The Threshold Choir

continued

After a couple of songs and some silence, the now visibly relaxed choir member is ready to relinquish the chair to me. I sit in the recliner, tilt back, and close my eyes.

“When you were born, you cried, and the world rejoiced,” the women sing. “Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.” The words come from a Navajo prayer.

After the first time through, Corwin-Renner says softly to the other singers, “Direct your attention to San.” I immediately, and physically, feel the effect of the shifting, intensified focus. It’s like a warm light shining on me.

“Blessings on your journey home.”

By the end of the third song I no longer notice the words and cannot distinguish individual voices. I hear only a unified sound that seems to be coming from everywhere.