Riding in the taxi cab of life

Riding in the taxi cab of life was inspired by a homily heard at Immaculate Conception Parish in Elkton, Maryland in November of 2008. A ‘what happened later’ section has been added to the end.

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The first weekend of November saw me in Mass twice with the same priest presiding. I suppose there was a message that I really needed to hear, which is why I ended up with a double dose.

Recent events have me thinking more about his homily from that weekend.

What follows is a bit of the musing that ran through my head in the wee hours today.

The essence of Father’s homily was that we are all traveling in this life on route to Heaven.

Our time on earth was likened to a taxi ride.

People enter the ‘taxi’ at birth and exit at death. Some people enter the taxi with us early in our lives while others enter it later.

Occasionally, people are almost life brief encounters with a big impact. Other people have been with us for quite a while so that their departure seems to tug at our hearts a little more than those brief encounters.

However long someone might ride with us, we have the opportunity to learn and grow through each relationship.

One individual to more recently join me in the taxi cab ride is our parish’s music ministry director.

My first encounter with him was attending Mass for the first time at the parish. A homeschooling friend had told me this parish really like their music.

I wasn’t sure what to expect as some parishes that like their music also live back in the late 1960s and early 1970s when it comes to repertoire. Seeing Gather Comprehensive as the hymnal got my hopes up. When I was doing music ministry for the Newman Center at The University of Rochester, this is the hymnal I choose for that parish after evaluating several options.

That particular Sunday was the Feast of Christ the King, so the music was a bit more festive. I was hooked when he began to play the Gloria from Mass of Light. It is one of my favorites which I love to sing, but alas have never mastered playing on the piano.

Although we did not know where we would be for the long term, we opted to join this parish rather than “shop around” the area. I was hesitant to volunteer for anything needing a real commitment. My helping during the winter and spring was mostly at Cub Scouts.

In June, I did commit to helping at the parish VBS program. I ended up leading the music, which had me nervous and excited at the same time. By the end of that week, I felt like “Mrs. Wiggle” from all the dance moves and had lost 5 pounds.

Once we found our current rental and saw we’d still be in the parish, I began to consider how I would want to be involved.

Attending Mass for the second time at the mission church, I approached our music director about helping to cantor at that location.

The Holy Spirit was encouraging me to make this step as the words practically leaped out of my mouth without much forethought.

He had me come into his office the next week to sing a song, play one, and then talk about my past experience and life in general.

My thought of occasional cantoring was quickly replaced with joining the choir, upon his suggestion, as a way to get my musical bearings back. It had been 5 years since I’d last cantored, and 12 years since I’d accompanied anyone.

I guess he could see the rust that needed to be removed and that the underlying instrument needed to be ‘polished’ a bit.

Over the past few months, I have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the choir. Singing in parts can be a lot of fun and often times the music is really enriched with the layering effect of the different voices.

He asked me to attend a workshop on Lectio Divina to then help teach others in the music ministry program.

We had also begun talking about my playing piano around Christmas when the pieces would be more familiar and easier to pick back up.

The accompanist role ended up being begun a little earlier than I planned.

Two and a half weeks ago he went in for testing and was told he needed bypass surgery. Several of us stepped up to keep the music ministry program flowing, following the schedules he had recently posted.

A few of us, myself included, offered to play piano at Masses he would have normally covered. Throughout this time, we continued to lift him up in prayer and were encouraged to hear that he was recovering.

Sadly, he won’t be at Midnight Mass this year to hear the choir as many of us had hoped. Yesterday afternoon, he made his exit from the taxi and has gone ahead of us.

He leaves behind people whose lives are forever changed having met him. His love of the Church and music is evident in the growth of the music program over time.

I feel incredibly blessed to have shared a ride with him for what was a short time. Through his gentle encouragement, I took the steps I’ve taken thus far.

My short time singing with the choir has reignited my passion for both the liturgy and liturgical music.

Also, I am feeling that some of my talents that might have been temporarily buried now have an opportunity to be used.

The choir will be singing at the Funeral Mass this Saturday and I hope that he will be singing alongside us, even though we won’t be able to hear.

Epilogue to the Story

I did jump feet first into helping out. The pastor appointed me as temporary Music Ministry Director on a part-time basis while they conducted a formal search.

I feel incredibly blessed to have had the opportunity to assist a vibrant music program and to have a reason to hone my musical skills.

A few individuals suggested I apply for the position. However, becoming pregnant with my youngest son had me decline. As we ended up moving to Alaska shortly after his birth, I feel it was a good decision.

Since then, I pitch-hit at our parish in Alaska when they needed someone on piano as well as doing music for some of the youth events. I even stepped out of my comfort zone to cantor at a Mass for Alaska Catholic Youth Conference.

Shortly after we moved to Mississippi, our new parish had need of a temporary pianist. The regular lady needed to step back while her husband was in his last days. I played for several months until she returned. Then I was convinced to join the choir.

After 2020 and the shutdowns, the young man who had been the choir director did not return. I was asked in late summer 2022 to assume that role after basically filling it to keep things moving.

All of that to say, God will use your talents where you are. And, He will plant people in your life to help you on your personal journey to heaven.