Untukmu Para Pengunjung

I'm currently listening to a CD of UTGC songs on my computer. I miss my choir! Shout out to especially to Lydia, who just had a baby!!!!
There's a youth choir at our new church. I went to rehearsal last Sunday afternoon. I've always been in choirs, so I thought it would be a good way to connect with people. That Sunday they were learning a new song that someone in the choir had composed. It was in Shona, and it was also in the "sol-fa" system. So, rather than any notes, above each word was either "do re mi fa sol" etc. My only to exposure to this was in South Africa 8 years ago. So, not only was I trying to sing in another language, but also in a different system. It was a challenge, because by the time I figured out how do was related to fa (the interval), we were already on to ti. After a few minutes the director asked someone to move and sit next to me - to help me stay on tune. I was MORTIFIED! I wanted to explain that I really can sing (and stay on tune), but that the system was just different. It was very humbling.

But it made me think... It made me think of newcomers to Canada, and how some people think they're unintelligent/unskilled because they either don't speak the language, or else their system/way of doing things/way of thinking is different. It also made me think of how many times I've made a gesture to "help" someone (like asking someone to sit next to me to keep me on tune) when it has probably actually made them feel worse about their situation or themselves. Very humbling indeed.