A New Beginning
Carlos A. Rodriguez wrote in his 2014 book Designed for Inheritance: A Discovery of Sonship, “Tough times don’t define you, they refine you.”
While much of this book’s positive reviews are born from the religious intent of the author-pastor’s speaking, it is not in itself a poor book for uplifting quotes in a non-religious view as well. But this quote in particular soars above the rest in a way that each other quote dream they can. Perhaps why is that I picked up this book expecting it to be something other than what it was, and in the faint disappointment found this quote buried in its parchment to be a morsel of what I had been looking for. Or perhaps it was how nonchalantly such a reassurance was placed amongst the middle of the book, as though its power were to be discovered instead of introduced, pretending more powerful quotes to follow, though none to be had. Perhaps it is the simply rhyme, serendipitously marrying the aural in “define,” whose Latin origin finis translates quite literally as “end;” to “refine,” an English interpretation of the French word raffiner, whose origin is, in typical French style, itself. How such foreign words end up paired so romantically together simply by their sound is the same poetry that the quote itself whispers to us. We are not what came before us, we are what comes next.
And yet, I believe what has me so attached to this quote is how intimately it feels when I say it to myself.
To say Covid-19 has been a burden to our choir, our community, and our singing family is an understatement of monumental proportions. As I sit in front of my computer on this lonely Saturday afternoon, I imagine a weekend that ends with my heart as full as my diaphragm, watching with watered eyes as my makeshift family sings their hearts out. Instead, I will end my weekend tomorrow with a glass of wine toasting 148 days since lockdown. And while I feel the splinters of a broken spirit dig into my sternum I whisper lightly to myself a mantra Father Rodriguez penned 6 years ago, “Tough times don’t define you, they refine you.” This, if any, is a tough time.
And so, I use this tough time to refine not only myself, but Concordia as a whole as best as I can from my tiny office. Too long has Concordia been a step behind our sister community choirs in outreach, fundraising, and growth. And while I wish our sisters all the best luck in the world, no longer will I see our choir languish. Like the Phoenix of Phoenixville, we use this time to rebuild, better than before. And it is with that that I proudly unveil this new website. Fresh, and clean, and most of all: refined.
It is a website made from a Concordia Member, for the Concordia Members. It is intuitive, open for comment and suggestion, and most of all: it is for you. Here, you can buy your tickets, make a donation, and relive the moments that made this experience what it is today.
I know not the next time I will see my singing family, on a Sunday evening that closes my weekend and propels me through the Monday dredges. Will I see them before the New Year’s Ball drops in January? Will we watch the oak trees bloom in pollen and viridian? Will it be next August, as the heat of summer lingers in the air? I cannot say. But until it is, this place is for you, for us, and for all.
