Charlie's Choir

I was the music director
At the church
Where Charlie would go
Every now and then

I always understood him
To be a sort of--

In and out kinda church guy

You'd seen him on holidays
And baptisms
Things like that

But not regularly

I didn't judge him for it
I'm only there because they pay me
I'm not the most religious person

I'm just mentioning all that
Because
Well, I don't have many stories about him
Because
I didn't see him all that often?

The one story I can tell you
The one I remember
Is the Christmas when his daughter got sick

It was one of those one minute he was fine
And the next--

We all just loved Callie
She was just a wonderful little girl
So we were all so concerned for her

And even though I'm not all that religious
I remember praying for her
Praying that she'd be all right

Well anyway, we had our Christmas service
And I remember seeing Charlie there
Which I thought was...

I expected him to be in the hospital
With Callie

I didn't know that she had made it
And that she was going to be fine
And they were just doing some final tests
And all that

I just thought...

I thought maybe the worst had happened
And Charlie was here in church
To do some reckoning with god or something

He was sitting in one of the back pews
About an hour before the service
And there weren't many people there

I went up and sat right next to him

My mother was a--

You're probably saying
Why's he telling us about his mother but--

My mother was a really great lady
And she always taught me
That a kind person never lets somebody sit alone

She used to say that sometimes the nicest thing you can do for somebody
Is sit next to them in silence
Just to let them know you're there

So I went and sat next to Charlie

He didn't look at me
But after a minute or two he said--

'My first wife used to try and get me to pray.  That was always a big argument between us.  That I wouldn't pray.'

I didn't ask him why he didn't pray
People have all sorts of reasons

'Tonight,' he said, 'My daughter beat the odds, and I feel bad, because I prayed for it, but that's the first prayer I've ever said in my life.  I feel like I got lucky.'

I remember feeling grateful that Callie was okay
And I said--'Maybe you did, Charlie.  Maybe you did get lucky.  But if you want to say 'Thank you' you can say "Thank you."  That's the best kind of prayer.'

I could see he was taking me
For some kinda Jesus freak
So I just said--

'Look Charlie, "thank you" doesn't belong to any kind of religion.  It's really for you.  Sometimes things overwhelm us and giving thanks is a way of letting it out like crying or laughing or singing or--'

...That's when I invited Charlie to sing with the choir that night

I believe
And this is just my belief but--

I believe there's nothing better for the soul
Than a roomful of people
Singing

So that night
I had Charlie
Sing

And you know
It wasn't that hard to talk him into it

I think he was on autopilot
From over twenty-four hours
Spent in a hospital

He was like a zombie
Or something

But as soon as he was surrounded by all those people
And we were singing 'Do You Hear What I Hear--'

Look, I don't care who you are
'Do You Hear What I Hear' is really something

And when we got to that line that goes--

'A child, a child shivers in the cold/Let us bring him silver and gold'

I could see that black cloud over Charlie
Lift right up and out

You know my mother was the one
Who taught me about music

How to play the piano
How to sing
How to teach others to sing

And she used to tell me all the time
How it was a gift you had to share
That it was sort of like a responsibility

And I never wanted to hear that
I just wanted to show up
And make some quick cash
Playing 'O Holy Night' and 'Ave Maria'

After she died
Music was just sort of a sad reminder

But helping Charlie that night
Seeing that weight lifted from him
Just by being able to surround him with music

That made me remember my mom
And it reminded me about sharing the gift

I know it's not much, but--

That's my Charlie story