Last Sunday’s service co-led by Abigail Riggenbach and Qas Hubbard is the prime example of why I consider myself a very religious person. It is not often, and although every worship service I attend is precious in its own way, there comes a time every now and then when the fabric of reality shows a different texture and my religiosity is genuinely rewarded. During our first choir rehearsal last Wednesday we went over the music for the first choir service coming up September 10. That evening I overheard Chase right after choir sing a little of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough ” and through exchanges via text and emails that lasted until Saturday evening a group of us was able to come together to offer the song during the postlude. A key part of the service was the time for all ages. Two neighbors decide to do a kind deed for each other, secretly, without asking for acknowledgement and therefore it goes unacknowledged altogether when the squirrels undo what they did. Immediately my thoughts went to the teachings of the Tao Te Ching and the I Ching. Not seeking recognition for their actions, they received none, and were left with a heart full of love for the practice of nourishing each other. The divine was made manifest by the playful squirrels, which were played by children. How appropriate of their innocence.
Originally, I had planned for an improvisation on the hand pan during the Offertory, and Sunday morning my whole body went … no, that is not happening. During the rehearsal of the postlude around 10:00 the Offertory music finally revealed itself to me: an exploration of some of the harmonies of the postlude piece, unmetered, free style, with hints of cajon. The postlude itself was just the opposite, extremely rhythmical with little room to explore the harmonies of the very complex chord progressions, what a musical tease! To lift up the story musically I wanted to start and finish the service as differently as possible. The Bach Prelude was to me a symbol of the intentional act of kindness, and how subtle it manifests when it comes from a loving heart that does not seek recognition. The current sanctuary set up didn’t allow for the quiet enjoyment of this precious composition so I decided to do the repeats to allow for the congregation to settle a bit more into the worship space.
Serendipitously the whole audio-visual system crashed, we had a different service leader than announced in the order of service, and there were dead leaves all over the sanctuary. During the beginning of Qas’ reflection that was being played through a phone and without seeing her magnificent facial expressions on the monitor that would have added tremendously to her emotional buildup Bob Deyle casually walked to the pulpit to tell Abigail how to use the microphone. I mean, I was already struggling to pay attention to the voice coming from nowhere and somehow, I could hear every word he said. By contrast to Qas’ reflection, Abigail’s was more informative, conversational, and we got to hear a bit about her passions.
The Sanctuary last Sunday was a valley, all inclusive of a myriad experience happening at once, rich and spontaneous. For the humble, it was full of miracles. The spaces between mountains, how sacred.
About the author
Angel de Armendi, Music Director
Angel (he/she/they/any) received his Bachelor of Music degree from New World School of the Arts and continued his study of piano performance at Florida International University. He made his way to Tallahassee through the Music Theory graduate program at FSU. While in school he diversified his piano skills accompanying FSU and Tallahassee City Ballet dance classes. His interest in vocal coaching took him to the Asolo Song Festival in Italy during two summers, as Assistant Director/Pianist and Composer In Residence. In Tallahassee, he also directs the High Holy Days Choir at Temple Israel, and has been their regular pianist since 2008. His love for sacred music and practice has motivated him to go through and graduate in 2015 from the Music Leadership Credentialing Program, offered by the Unitarian Universalist Musicians’ Network. During their 2015 conference in Boston he was unanimously elected as Board Member at Large for the Board of Trustees, a three-year voluntary commitment. He is deeply committed to building a thriving music program at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tallahassee.