Everyone can play a part

I got two wonderful emails a couple of days ago. One was from a woman in Australia, who has created an event that seems to involve her whole town. There will be two community choirs, three school choirs, and one church choir, all singing simple rounds or hymns, so that everyone in the audience can join in as well. It is being called a "concert and community singing"and everyone is welcome. The spirit of the event is just perfect - music that everyone can find accessible, and all done with a spirit of community.

The other email came from a woman in Washington, who is going to propose to her fellow choir members that each pledge to sing for peace at some point in March, in some way that fits into their ordinary life, yet is also not a regular part of their life. Some of her ideas were: to take a moment at work, at church, in a regular choir rehearsal, and get everyone there to stop and sing a simple song, thinking about why those words mean something and what the importance of peace is to each individual person. This, too, is exactly what this project is hoping to achieve - that people stop for a moment and think about whether this is important to them, and that people who may not ordinarily make those kinds of moments for themselves are invited to do so by a friend or colleague or associate.

Every way of participating is important - from the large formal events in concert halls to the individual pledges of taking five minutes out of a regular day to share this mission with others - or even to make a point of thinking about it for oneself. It is amazing to think of what kinds of personal connections can be made in this way, and what kind of influence ordinary people can have on those around them.

We all have the power to make a change - we just need to find our own ways to do so.