Be "The Roof", Sing "The Roof" by Andrea Ramsey

On our visit to ACDA NW in Portland, Oregon this past month, Jon and I were encouraged to watch composer Andrea Ramsey work with the High School Tenor-Bass Honor Choir. I have to tell you that, whatever's happening in the world today - and some of it is downright nasty-scary - I was sooooo encouraged by her process and their willingness to be vulnerable and create beauty and strength in the world through their music.

Men need a safe place for emotional expression in our world - to express their whole selves: funny, scared, silly, sensitive. Music can provide that outlet, and Andrea encouraged them so skillfully using her composition "The Roof." The text (by Isabel Zacharias ) contains phrases such as:

Be the roof covering all this. Be curve of hands. Be the time between waking and sleeping.

Be the seasons with me. Our winters will be mild as the front porch. Our autumns will be easy.

Our springs will always bloom. Our summers will have breezes full of grace.

Andrea had the young men describe times when they had "been the roof" for others, and times that they had benefited from someone else being their "Roof."

Here is a recording of the Iowa All-State men's chorus singing "The Roof"

Read more about Andrea Ramsey on her blog, here: http://www.andrearamsey.com/profundity-in-portland/