Five Golden Rings

I spent last weekend going to Christmas concerts. When I say that, I mean I went to the same Christmas concert 5 times. It was the annual Christmas concert of our church and since I was speaking I needed to be at all of them. When I told a friend I was going to be at all the concerts he suggested a way to sneak in for my time but avoid having to sit through the whole thing each night. I considered that and could have pulled it off but I am so glad I didn't. There is something that happened to me every night as I listened to the concert. There was an anticipation, a sense of wonder and finally a wave of joy that would wash over me. I loved it. Part of it is because our people work so hard and are so incredibly gifted the production itself was extraordinary. Part of it is the beauty of the music and this particular time of year. And part of it was watching the people as they were singing each night. I loved to watch their faces. They are faces I know, faces with stories and each story is a story of a person who has had a collision with a Savior. So, each night I watched the faces and could see traces of Jesus. That was the best part of the concerts and the part I looked forward to each night. By the end of the evening I found myself singing with all the other faces for all I was worth to the God who one day decided to hit me with such force the impression is still there. I think the imprint comes out most when people sing. I think if I could choose to have any gift it would be to have a voice that matches the impression Jesus left the day he first told me how much he loved me. I had the exquisite pleasure of spending 5 nights hearing the voices of my friends who have the gift I long for and it was absolutely wonderful.