Worship Musician Magazine September 2020

way might be the topic of another article. But not now. Perhaps a shorter turn around would have been possible under different circumstances and with different goals. But with our strong desire to produce a musical and visual statement that displayed the highest possible standard of excellence the Church of New Zealand could muster, we were obliged to take the longer road. As my Dad is known to say, “Anything that’s really worth doing is difficult - and it’s worth doing well.” Even though wrestling our own “The Blessing” bison to the ground was difficult, it has been one of the most rewarding projects I’ve ever been involved with. I would categorize those rewards on five levels: 1) MUSICAL & TECHNICAL UPSKILLING I have had a good amount of professional experience with music and audio production in the past. Some with video production too. But through the experience of completing “The Blessing | Aotearoa/New Zealand” project, my understanding of, and skills in both have improved greatly.  2) BUILDING CONNECTIONS An important goal of mine, since moving from Nashville, TN, USA to live in New Zealand in late 2018 has been to make good connections - build relationships - especially with key leaders and musicians of New Zealand’s Christian Church. Like nothing else could, spearheading “The Blessing” project of New Zealand has established and built those connections.  3) CULTURAL AWARENESS Even as an Aussie who only recently began calling New Zealand home, from the beginning of this project it seemed like a good idea to have some of our New Zealand version of “The Blessing” feature some of the Māori first inhabitants’ te reo language. Initially, that seemed an easy enough task: Just get a chunk of the English translated by someone who knows te reo and make it singable with the melody of this song. I figured that I was being quite culturally sensitive to think that way.  Again, how naive I was! As I begun discussions with Māori leaders and musicians, I started to become aware of how the language itself is central to Māori culture. How te reo is spoken or sung goes way beyond mere communication of information. And even though it wasn’t said in so many words, when talking with Māori people I gained some sense of a wariness - a caution - in response to suggestions of partnership with pakeha (white people like me) that has been birthed from a long history of broken promises.   But with care, thoughtfulness and being willing to learn and own my ignorance in this area, here was an opportunity to integrate te reo and Māori culture in a way that might help to develop authentic, honest partnership between pakeha, Māori and all cultures - even if it was just a little. “The Blessing | Aotearoa/ New Zealand” cannot heal all the hurts of the last 250 years, but it might represent a small step in the right direction.   But more than that, integration of some elements of Māori culture into the song and the video was not some lame attempt to “do the right thing”, wave our nation’s indigenous culture like a tourism commercial or to appease critics. No! The Māori influence could be - and in my mind is - the best thing about “The Blessing | Aotearoa/ NZ” and the main thing that identifies our version as distinctly ours and different from the many others.  After some initial resistance, the project received incredible support from Māori contributors. What a highlight verse 3 is! I will be forever grateful for the personal growth I am experiencing in the area of cultural awareness and racial reconciliation through “The Blessing”. A happy byproduct is that my circle of Kiwi friends has grown and diversified! Incidentally, that first trumpet-like sound you hear on our version is a pūtātara (a traditional Māori instrument made from the shell of a giant sea snail) played by a Māori expert in traditional instruments and recorded when I visited Te Āwhina Marae - the Māori meeting place near the village of Motueka. 4) A COMMON, UNIFYING GOAL The Christian Church in New Zealand - like anywhere in the world - for the most part agree on the most important stuff of our shared faith. But there are differences - tensions - even conflict and an inability to agree on some issues between some groups and individuals. But with “The Blessing” NZ project, any differences were set aside - not even considered - as we worked together to achieve a common goal. We found a common objective that we all wanted to achieve - to sing a message of God’s Blessing. Old, young, brown, white, Catholic, Protestant, traditional, contemporary, conservative, liberal, left, right, ripped jeans with oversized T-shirt and choir robes - we all sang together. I love that. I believe our song and video make a powerful statement of strength through diversity - of Church oneness. What a cool thing to be part of. 5) THE HIGHER PURPOSE Have you noticed? 2020’s been a rough year so far. During these difficult times, one of the many positive ways that the Christian Church globally has responded is by producing numerous, virtual choir videos singing “The Blessing” - declaring God’s words over their communities, cities, nations and all people everywhere. I’ve watched and counted close to fifty! I believe that there is a higher, Kingdombuilding purpose to our singing and I, for one, am pleased to be part of it - utilized in a way that I do not understand and cannot quantify, to boldly declare to hurting, unsure people everywhere that God is with us and for us, and desires to bless us with all that He is. Grant Norsworthy founder of MoreThanMusicMentor.com providing training for worshipping musicians. MoreThanMusicMentor.com September 2020 Subscribe for Free... 65

Worship Musician Magazine September 2020 | Page 65