Sap
So yesterday, at the end of our last service, we were singing “How Great Thou Art” and it was everything I could do not to start bawling. We started on the third verse, and – without warning – these big tears formed. I am not really sure what that was about. Maybe it was that there were 175 voices in unity booming out this majestic hymn and I was just struck by the beauty of it all. Perhaps it was the baptism of an adult convert to the faith, or maybe the fact that the past couple of weeks have been very emotionally taxing with all the stuff going on at church and at home with transition. Maybe it was seeing my wife holding the baby that we feared we could never after two consecutive miscarriages, or watching my son as he served as acolyte.
But maybe – just maybe – it was a moment of grace, a reminder from God that, “Yes, I am still here.”
April 23, 2007 at 6:43 pm
That hymn never fails to make me cry. Partially because it was my dad’s favorite and we sang it at his funeral, but moreso because I can remember him near tears singing it.
And yeah, there is that little reminder that seems to come whenever I hear it.
April 23, 2007 at 10:49 pm
I recently wept during the same hymn. Despite doubt. Despit cynicism. Despite myself and my failings, my soul still sings. Somtimes music can remind us of the greatness of God in a way that nothing else can.
April 24, 2007 at 1:17 am
I know what you mean. There are a few hymns that choke me up every time we sing them.
April 24, 2007 at 7:35 am
Maybe it was all of those things…
April 25, 2007 at 5:15 pm
I had an experience like that at an Easter service a few years back. One of my friends accused me of being a closet Pentecostal.
April 26, 2007 at 2:49 pm
I wish I cold cry that easily. I let my heart get so hard over the years I know God is waiting for the most inopportune time for it to finally break.