Few are sleeping, we're only about a third of the way along in our flight. This is my 7th trip and the 13th Cathedral in which  I will have been fortunate to have sung with these choirs. Each flight is similar: excited anticipation prior to take-off, then the slow settling to the close seats, the food (surprisingly tastey this trip), then the resignation to the length of the flight. More than any of that, I sense a feeling of eagerness to share with new listeners our gift: the sounds of praise and adoration to the Holy Trinity. The songs aren't new, but our singing them will be to those who hear. There is a certain eagerness for those whose live we will encounter at Exeter Cathedral to feel the words of the hymns, psalms, canticles and anthems that will be familiar to their ears, but coming from our united voices. We will walk the path of countless choristers before us and lend our voices to the aural history of that sacred space, and it will be a sound uniquely ours; that blend of these particular choristers at this particular time. There is no way to tell who will hear these holy sounds and maybe, just maybe share the joy of God's love with us as we sing. We pray that the Holy Spirit surrounds us and finds hearts to open and fill with that love. An opportunity for a connection awaits, may we find the Grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ to rise to that noble task. Thanks be to God for the challenge,  may we serve Him with our best.

Richard W. Giles 
Member of the Men's Choir 
and sometimes Chaperone