Today is December 23rd. For many people, today marks the first full day of vacation from their 9 to 5 grind. For me, today marks the first day of work.
I've talked about this before in previous posts, but I am a "professional" pianist. Honestly, I'm not a big fan of the term 'professional'. A 19 year-old pianist at a small church a few weeks out of the year is hardly a professional, but nonetheless it is the title.
Christmas-time is always a major work-period for me. The regular pianists are off on vacation with their families and the Parish is desperately in need of a replacement for them. I guess this makes me a professional replacement-musician.
Between the 23rd and the 25th, I am playing for seven services (Mass). I honestly do enjoy my role in the Church, and it pays better than any other job I've seen. There is something strangely fulfilling from knowing that you are invaluable for that hour. Without music, Church just wouldn't be the same.
There is no snow where I grew up. Christmas is just a less-hot version of the summer, as there are no distinguishable changes aside from Christmas lights. Church becomes the primary way of celebrating the birth of Christ for many of us.
Church is one of those times when people can come together from the community, and for a few hours they can leave all of their baggage at home. There is no politics, no hate, and no aggression. It is a community coming together to celebrate something that transcends the petty transgressions of humanity.
It doesn't matter if you are religious or not; there is a far bigger message that I want to convey.
Let this holiday season, whether you celebrate Christmas, Chanukah, or Holiday (CFSM), be a time to just be human.
Sure we make mistakes, but let's look past each other's mistakes and make this holiday season about simply being a good person.
Besides, isn't New Years the exact opposite?
