Congress as Choir

When I read in last Sunday’s Plain Dealer about Rep. Tim Ryan (representing Ohio’s 17th Congressional District, which includes Youngstown and Akron) practicing mindfulness, I asked myself how that practice could be shared with his colleagues. I am genuinely impressed with his discipline and commitment.

Here’s what I came up with: form Congress into an excellent musical group - a “Congress Choir” - and thereby spread the benefits of mindfulness to the whole institution.

Singing well together demands intense mindfulness. You have to know where you are, and to listen to yourself in the context of listening to those around you. You must measure your own priorities by the priorities of the whole group.

Every session of Congress - both House and Senate - will begin (after prayer) with a ten minute choir rehearsal. Now it will mostly be a men’s choir, but a good director will find useable musical arrangements until more women are elected. Every Congressperson and Senator will be required to participate.

After brief warm-ups, rehearsal will begin on a single piece of music. It will take some learning, because the members will have to sing at least four parts...unison singing is not expected nor even desired. Not everyone knows how to sing different parts together, but everyone - even our most partisan reps - can learn.

Once a month the two branches will convene in the House chamber to perform the piece they’ve been learning. They will all stand (if able) and with great joy and fervent conviction they will will voice the results of their bipartisanship. Packed galleries, an eager nation, and a hopeful world will hear them via every audio and visual means. We will watch and listen in awe as Mitch McConnell and Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid and John Boehner and the whole of lot of them take deep, deep breaths (just doing that would be a good thing), and lift their voices together in one singular song of praise for the land they profess to love but spend most of their time trying to tear apart.

I would start with “God Bless America.” Everyone at least knows the words, and no one will dare disagree with them. “My Country ’Tis of Thee” will be a good follow up. Their British equivalents in Parliament can sing that with them - different words, of course, but we are used to that. I’d like to hear Congress sing “American the Beautiful,” though the need for “mending flaws” might be difficult for some to admit or for any of them to agree upon. The National Anthem must wait until vocal range has increased significantly.

In the third or fourth month Congress Choir’s selection will be “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” followed by something appropriate in Spanish or an Asian language. Songs celebrating ordinary laborers will frequently be programmed, though union songs might raise some hackles. Songs praising bankers and lawyers will have to be commissioned, but finding funds for that will be easy.

Despite a short time to rehearse, the high point of the season will come in January when the President takes the podium to give the State of the Union Address. The first sound out of the Presidential mouth will be a solo, accompanied by a humming Congress. How sweet that will be when the President is a soprano or alto.

No other solos will be permitted. Divas of both sexes will be discouraged. An occasional small group (called a “Super Group”), such as a quartet, will be tolerated. Mostly, it’s best to hear Congress sing together.

When people sing together it is hard for them to despise or denigrate one another, even when they disagree. Group music-making builds ties that will be broken only with great pain. I suspect that’s why visions of heaven always include heavenly choirs. How else could the Lord possibly keep peace among all the various kinds of saints?

My plan could be derailed by internal jealousy about who gets the best parts, or conflict over repertoire or stylistic interpretation. And more than a few choirs have been stressed to breaking by personal relationships gone awry. But a top-notch director can overcome much of that.

The effect upon our nation and world will be stunning. After hearing Congress sing beautifully together, we will demand legislation as harmonious and satisfying as their singing. They will give us what we demand because, after all, they are primarily politicians, not musicians.

If I were in Congress, Rep. Ryan and I could co-sponsor a bill to create a “Congress Choir.” Until I get there, contact your elected representatives and urge them to get behind this idea. It will hardly impact the budget, and its bang for the buck will be triple forte.