There are no words to capture the day's delight.
It was a room filled with friends, gathered to simply share life.
Sorrow was there, confusion, pain, frustration... and no one was afraid to tell their story; to offer it up, vulnerable, out to a group who has made the promise to help carry the impossible weight of life. And these people do. They carry each other. They have carried me.
But there were also the grateful praises of those who had been in the fire, yet have now made it through, made it to joy and peace and happiness... We were all sharing in the delights of the people who's sorrow had turned to dancing as they happily shared their victories, and they poured warm hope into the cozy circle.
Then, the pain was mentioned. A pain larger than life, a pain no mother should bear, and we gathered around to pray. We were not there to figure it out, to argue the right or wrong, or to prove that there is a God even though there is crazy pain in the world...
We were there to believe in the God of the Universe and invite Him to heal, comfort, and sustain.
And in our midst, He was made known. There was not a dry eye in the room. His power was felt mightily. His promises were poured out and every lie was washed clean away.
For that moment, in that room, He was our vision and what we saw was impossible to explain. It was more a "felt" than a saw, more an experience than a vision. But it was all of us knit together in love. We were not merely bodies, our souls were showing... a brightness that changed the whole room...
And we paused to quietly thank Him. We bowed our heads and made no sound. Into my mind came only one thought, the words of a song.
"Be Thou My Vision."
The room was silent.
I tried to remember all the words and wrestled a bit, "I can't start a song if I can't remember the words!"
The room was still silent.
"Be Thou My Vision."
"But what are the words!? If You want me to sing, give me the words." I couldn't think of them, my hands began to sweat. I couldn't wait, the song was there but I couldn't find the words.
I began. Slowly, somber, fearful to begin something I knew I couldn't finish alone...
"Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art"
I faded out.
I could remember no more.
But the song had been picked up by the others. All the others in the room took hold and carried the song right past the part I didn't have...
"Thou my best thought by day or by night
Waking or sleeping Thy presence my light"
And then, with strength and delight in the sound of our voices working together, we sang out in harmony,
"Riches I heed not nor man's empty praise
Thou mine inheritance now and always
Thou and thou only first in my heart
High King of heaven my treasure Thou art"
It was a spontaneous expression of a group of people with one thing in common: Christ's in-dwelling Spirit.
It was incredible.
I wanted to just sit there and soak it in. No words, maybe more singing.
It was beyond description. It was safety. It was love. It was unity. It was devotion. It was beauty. It was perfect peace. It wasn't something that could ever be recreated. It was a gift from a God who knew each of us was longing for just a touch of His presence. And it was enough.
Then off to our separate lives we went because children needed fed and naps needed taken...
But the experience was still living in every breath we took... when Heaven touches earth, we all walk away changed.
Nothing changed in that Awkward Hallway today. But now, everything is different.
Maybe it is just being offered a different vision, a different perspective, an eternal perspective where God's presence really does shed light into all the darkness and we find the True Treasure, our Inheritance, then we are set free to giddily enjoy it.
It was no accident that we sang that song..
And it was no accident I wasn't able to, in myself, find all the words to sing alone. Oh glorious day.
Eph 1:11 "Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to His plan."
And amen.
