"Sing from the Heart" - Commentary by Tony Seton

Sing from the Heart

It’s probably important to remember from time to time that our country starts with "United States of" instead of just being America. That’s because we’re a conglomeration of a bunch of different cultures. Some are based on geography, some on religion, some on ethnicity and country of origin. Being raised in New England, in a heavily academic community, the culture was mostly non-aligned; unimportant, at least in my circles.

Though my father had been brought up somewhat Jewish, he had dumped that identity -- going so far as changing his last name from Solomon -- and had adopted no other. My mother had been raised without any religion, and so were their children. We were allowed to attend anything we wanted but with a few brief exceptions got a Sunday morning dose of spirituality in a swimming pool or on a tennis court.

Instead they insisted that we be bright, courteous, productive, compassionate and ethical, within reason. This occurred in a community that was Judaeo-Christian but not aggressively so. Ours was an intellectual, not a spiritual rearing.

I don’t remember where, when or why but I learned the Lord’s Prayer, as well as the Pledge of Allegiance, the National Anthem and various other patriotic songs. In sixth grade, I also earned Le Marseilles. I also learned and sang many Christmas carols. Now when I say learned, I mean that to the point where I could repeat the sounds without, in some cases, having a clue what I was saying. Especially in French.

I remember liking from a young age many songs whose sounds I would cheerfully mouth but whose precise, and sometimes general, meaning was never an issue. One favorite was a Thanksgiving song which talked about chastening. I didn’t know what that meant. I had no idea that Good King Wenceslaus was the duke of Bohemia and had been murdered by his younger brother. Or that St. Stephen is now Boxing Day, the day after Christmas.

Actually, I knew very little about Christianity. The basic creche story I got, but not the meaning of it. It never came up. There was no test. My friends didn’t care either.

What mattered, then and now, was the spirit of the season and the beauty of voices raised in song. It is also proof that we can enjoy other cultures without losing our identity.

And that’s SetonnoteS...I’m Tony Seton.