God Uses the Work to Purify Us

(The following was written as an encouragement to members of the Northwest Community Gospel Chorale (NWCGC), as we gear up for the 2019 Gospel Christmas performance with the Oregon Symphony. We are focusing in particular on a challenging piece: “And He Shall Purify,” arranged by Mervyn Warren and Michael O. Jackson, which was originally recorded in 1993 for the project Handel’s Messiah: A Soulful Celebration.)

As we get closer and closer to the weekend of these concerts, it’s more and more important to bring more effort and focus to the work that it is we’re doing. Because gospel music is so infused with joy and energy, it’s easy for people on the outside, who only participate as members of the audience, to think of this music as being fun. “They make it look so easy,” is something often said about the best practitioners of the craft. But we, on the inside, we know better. It’s straight up work. There’s a reason why they called James Brown “the hardest working man in show business.” To create a musical experience where the audience’s hearts and minds and bodies are engaged, energized and inspired… it takes a lot of hard work.

And there’s no shame in admitting that sometimes hard work is not fun. All of us do things for work that, in the moment, don’t feel that great, but we endure, in part because of the financial compensation, but also because whatever it is we’re…