Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Melody (08/24/06)
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TITLE: Motif | Previous Challenge Entry
By Constance Gilbert
08/25/06 -
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Ensemble
As a Children’s Choir Director I’ve watched the eyes of the little ones after singing songs they’ve worked on for weeks. The “I did it ” look accompanied by a quick glance toward mommy and daddy for a thumbs up. The tears on Mother’s Day as the children sang a love song to their mommies while they handed out flowers. Or that ahah moment when the lyrics make sense and the light shines in that child’s eyes. Then there is the happiness in the eyes of an old man with Alzheimer’s Disease. As the children sing, he actually remembers his Sunday School days or his children singing.
All special memories, but there were a few times when I felt as if heaven’s doors were opened as the music drifted toward the throne of God..
Pastoral
It was nearly Christmas when my young son was asked to sing on a children’s TV program. Dressed as a shepherd boy, he sang “I Wonder As I Wander,” while a little lamb puppet looked up at him. The puppeteer made that lamb seem alive, but it was the sweet, pure soprano voice that captured everyone present. Even the camera men lost track of what they were doing. There was no sound in the huge studio when the music stopped. Finally it was the puppet’s tiny voice that said, “I thought we were right there in the fields near Bethlehem.” Indeed, we had been transported through time for a peek at the Christ Child.
B Flat
Years later, I was working with girl who had been told that she couldn’t carry a tune. That was not what I was hearing. She just needed a little tweaking and some confidence. She became the lead voice in our tiny choir and sang several one-liner solos over the next months. Her dad, the Pastor, was called to another city. I wanted her to leave knowing that she could sing. I prayed that a music teacher would take her under wing as I believed that God will use her voice for His glory. I asked her to sing an old chorus from my childhood VBS days.
All the things we had practiced were nearly perfect as she sang, “Altogether lovely, He is altogether lovely, and the fairest of ten thousand, this wonderful Friend divine; He gave Himself to save me, Now He lives in heav’n to keep me, He is altogether lovely, Is this wonderful Savior of mine.” Tears flowed as heart’s were touched for we were in God’s presence and I knew that there were angels among us. I think it was the applause from heaven that broke the silence. Pastor had a tough time going on with the sermon after his daughter left the platform- God’s message had already been told.
Counterpoint
We had been blessed many times during the women’s conference. It was the last session- a time of worship before going our separate ways. Nearly one thousand women filled the auditorium when we were asked to sing two songs at the same time. Part way through I stopped to listen. “This must be a peek at heaven,” I thought as I joined in singing “Springs of Living Water” while the other half of the worshippers sang “In My Heart There Rings a Melody.” It was a rich tapestry in two part harmony.
Spiritual
Pastors are going to be out of a job in heaven. Choir directors? We’ll need to learn choruses that are eons old, but it will be heavenly (pun intended) as we join the saints and angels praising the Creator and His Son.
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