Lectionary Reading: Zechariah 14:1-9
I love music. I mean I really, really love music. All kinds, too. Bluegrass, Country, Lullabies, Ballads and even Opera. My favorites are probably Hymns and Anthems. I can't sing worth a darn. Years ago I had polyps removed from my throat and that was pretty much that concerning my singing voice. Most of the time though it really doesn't bother me at all. That's because you see, most of the time I would rather cry than sing anyway. My poor husband has had to put up with my emotional weeping for years. When a large gathering sings the "Star Spangled Banner," I don't sing - I sob. Ditto "America The Beautiful". Ditto "God Bless America". I don't even try to sing them anymore. I just prepare myself by grabbing a handful of Kleenex from my purse and clutch them ready to wipe my face. It's almost pitiful.
JM's beautiful music on Sunday morning is a real challenge for me. Most of the time when we begin our truly beautiful hymns I sing the first stanza and weep the last four or five. No surprises here. One exception is "Let There Be Peace On Earth." I can't sing this hymn at all. In fact I usually start tearing up by just turning to page No: 431. While everyone else sings their hearts out it's all I can do to stifle myself. I simply want to bawl out loud. Sometimes I feel the presence of God there with us so intensely I have to hold on to the back of the pew in front of me to keep my feet on the floor. I almost feel like I'm rising up in the air. Want a one word description for that? "WOW". No other way to say it. Just plain "WOW". All those tears, all that water, all that cleansing. I've learned to rejoice in those tears and let them flow down my face, and I pray through my heart and my soul.
Now, however I should explain there are some songs I must sing. I must sing them because I can't cry with them. Let me hear the first notes of "Lord Of The Dance," and I'm all puffed up and ready to sing all five verses with great gusto. My husband smiles. He knows me so well. Bad voice forgotten, I sing of a joyful Lord and how much He loves me and how much I love Him in return. No tears here. Toe tapping maybe, smiling and joyful faces for sure. No I can't cry with that hymn. I've figured out it's really simple. If I can't sing it, I cry. If I can't cry, I sing it. And how about this: I don't ever have to try and remember which to do when the music starts. He decides all that for me because I believe in Him. How blessed is that? Amen.
Carol Lee Bolling
GOD'S MUSICAL TOUCH
JM's beautiful music on Sunday morning is a real challenge for me. Most of the time when we begin our truly beautiful hymns I sing the first stanza and weep the last four or five. No surprises here. One exception is "Let There Be Peace On Earth." I can't sing this hymn at all. In fact I usually start tearing up by just turning to page No: 431. While everyone else sings their hearts out it's all I can do to stifle myself. I simply want to bawl out loud. Sometimes I feel the presence of God there with us so intensely I have to hold on to the back of the pew in front of me to keep my feet on the floor. I almost feel like I'm rising up in the air. Want a one word description for that? "WOW". No other way to say it. Just plain "WOW". All those tears, all that water, all that cleansing. I've learned to rejoice in those tears and let them flow down my face, and I pray through my heart and my soul.
Now, however I should explain there are some songs I must sing. I must sing them because I can't cry with them. Let me hear the first notes of "Lord Of The Dance," and I'm all puffed up and ready to sing all five verses with great gusto. My husband smiles. He knows me so well. Bad voice forgotten, I sing of a joyful Lord and how much He loves me and how much I love Him in return. No tears here. Toe tapping maybe, smiling and joyful faces for sure. No I can't cry with that hymn. I've figured out it's really simple. If I can't sing it, I cry. If I can't cry, I sing it. And how about this: I don't ever have to try and remember which to do when the music starts. He decides all that for me because I believe in Him. How blessed is that? Amen.
Carol Lee Bolling
3 comments:
Excellent devotion! How about Amazing Grace? I bet you can't get through the first verse of that one.
I am a friend of Anita Farrell and attend Enslow Park Presbyterian. I helped coordinate a wedding a few years ago for a very special friend. A soloist from Cincinnati sang "Let There Be Peace on Earth" so unbelieveably from the choir loft at First United Methodist Church up the street from JM. It was one of the most meaningful songs and who would have thought for a wedding?? You would have cried all through it. He was killed about a year after the wedding in a terrible car accident in Cincinnati, but I know he's gracing Heaven with his beautiful rendition of that song and many others!! Thanks for a wonderful devotion.
Linda Brewster
Tears came to my eyes and soul as I read your devotion. Thank you for sharing!
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