Monday, May 15, 2006

favorite things

My friend Sherdonna was one of the lovely friends who stopped by la casa de mis padres (you'd think i'd just give espanol up-- "spanish, i wish i knew how to quit you" aigh!!) this weekend, and gave me the most beautiful gift. She brought out the guitar, flipped her gorgeous, brand-new-penny colored hair behind her ear, and opened her mouth, filling the porch with the most beautiful voice that I have ever heard on any human being (I have to add, I have multiple friends with voices like angels, and I'll admit, I have probably assigned this significance to each of them at some point, but I'm an artist-- you'll permit me the luxury of indulging in extreme adjectives)(it's occurred to me that my favorite day would include singing in a choir with just these people...oh heaven. i'm a lucky girl). Anyway.

So sherdonna began to sing, and I began to sing with her, and suddenly we really weren't there on the porch. Sherd and i used to worship on tuesday nights at her apartment downtown, when we were both single and she was struggling with migranes which were a result of a tumor on her pituitary gland. I would sleep at her apartment the night before my wednesday morning drawing classes at Atlanta College of Art, and the two of us, broke and full of hope for the things the Lord was doing in our lives, would drink tea and talk about Jesus, and eventually, sherd would pull out the guitar. it was always like that hymn I love : "heaven came down and glory filled my soul"

sherd can sing harmony. melody. whatever. she's a concert clarinetist, plays every instrument, composes, etc. So we'd start to sing, and somehow she would make her voice fit with mine, going high if I couldn't get there, going low if I couldn't do that-- and something crazy happened with our voices when they met: this spectacular blending of our voices...we would both open our eyes and laugh and say "Did you hear that?"

I know what happened.

God inhabits the praises of His people. His word says that He literally comes and makes His home in our worship. Can you imagine heaven? When we will not close our mouths during worship, where we will never interupt our worship of Him in order to complain or criticize, where we will not compete but blend blend blend to worship Jesus and paint for Him the most lovely sound He could ever hear....

I have missed that kind of worship. I have missed letting my heart go there in worship. It's easy to forget about the sweetness of intimacy that fires true worship in the midst of the busyness of school, work, worship practice, whatever. Here is one of my goals, now that I am done with my undergraduate work: To recapture that intimacy, to bow my heart again at the feet of my Savior and intentionally reinvest my heart in the worship of His holiness and beauty again. It starts with studying His word, private time spent singing to Him, and just thinking of inviting Him into wherever I am, with no agenda. I remember that's where I last saw Him like that...

Sam

1 comment:

Kevin said...

I have nothing to add but to say I particularly enjoyed that entry.