Lesson from Chicago

We had nothing in common except.... Wait: We had nothing in common. I rode a bus today sitting next to a 28-year old black male, moving to Indy for a while to help his wheelchair-bound cousin who had been shot. He asked me, "What are the women in Indy like?" Although I'm rarely at a loss for words, I just didn't even have a clue about that one!

He made me think about the other people on the bus. The older couple, the college girls, the mother and child. None of us would really have any reason to come together, but our common experience of a drive to Indy created an artificial community - if only for a few hours. Our status and careers outside of the bus were irrelevant.

I was in Chicago for the American Choral Directors Association conference. The Indianapolis Children's Choir had a presence at the conference in that our founder and artistic director Henry Leck conducted the National Children's Honor Choir.

After a busy weekend I enjoyed the opportunity to do nothing on the bus but think. I thought about how the singers created their own community for a few days too, and details outside of their common experience were inconsequential.

That's what participating in a choir does best: It allows walls to be broken down by the very nature of studying the music, soaking in the text, and creating a beautiful sound together. These singers in Chicago may never see each other again - but they will remember the work they accomplished, and the lesson that we are more alike than different.

If I had an experience like that with my seat mate, perhaps I would have found that common ground as well.