(En español más abajo)
My church had a Three Kings service this past Sunday, and it was pretty much based on the Hispanic tradition of 'Los Reyes Magos', about which Katie has written so well last week (in fact, her blog post was printed in the service bulletin, with link and everything!).On this special day, I had the chance of do two things I'm not used to: one was to be able to conduct the choir (because it just happened to be my birthday, and that's the choir's tradition) and the other was to be part of an all-men soloist trio (we sang "We three Kings of Orient are", and I played Balthazar).
But there was more: Desmond, our minister, also wanted me to play Balthazar during the service, along with him (as Caspar, the friendly king) and Barb, a lovely lady who played Melchior, because this is the United Church and there are no gender issues here!
Melchior (Barb) was first, and she talk about her gift, which was the gift of the Call. She did fantastically, as everybody expected. She has been our presbytery representative for years and many times she has been in charge of our services, so it's not like she was in uncharted waters...
Desmond, our minister, came right after, with the gift of the Word. Not only he's a gifted speaker and a very spiritual person, but he's also charming (heck, he's a lawyer) and he's also very funny. It was mostly through him that I learned that it's OK to laugh and have a good time at church, something I definitely wasn't used to.
The time for me to walk in and play the third King was approaching, and I was getting nervous. What if I couldn't remember my lines? What if I just didn't know what to say? As confident as I am speaking in public, this was definitely different. I was going to lead the congregation in worship, only that not through song as I am used to.
Desmond must have guessed what I was thinking, because he told me:
- Relax. It doesn't matter if you don't remember 100% of the words, or if you stumble. What matters is what you say, the message you're conveying with your words. You're preaching; the congregation will listen to what you say, regardless of how you say it.
And away I went; of course I forgot my words, and of course I didn't know how to say after that. But I remembered what I was supposed to talk about (our gifts to the Baby Jesus), and that allowed me to go back to the script in no time. I don't know if I did great, but I was very happy once I checked the script and verified that I had covered every major topic in it.
And to think that until 10 years ago I would not go to church at all, unless we were hired to sing at weddings!
En este día tan especial tuve la chance de hacer dos cosas que no hago nunca: dirigir al coro (porque era mi cumpleaños y esa es la tradición de esta iglesia) y la otra fue la de integrar un trio de voces masculinas (cantamos “We three Kings of Orient are” y a mí me toco ser Baltazar).
Pero había más: Desmond, nuestro ministro, me pidió que haga de Baltazar durante la misa, junto con el (como Gaspar) y Barb, una señora amorosa que hizo de Melchor, porque esto es United Church y acá no hay limitaciones de género!
Melchor (Barb) salió primera y habló sobre su regalo, que era el regalo del llamado. Lo hizo de maravillas, por supuesto. Ella ha sido nuestra representante en la presbitería por muchos años y muchas veces estuvo a cargo de nuestros servicios de los domingos, así que digamos que no es que nos encontrábamos frente a una neófita…
Desmond fue inmediatamente después, con el regalo de la Palabra. No sólo es un orador experimentado y una persona muy espiritual, pero además tiene encanto (es abogado, después de todo) y es un muy divertido. A él le debo, más que nada, haber aprendido que está bien reírse y pasarla bien en la iglesia, algo a lo que definitivamente no estaba acostumbrado.
Mi momento para entrar y hacer el papel del tercer Rey Mago se aproximaba, y me iba poniendo nervioso. Y si no me acordaba de mi libreto? Y si no se me ocurría qué decir? Por más acostumbrado que estuviera a hablar en público, eso era distinto. Iba a estar a cargo de esa parte de la misa, sólo que no cantando como yo acostumbro a hacerlo.
Se ve que Desmond adivinó lo que pensaba, porque me dijo:
- Tranquilo. No importa si no te acordás del 100% de las palabras o si te trabás. Lo que importa es lo que decís, el mensaje que enviás con tus palabras. Estás predicando; la congregación va a escuchar lo que decís, sin importar cómo lo digas.
Y ahí fui nomás; por supuesto que me olvidé mi guión, y por supuesto que no pude salir del pozo por unos segundos. Pero recordé cuál era el tema de mi discurso (los regalos que nosotros le traíamos al Bebé Jesús) y eso me permitió volver a encauzar mi mensaje enseguida. No sé si se puede decir que hice un gran trabajo, pero me puse muy contento cuando miré de nuevo mi texto y verifiqué que había cubierto todos los temas principales.
Y pensar que hasta hace unos 10 años la única forma de que yo pisara una iglesia era estar contratado para cantar en un casamiento!
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