I Love
I have a lot to say about love and love in my life, but I have to start here with today and the church that I serve, Trinity Presbyterian. I recently lost my accompanist. It is the third time in four years. The first was for a very good reason. She grew in our church and readied herself for grad school at Notre Dame. Now she is in her doctoral program at the University of Kansas. I say I lost the most recent accompanist because that's how it feels when people leave for the wrong reasons. Still, it happened and I was left with no accompanist for New Year's day.
I just couldn't ask Joan to play. Her fingers hurt so badly these days. That left me and the Holy Spirit to make it work. I prayed all week for God to bless this effort. I am not a piano player, but I do play and I love playing. What happened Sunday was both uplifting and humbling. I played music that I knew would stay under my fingers - for the most part. Joan played the Gloria Patri and the Doxology.
It was a struggle to find an anthem that would fit the message "A Brand New Heart." Finally, I started searching web sites for Gospel hymns and songs and found a listing that looked promising. There, I found a song by Sally DeFord, Created In His Image. The text is absolutely beautiful. http://www.defordmusic.com/createdinhisimage.htm
Geoff talked about our hearts, sometimes broken, sometimes cold and hard as stone. If we have a heart of flesh, we might be hurt, but the benefits far outweigh the pain. We prayed for new hearts, hearts of flesh.
The outpouring of love during and after the service was overwhelming. Joan checked on me before church to make sure I was okay. She sat with me at the beginning of the service to play the Gloria, but it was obvious she was there to care. Pastor Jenn and Laurie waited in the sanctuary until the last note was played. Dale came up to the piano during the postlude and gave me a thumbs up. So many others thanked me for the music and said that it was uplifting.
My playing was far from eloquent and certainly not perfect. This church has heard some of the very best pianists out there, but they accepted what I had to give and cherished it more than I ever expected. As usual, the Holy Spirit took what I had to offer and lifted it in praise to heaven.
