A lighted Candle In A Dark Room | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: A lighted Candle In A Dark Room | Previous Challenge Entry
By Yvonne Hood
01/19/10
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A LIGHTED CANDLE IN A DARK ROOM

“This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine for the Lord all the time.” I heard the voice clearly from somewhere in the back of the church. It was a man’s voice, rich, yet mellow.

“I’ve got to find out who that is,” I thought. “ We need a voice like that in the choir.”
During the church service, I listened intently for the voice. I was sitting with my adult choir and the choir members sang especially enthusiastically. I couldn’t even hear my own voice and I was sitting quite close to it. So, of course, I couldn’t hear the voice either.

When the service ended, a friend from my Bible Study group came up to me. “I heard a beautiful man’s voice in church today,” she said excitedly. “You’ve just got to get him in the choir,”

“Yes, I heard him at Sunday School. Can you point him out to me?” I replied.

“Well, I’m afraid I can’t do that,” she answered. “I didn’t see who it was. I crooked my neck as far as I dared but, well, you know how it is.”

I looked up and down the nearly empty parking lot; but all I saw was a woman leading a blind man to their car.

I had my fingers in bread dough when the phone rang the following Wednesday morning.
“Hello, Mrs. Hood,” said the voice on the other end of the line. “I’m Mrs. cook. We just moved here from Montana and I understand your choir rehearses this evening. My husband would like to sing in the adult choir. Would that be all right?”

Now that’s the kind of phone call all choir directors like to get. Would it be all right? I’ll say it would! I hastened to assure her of this, to tell her the hour of the rehearsal and that I was happy she called.

I eagerly awaited the rehearsal that evening and I was somewhat surprised when the woman leading the blind man entered the room. She came over to me and introduced herself again as Mrs. Cook and said, “This is my husband, Leo.”

“Hi, Leo,” I said as I took his hand. “Welcome to the choir! Yours wouldn’t be the terrific voice I’ve heard so much about, would it?

“I don’t know,” replied Leo, with a radiant smile. “Sometimes I do get carried away.” 
How will He be able to learn the music? I wondered. We sing two or three anthems a month and I know from experience it’s hard to learn that many even for those with 20-20 vision and the anthem book held in front of their noses.

I didn’t need to worry. Leo whipped out a small cassette recorder from his pocket and recorded every time I took the bass section through their part. Sometimes he called out, “Hey, could you back up a bit? I missed some of that.” His was the voice! He sang, not only with rich beauty but with real conviction. My husband, who sat beside him grinned at me and said, “Well Ma, here’s your voice!”

Leo has been a valuable addition to our choir and I don’t mean for his voice alone. He is the most cheerful and optimistic person I have ever met. When he misses a word or a note he will joke about it and say, “I just don’t see as well as I used to.”

Last Sunday Leo stood up in front of the congregation with his choir behind him. He sang the solo verse in the anthem “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” by Don Wyrtzen: “Oh friend do you know Him? Jesus Christ, the Lord.”

One thing is sure. Leo does know Him. It shows in his song and in his life. He might live in a very dark room but his candle is brightly lit.

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