Third Row Season

‘Tis the season for Kerygma Conference again. For the third time I’m joining the KCon choir for the Grand Feast. And for the third time I am relegated to the nether world of choirdom. You know that spot on the third row where without risers, you cannot be seen just heard?

During rehearsals we were told to “find your height” for blocking purposes. This must be the most difficult directive to follow. There’s that first part where smaller people are supposed to be in front of us. And then there’s that part where taller people are supposed to be behind us.

So difficult and confusing in fact that I found myself on the third row peeping through the shoulders of taller members. But the marvelous thing about this experience is that it teaches you serenity and humility.

This time around I wasn’t bothered about it. Why? Because for the past two years I have seen God’s hand in this arrangement.

My experience in 2009 when only a fourth of my face was seen in the official photos gave birth to a Didache reflection used in this year’s edition. Not only that, an amazing coincidence related to that reflection happened just last month. This, I believe, was used by God to also bless Feast Alabang attendees.

In KCon 2010, it wasn’t just about this blocking confusion but about the venue assignment. Since all the attendees could not be accommodated in one venue for the Grand Feast, the choir had to be divided into two. Group A was to go to PICC Plenary Hall and Group B to the hot and noisy Forum tent outside.

Whoops of delight greeted Group A assignments. Several of us from the Feast Alabang choir somberly listened as our names were called for Group B.

Friends in Group A egged us to appeal for transfer. But I felt we needed to be obedient to God’s will. The others in Group B felt the same way. And so we stayed.

You know how God rewarded our obedience? Right before the event, we were told that the Forum tent venue was scrapped. Group B will instead sing at the Reception Hall. So there we were in the same air-conditioned, chandeliered grandeur as Group A.

But as we waited for our cues to sing, Group A sat on the stairs of the Plenary Hall while we lounged on comfortable chairs in the spacious Reception Hall. We even had access to the luxurious dressing room nearby. Group A, on the other hand, had to make do with the public rest rooms (as I love to tease my friends in that group).

So this year, instead of fretting about my third row perch I am actually quite excited. I’m excited to see how God will surprise and delight and bless me in that spot He has picked out especially for me.

Thank you to my son, Buddy, for the cartoon :)