“There is a spirit in all music, the spirit has the ability to conjure up thoughts even pictures of something that happened or you wished would happen or you anticipate happening. Music has the ability to create ideas in you and me. It has the ability to encourage us to be creative.” ~ Maya Angelou
Sunday (March 6) I was a broken woman during worship. I was still dealing with jetlag. I had just returned from an 18 day journey that touched so many emotions. I was tired but glad to be home. As the congregation sang the words to "Oh How I love Jesus", "What a Friend We Have In Jesus", and "Jesus Loves Me", I was weeping. There is a spirit in all music. I was reliving and seeing so many things of these past many days. The Spirt of God hovered near me as I began to process. I wasn't able to listen to the sermon that followed our singing. I was writing my own thoughts so I would not forget this moment. It was precious to feel the Spirit and to know that I have so much to be grateful for. It is all because of Jesus.
Here are the things brought to mind:
- recalling the tender accounts from Joseph about his early life and being uprooted from his home during tribal clashes in the 60s. Because of his own experience, Joseph is the clerk of the Friends Church Peace Team that is working to bring peace and reconciliation to today's tribal issues. I wept for Joseph and the many who struggle in their own land because of deep divisions.
- recalling the enthusiasm of the teachers who are writing lessons and teachers' guides based on the preliminary Peace Curriculum prepared by the George Fox University Team. I beamed with pride for them as Amber had told me how very talented they are. In our country, corporations have staff to write curriculum. In the Western Province of Kenya, Quaker teachers are writing curriculum.
- recalling the overwhelming awesomeness of the savannah of Africa, the vastness of it all, the beauty of God's creation. It was beautiful to see the herding animals living docilely among one another and a reality check to watch the cheetah stalk the young wildebeest.
- recalling the wantonness evidenced in the city of Amsterdam. We were advised to remain on one side of the street because of the activity on the other side. We saw marijuana seeds/plants for sale at the Flower Market. There was a kisosk with information for gays/lesbians. This is a society that needs the message of Christ.
- recalling the witness of a child, Anne Frank. The museum has an interactive question period at the end of the visit to the home. It shows the many faces that discrimination has today. How can one recall the two year hiding of a young Jewish girl who ultimately died in a concentration camp and disregard the situations that our children face today? It was sobering. "Who will all our sorrows share?"
- recalling worship just two weeks earlier with 3,000 African Christians, knowing that at the moment I am singing at Sycamore, tens of thousands are worshiping in other places. It is humbling to see oneself as only one among billions who love and worship God. "There is a name I love to hear, I love to sing its worth; It sounds like music in my ears, The sweetest name on earth"
- recalling our experience of God's care and protection when we were utterly lost for hours in the savannah of the Masai Mara where the lions roam. "Precious Savior, still our refuge"
God is good and God is in control of all these situations. In those moments, I believe I felt the heart of God and I wept for the things he weeps for. He gave me a tiny insight into His great love and care for even me.
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