Belonging

The dream of Sing Australia founder, Colin Slater, was to 'connect Australians in singing'. I have been singing with the local Riverland group since its inception 5 years ago and love the fun we have singing a wide range of songs and having lots of fun. All are welcome whether they think they can sing or not. We don't scrub up too badly either and have a regular round of gigs as well as featuring at Australia Day and Anzac events, Carols and the opening of the Rose Festival to name a few.

There are Sing Australia groups throughout Australia and so on a recent trip to Darwin I decided to check out the group there. I found the leader details on the website and rang to make sure all was as listed. They meet on Thursday nights (same night as the Riverland group) and it was going to work for us to attend. We didn't have a car so looked up the wonderful Darwin bus service and caught a bus which took us 35 minutes to get from the CBD to Nightcliff. Using the good old Google Maps we worked out where to get off and then walked to the school. Someone else arriving looked just like a Sing Australia person so we tailed her to the music room. There we were greeted like old friends.

The repertoire is a common one ie  we all sing from the same books so I was happy to slot into my usual place with the altos and sing along. There was even one song we have sung a lot which wasn't so familiar to them and they were happy for me to conduct. What fun!
But although we were part of the same organisation with the same way of running the group and common songs, there were differences. We have supper at the end; they have it in the middle. Our weekly fees are lower. We have more men (not  many more but...) They sang Blue Moon slower than us and didn't do the entry we do for Chariots. No big deal  but different all the same.

At the end of the evening we were contemplating waiting for the bus and getting back by about 10.20. Freda (the leader) wouldn't hear of it and generously drove us in to town even though her place was well and truly in the other direcion. We were able to  hear more about her life and her love of singing.

On the Sunday we sought out the local Uniting Church. We'd been there before and happily wandered in to be greeted warmly by some who immediately made the connection with people from Barmera who had lived amongst them (and coincidentally whose house we had bought). I figured it was a bit like Sing Australia. Connected by a common love, singing from the same song sheet (and reading the same text). And of course there were differences. They spoke the prayers for others from amongst the people, some of the songs were more familiar than others and so it went.
I believe the church is (or should be) more than just a club or community organisation but in both cases I was grateful for the sense of belonging, of being amongst friends. Yes, Colin, of being connected. Yes, Jesus, being part of your family.