Every Time We Stand in Front of our Choir

In bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley's autobiography, he speaks of a defining moment that signaled the process of generativity is his life. At the age of eight, at the Point Truth Primitive Baptist Church in Scott County, Virginia, Stanley's father put his hand on the young singer's shoulder and asked him to line out the hymn for the congregation to sing on one particular Sunday:

"On this Sunday morning, my family was sitting all bunched together on the pew-bench like usual: my dad, Lee, and my mother, Lucy, and my older brother, Carter, and me. There was a song my dad wanted to lead on. It was from the old Goble hymnbook: 'Salvation, O! The Name I Love.' It was one of his favorites, but he never could remember how the song started out. So he laid his hand on my shoulder and he called on me to start the song, to line it out for the congregation."

Stanley continues:

"So I took a deep breath and sung [sic] out the opening line the best I could."

For Stanley, this was the culmination of a mentoring process that had occurred by observation, week in and week out, until a moment of opportunity and affirmation was provided by his mentor-father.

We experience generativity and the mentoring process passively as conductors every time we stand in front of our choir. Whether it is for pedagogical purposes related specifically to breathing or diction, or whether it is a mentoring process that has more to do with values and life balance, the process is ongoing and undeniable.

This is what humans do for each other, whether passively or intentionally. The process is universal. I draw attention to this process to expose the heresy of any thought of a "self-made" individual.

According to Berthrong, we learn two things from traditional Chinese teachings about creativity. First, creativity is the nature of the cosmos, now and forever. However, simply being creative isn't enough. Human beings must find a way to be creative in a just and appropriate fashion, utilizing all the wisdom, discernment, compassion, and humaneness at our disposal. Second, persons are not isolated individuals disconnected from other humans and the earth itself. We must test our creativity with a concern for the insight that we are part of the whole, and that we have a responsibility to the past, the present, and the future, in assisting to preserve the best of our experience. We have a responsibility to assist in the flourishing of all creatures, great and small. The earth is our home, and we have a tremendous need for true creativity in becoming good neighbors for all our relations.

When we look beneath the creativity and genius of the great conductors, or when we observe the breakthroughs and innovations of industry leaders, we will inevitably discover the process of generativity, as axioms, lessons, experiments, and insights are passed on from mentor to protégé.

Let's keep this thought on our mental dashboard every time we stand in front of our choir.