Ambition

"Reach for the moon - even if you miss, you'll land among the stars."

I've been thinking about that a lot recently, as I contemplate how far this project has come in the past three months. We've had amazing interest, from choir directors in Trinidad/Tobago, Cameroon, South Africa, and Israel and Palestine, from school teachers in California and New Jersey, from several choirs across the US - and some of the things that people have said have been wonderfully encouraging. Some of my favorites:

"Those of us who dream of a world without armed conflict need to raise our voices -- and how better to do so than with these many time-honored invocations. Can we sing enough prayers to overpower the warriors? If enough of us join our voices, can we change the world? It's never been tried on this scale before, and it just might work!"

"Greetings from Israel. I have shared your email and this very special project with my choir last week and they were very excited. Thanks for contacting us with this great idea. We are interested in working with you and being part of the World Wide Song of Peace."

"I am a songwriter and music teacher. I am teaching 3rd, 4th, and 5th-graders to sing rounds, and will include Dona Nobis Pacem in our repertoire. I will propose a peace concert to the children. I am certain that may of the children will want to participate in this, as the peace songs we already do are a hit with them. Thank you for this beautiful idea!"

"I am interested in composing a setting of Dona Nobis Pacem for your event."

And, this wonderful story of our kick-off event, in Dallas, on March 1.

Yet despite all of this, sometimes I feel a little discouraged that the project hasn't grown as big as I'd hoped it would just yet. I keep reminding myself that the 3,000 people that are currently involved is indeed an impressive figure (and it is still growing) - and that "landing among the stars" is not so bad either!