RiG 2019-2020/3 December 2019: Our High School Years

Reflecting in Gratitude Series 2019-2020/4
How did LSM impact you in high school?

LSM choir director, Craig Hella Johnson blew my mind. We were packed into the choir room on that summer morning at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, singing an A-flat in unison. He prompted us, the LSM festival choir, to sing incrementally to an A, the next half step up.

For some reason up until this moment, I thought there were only A-flats and A’s, and I suppose this is understandable because on a piano it LOOKS like there is nothing in between.

From that moment forward I grasped the infinity between two notes, whose sound for whatever arbitrary reason, we have agreed are called A-flat and A. We agree on a standard and yet we are still free, especially as a choir, to intonate in pure intervals which means finding the spaces and allowing the natural laws of physics to cause RESONANCE. Two in-tune notes will miraculously produce further perceivable frequencies: overtones or undertones or both. Thus, the result is greater than the sum of the parts!

I am so grateful because it was in my high school years that I began to understand that despite all appearances, there is space with infinite potential between everything.

In our LSM schedules packed with rehearsals, lessons, meals and practice sessions, we still found time to laugh and draw and make up silly skits. I now remember to look for the little gaps in my schedule that allow me to share in the joys and sorrows of my fellows, or just to breathe. Then returns the faith that I both care and am cared for, which comforts and strengthens me. In our adult lives shuttling between our work, our children’s lessons and the grocery store, there is space for a quick game of UNO, or to observe the grey December light dancing on the trees dropping their leaves, or to dance around the kitchen.

An A is an A because we agree it is. We are friends because we agree we care. LSM impacted me in high school because I began to understand that we work well when we agree on certain standards and then within this, we courageously explore the infinite possibilities and find the relationships that resonate.

Thank you to those who shared with us in the last gratitude survey. You demonstrate in your friendships that once we agree on the underlying standard that we care for one another, there is a result which overcomes both the passage of time and geographical distance. Inside this space, our relationships flourish.

Please take a moment to share with us how LSM impacted you in high school by filling out the Reflecting in Gratitude Survey (linked above). And while you are considering the standards and the infinite spaces in your own life, we would like to call your attention to an important anniversary coming up! Lutheran Summer Music will celebrate 40 years of transforming lives and connecting people through faith and music in 2021. In the survey we invite you to indicate an interest and willingness to become involved in this celebration in some capacity.

Be sure to make note of the LSM Alumni reunion dates this coming summer during Festival Weekend July 23-26th.

Blessings to you this Advent season. May you find and explore the glorious spaciousness in your life.

December 2019

“…the best of friendships aren’t always a 24/7 interactive – there’s a gentle ebb and flow, as with all things in life. The best friendships are ones that continue to nurture themselves, even when the individuals aren’t actively participating. Friendships nurtured at LSM have that ability.”

— Evelyn Yee, LSM 2011
January 2020

This is number 4 in the 2019-2020 Reflecting in Gratitude Campaign

“We, the LSM alumni remain connected through faith and music. We lived the experience that grew from the mission and vision of our revered founding fathers and mothers. The founders are now passing the torch to us, trusting us to preserve that which most transformed our lives, fold it into the challenges and advantages of our present day, and enable the enrichment of further generations of the LSM community.”

– Jeanine Krause, LSM ‘89-’91

LSM is embarking on a gratitude campaign. Alumni receive a monthly email containing a reflection from Jeanine Krause, alumni-related announcements, and a link inviting you to share your personal LSM stories and what you are most grateful for.