The Unassuming Pianist

Mom offered her skilled art as a lifelong volunteer

I set up a home tribute (ofrenda) to my mom on top of this old baby grand I rescued from a neighbor a few years ago.

Janet Sheffield Hay, who passed on December 15th, was an unpaid/volunteer church pianist. For over 50 years she played for congregational singing (3 church services a week), choirs and seasonal cantatas, ensemble accompaniment, offertories, and singalongs. She was ever faithful and always ready. 

The upright piano in the homes of my childhood was well used. She practiced on it routinely, though not obsessively. At mom’s insistence, my sister and I took piano lessons and practiced on it (I was permitted to drop piano lessons and take up trumpet lessons in 5th grade). Singing gathered ‘round the piano with family and friends was a common happening (with three of my children in the photo).

Mom typically sight read music flawlessly and accommodated some pretty perfectionistic and demanding musicians (pathetic divas) without protest.

I think the fact that she played well and so frequently without identifying herself as a pianist is remarkable. If you didn’t know she was an active pianist, you’d not find out from her.

A few weeks before she died, someone donated a beautiful grand piano to the assisted living facility where she lived. I helped her walk to it and she played it for a short while (photo). I looked forward to more times with her playing that piano, but that one time was it.

I’m grateful for the gift of the love of music and the insistence on practice and learning to play musical instruments that she instilled in me. 

I just want the world to know what she would never tell: Janet Sheffield Hay was an artist at the piano and a faithful church pianist throughout her life.

Janet Sheffield Hay, 1936-2024

 Here is the Obituary I wrote at mom’s December 15th passing

Janet Sheffield Hay, 88, of Indianapolis, died peacefully in her home on December 15, 2024. Born in Albany, Kentucky, on October 19, 1936, Janet moved with her family to New Castle, Indiana, as a child. She graduated from New Castle High School in 1954. 

 Janet was a faithful spouse and devoted mother. She was married to John F. Hay for 62 years before his death in 2015. She was mother to Debbie (Hay) Stine and John Franklin Hay, Jr., both of Indianapolis, who survive her. Also surviving: six grandchildren, 11 great grandchildren, and one great-great grandchild.

 Janet was a pastor’s wife and she served dutifully in that role, offering her gifts as a church pianist and gracious parsonage host across six decades of volunteer service in the Church of the Nazarene. She was honored with the Distinguished Service Award by the Church of the Nazarene.

 Janet’s grandchildren are: Jamie (Britton) Blanck, Josh Britton, Abigail (Hay) Butler, Jared Hay, Molly (Hay) Crow, and Samuel Hay. Her great grandchildren are: Jacob Britton, Hannah (Britton) Slavens, Kobe Britton, Wyatt Britton, Lily Butler, Gabriel Butler, Claire Buter, Owen Crow, Oliver Crow, Blake Hay, and Jack Hay. Her great-great grandchild is Jayce Britton.

 Janet is preceded in death by her parents Willie Robert and Laura Mae Sheffield, brothers James Paul Sheffield, Emery Carr Sheffield, Gene Dale Sheffield, and sisters Willie Mae Sheffield and Myra (Sheffield) Hacker.

The Work of Christmas

 Howard Thurman suggests next steps for holiday revelers

"When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among brothers,
To make music in the heart."

from The Mood of Christmas by Howard Thurman

Sleepwalking Advent

 Shifting gears into Advent may take some time, but don't lallygag too long

I penned this poem about 20 years ago when I served as leader of a local community of faith. Most Christian communities observe the four weeks before Christmas as Advent--days of anticipation and preparation, as if intentionally making room in hearts and lives for what may come. Many of us take the Advent season casually, if we observe at all. This poem is for the likes of us.

Advent begins
in a fog of unreadiness,
as if by dull surprise
or in a twilight zone,
we groggily hang the greens.

Hardly with awareness
much less anticipation
good people sleepwalk
through the prophecies
and Annunciation.

We may finally stir
by the time children sing
“Away in a Manger”
the Sunday before Christmas,
their raised voices spark
a light in our slumbering souls.

Is it only children and prophets
who grasp the urgency,
sense the passion;
whose hearts are rended
and readied by the
promise of Light shining
in the darkness?

Is it only to them that Advent
becomes no mere repetition
of myth-laden past events,
but days of embracing
the living Mystery,
the ground of all hope?

By God’s mercy and grace
children and prophets are
only the first to hear,
the first to recognize,
to proclaim that it is,
indeed, Mystery.

The Light ever dawns,
beaming its rays into the
eyes of the groggiest saints,
the hardest sleeper
among us.

Only those who refuse to rise
amid many urgent shakings
and light flooding their beds
sleep through the
Incarnation.

“Wake up, O sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”

An Adequate Gift

Four enduring stories may help our gift-giving anxiety this season

GIFT ANXIETY  What shall I give?  Will it be enough?  Will it be right?  Will it be what my dear ones desire?  Will they be pleased?  Such thoughts rattle through my mind as I think about gift-giving. I scroll through online items and walk the aisles of stores with questions circling.  You do this, too?  We are not alone.  

Some of my favorite imaginative Christmas stories and songs revolve around gift anxiety--and its resolution.  Leaving alone the more perplexing story woven in the Twelve Days of Christmas song, you may know the following stories quite well.  I recall them here and set them in context of this question: what is an adequate gift?

LITTLE DRUMMER  The most popular of the stories I have in mind is embedded in the song, "The Little Drummer Boy."  It sings first-person of a little boy who has nothing he thinks is fit to bring to the baby who is born to be the King.  "I have no gift to bring," he sighs.  He decides—innocently, naively, hopefully—to offer the only thing he has or can do: he will play his drum the very best he can for Jesus.  In the song, the baby Jesus smiles at him as he plays.  The gift is adequate.

LITTLEST ANGEL  "The Littlest Angel" is a beloved childhood story about a troublesome little angel who, learning that God's Son is to be born on earth, manages to gather together such common things as a butterfly, a bird’s egg, stones, his favorite dog’s collar in a rough-hewn box--things that he loved as a little boy on earth—to offer the Christ child. However, when the glorious light shines on all the other angels’ gift items, the littlest angel’s earthy gift pales grossly in comparison to their magnificent, shining gifts. He feels humiliated and runs to hide. But, to his surprise, his simple choices are things the little boy Jesus relates to and loves. As the Christ child looks approvingly upon his gift, it rises and transforms to become the star above the stable, giving light to all.

GIFT OF THE OF MAGI  "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry is the touching story of a young couple with very limited resources trying to offer each other a significant gift at Christmas. Unbeknown to each other, they sacrifice the best they have for the other's best. She sells her beautiful long hair so she can purchase a golden chain for her lover's valuable watch. He pawns his cherished timepiece to buy a golden comb for her beautiful hair.

IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER  Christina Rossetti’s carol "In the Bleak Midwinter" concludes with a verse that compellingly underscores the only adequate gift we really bring is the gift of our heart: 

“What can I give Him, Poor as I am? 

If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb. 

If I were a wise man, I would do my part. 

Yet what I can I give Him--Give my heart.”

GIFTS WE RECEIVE  Christmas is really not about what we may give to Jesus or to others. It is about what Grace has given to us. All our gift giving is a simply response to and reflection of this gift. Whatever it is you choose to give to others, let it be joyfully and from a grace-gifted heart.

Reflections on Local Affordable Housing

Nine Observations after Twelve Years as a Leader in Local Community Development

I shared the following reflections as I chaired my last Indy East Promise Zone (IEPZ) Housing Committee:

I am wrapping up nearly twelve years of leading Near East Area Renewal (NEAR) and 8.5 years chairing the Indy East Promise Zone (IEPZ) Housing Committee. It has been the privilege and experience of a lifetime. I am deeply grateful to all who have worked together with us to address critical quality of life challenges in our neighborhoods.

During the past decade, NEAR and our community nonprofit partners have been part of unprecedented affordable housing development. Since 2013, our organization alone has developed 150 single family houses for homeownership for low-to-moderate income households. You, our IEPZ partners, have contributed heavily to an increasing affordable housing stock. Thank you!

However, during the past decade we have also witnessed a resurgence in market-rate, privately-developed housing and housing prices escalating beyond the range of middle income households. Now, out-of-state investment groups are driving homeownership and rental housing in our neighborhoods beyond the range of low income households.

As much good as has been accomplished, we find ourselves in a local and national affordable housing crisis. Like never before, it must be all hands on deck from all local development nonprofits and our sustaining and investment partners in order to continue to make neighborhood housing accessible, affordable, and equitable.

As I step away from NEAR and the IEPZ Housing Committee, I have nine brief observations. They reflect my experience. They also reflect my challenge for current housing and community developers. In these, I express a definite bias for (1) very local decision making, (2) asset development among limited income neighbors, and (3) standing up for forward-looking housing policies and investments that involve taxpayer dollars.

1. The nine-year-old Indy East Promise Zone housing strategy has always included market-rate housing, but we have focused primarily on affordable housing—housing that is affordable and accessible for households living at or below 80% AMI. This should continue. Market-rate housing cares for itself. But affordable housing—particularly for homeownership—must be fought for at every level on every front all the time.
   
   
2. As neighbors and neighborhood advocates, we all need to welcome and bring newer neighbors--yes, even higher income neighbors--into our mission as partners with capacities to contribute to the common good. And we need to help our long-term neighbors include and care for newer neighbors. Us vs them must cease. ALL are needed to make a community whole.
   
   
3. State and city funding priorities and policies have directed generous taxpayer funds into apartment dwellings. We need more investment in affordable homeownership. Housing created for affordable homeownership continues to be the best investment for building low-income household assets, creating long-term neighbors, and renewing urban neighborhoods. One thing that will absolutely drive our IEPZ neighborhoods to become mostly higher-income housing more rapidly would be diverting available funds away from affordable homeownership development.
   
   
4. We must do what we can do together to make housing created for affordable homeownership permanent. The days of a mere “affordability period” must end. Taxpayer dollars invested in affordable housing must create long-term affordability. A community land trust is one important strategy. Incorporating deed covenants is another. All tools, policies and investments need to intensify the preservation of affordable housing.
   
   
5. The IEPZ housing strategy is based on the principles of Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) and a priority for building assets that break generational poverty (based on Michael Sherraden's 'Assets and the Poor' research). This is essential in the priorities in the emerging Economic Mobility District. ABCD and asset building need to be upheld and revisited even as folks are being directed into permanent tenancy. Help neighbors build assets out of poverty, not just build buildings that generate more money for distant investors.
   
   
6. Current and future affordable housing developers within the IEPZ should take their cues primarily from within our neighborhoods, from our neighbors, and our immediate community-based organizations. Create priorities and strategies from within or else we will become a bit part in others' intentions. Wag the dog.
   
   
7. More needs to be done to connect renting neighbors to affordable homeownership opportunities. We need to work this continuum cooperatively and aggressively. Apart from supportive, special needs and senior adult housing, our collective rented housing portfolio should all be seen as “homeownership incubators.” Intentional strategies, relationship-building, information, and preparation with renting neighbors is required by all players to make this continuum real. All must help make this happen.
   
   
8. Diversity, equity and inclusion strategies continue to be valid and critically needed in housing and all community development planning and implementation. Not because it’s required, but because it’s good for all and sets our neighborhoods and organizations on a trajectory that attempts to resolve the consequences of our sad history. 
   
   
9. Finally, our good IEPZ housing priorities and strategies need more than attention and good management. We need leadership for our community regarding affordable housing. And we need leadership for the community at large. Be a diligent project or organization manager. But also make yourself a leader. Explore and affirm what you believe. Base your work in a “community first” outlook. Stand up for all that is critically needed to continue to build diverse, affordable, livable neighborhoods. Do what you can from the point where you currently serve. And from there, dare to act courageously for the bigger dream.
   

John Franklin Hay

https://johnfranklinhay.blogspot.com/2024/12/reflections-on-local-affordable-housing.html

See also: 'Rebuilding Urban Neighborhoods from the Inside Out,' which I wrote in 2013 as my initial 'community development manifesto.'

Preparing to Bicycle the Erie Canal

 Buffalo to Albany, 360 miles, 7 days

I’m getting my Surly Long Haul Trucker bike ready. Assembling essential—minimal—gear. Checking out electronic gadgets. Double checking travel accommodations. Riding hours in conditioning.

On Saturday, September 28, I fly to NYC. The next day a friend and I will drive to Albany and board an Amtrak train to Buffalo. On Monday morning, September 30, we will set out for a 7-day, 50-70 miles per day eastbound adventure along the historically significant Erie Canal.

A few things I’m reflecting on as I prepare:

1. This ride covers terrain and a trail/tow path that is well settled and populated, retracing an early 19th century industrial endeavor that opened “the west” for goods and hundreds of thousands of people. Like most of my cycling adventures, I will be traveling well-established, historic terrain. It’s not new, but it is overlooked and currently undervalued in significance.

2. I think of my ride along another well-established path a few years ago: The Great Allegheny Passage from Pittsburgh to Washington, DC. Part rail trail and part C&O Canal tow path, it took us back in history and showed us industrial and mindful feats that date back to George Washington.

3. Thousands of cyclists have covered this distance along this trail, but it will be a revelation to me. I have hardcopy maps and online GPS guidance. I have recommendations for lodging, food, sites. There is no mystery. And, yet, there IS mystery and revelation and wonder to be anticipated. What will I experience for myself, for my life, that may help me see differently, better, deeper? And how may this experience contribute to me that I may contribute to others and the community?

4. I am riding 360 miles this coming week aware of a critical juncture in my life: I am 65. I have announced my retirement from leading a local nonprofit. By year’s end, I will be anticipating a next chapter of work/service (what Bill McKibben talks about as a “third act”). I will be reflecting on this transition and an unknown future as I crank along. May fresh openness, perspective, insight, and clarity emerge along the way to Albany.

5. It’s been five years since I attempted a multi-day, long distance ride like this. In 2019, I pedaled over 300 miles in Ireland. That was pre-pandemic. So much is different now. The world seems to have changed. I have changed. I am full of anticipation and hope for good ride—uneventful physically and positively eventful emotionally. I’ll lean into the experience and dare to embrace what it brings.

I intend to post periodically along the journey. Stay tuned.