May 2008

Does each month seem to be speeding by more quickly than the last? I cannot believe that Messiah Lutheran Church is already months into her Centennial Anniversary Celebration! Everything that has occurred so far, from the Candlelight Service in December, which began the festivities, to the grand Banquet and Men’s Chorus, I am amazed – amazed that I was involved in so much of it whilst still maintaining my 19.5 credit hours, lessons, and practice at Bethany College, and am still alive to tell the tale!

I cannot believe that it is my Senior Year – again! Things seem to rush by so very quickly that I sometimes forget to be lackadaisical now and then; take in the sights, scents, emotion of each moment. Life is truly precious.
Now that I have filtered through the obligatory sappy-sorrowfulness of it all, I can move on!

It seems that I did not make the top six at Yale. They were only able to take six because their endowment only allows them fourteen Master of Sacred Music organ students, and this year six are graduating. I count myself fortunate, and have been reassured by my professor, Dr. Melody Steed, that to even be granted a live audition at Yale was quite an accomplishment. (Trust me, I believe her! One such Lindsborg-born native-Kansan such as myself rarely gets to see ivy so thick as covers the walls of Yale!) Anyhow, I am equally fortunate to have been accepted to Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN. At this fine institution, I have already received the President’s Scholarship (Free Tuition!) and a $2,000 first-year stipend. Classes begin on September 8 and there is a week of orientation preceding this date. I will be sticking around this summer, pulling up the slack in loose ends and gathering myself before I move on. At time of publishing, however, I have no official ‘last Sunday’ chosen – my apologies to the Worship and Music Committee! I’m working on it…

Though the weather change,
And the weeks speed by,
I’ll always remember the time that I
Was privilege to serve, rejoice
With Messiah Church –
as we together raised our voice!

Dem höchsten Gott allein zu Ehren,

Joshua L. Lindgren, Organist