. Having said that, my days with my church choir are also numbered.

Our choir continues to attract new singers, but pianists, guitarists and leaders are harder to come by. We can only hope and pray that more instrumentalists and a new director steps forward before my last Sunday.

I had a good chat with one of the choir members about these changes a few weeks ago. She and I have served on three or more church ministries for several years now. Since joining the choir, I had to drop my other ministries.

That evening, we talked about the need to take time to rest and renew.

Rest and renew. I like the sound of that. It is something that I think as adults, we have a tough time doing. It is something I will need to do more regularly as I concentrate on several big projects.

When I visited my old dojo in the summer, I realized how much I missed practicing iai. Practicing mushin. Engaging in active meditation.

I learned that one of the training nights had moved to a non-teaching night. However, it conflicts with choir practice and the church service I play at.

I still plan on serving the church community in some way. I do look forward to serving in ways that aren't tied down to a specific Mass and to be able to attend any Mass.

Just like I am looking forward to returning to studying Iaido and learning Jodo in the new year. Will I be able to grade for my Sho-dan next year? Who knows? I'm not going to rush it though. For now, it is enough knowing that these changes are over the horizon.