Merry Christmas everyone!

Last night I went to midnight mass at St. Charles in Tacoma with Sergio. I've always been the butt of jokes when it comes to singing, and as I was taking my best stab at "O Come All Ye Faithful" I realized that the Church is to blame.

I've recently discovered my singing voice and have even been allowed to sing lead on a song and sing back-up on a couple songs with the band. However, I was not sounding so great at church.

I was reverting back to my youth: Being surrounded by a bunch of out of tune white people focusing on singing the right words in time, not really focusing on the key or melody. I never noticed what I actually sounded like because I was always drained out by the volume of the congregation. Plus, I never really cared how I sounded because I was always uninterested in the music. Ally always says she considers converting to the Baptist Church, just for the music. I think God would understand.

Not being a great Catholic, I have only attended church occasionally during the last couple of years, and it's helped my singing. I could actually hear how horrible I sounded, picked up a guitar and figured it out.

So, Pope "Eggs" Benedict, let's tackle this problem. Hire an Elton John or Paul McCartney and let's get some new music penned -- something with a beat, please. It might be a stretch, but the church might be to blame for generations of white people lacking rhythm, too. The classics ("Amazing Grace," "On Eagle's Wings") are great, but often challenging to sing. Let's get some easier songs together with smaller melody ranges. There's a reason why no one can sing "The Star-Spangled Banner." The range is huge.

For God's sake, let's get some music together that's not going to hurt His ears when it comes from untrained voices. It's not my fault I couldn't sing for so long, I blame it on the Church.