Music Memories

Today I took a walk down an "aural" memory lane. I spent two days in a little storage room filled with tattered old hymnbooks, old typewritten chorus books, cassette tapes and other assorted items. A filing cabinet contained years and years of church choral music & books, which have seen very little use in the last few decades. As I opened each folder, the notes and melodies floated from the pages and came to life and I could hear the rich sounds of the choir singing in our little church where the acoustics were so good that no microphones or booming speakers were necessary.
The children's musical book, "Bullfrogs & Butterflies" reminded me of the "Sonshine Singers" choir that I led for many years. How keen the kids were as we presented it several times. "Friends" was a youth production presented thirty years ago when our daughter was in highschool. The robust Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus" just jumped off the page. The full harmonies of "O Lord, Most Holy", "Sanctus" and "With A Voice Of Singing" rechoed in my ears.

It was enjoyable to recall all those beautiful songs and good times, but I came away with a deep sense of sadness and loss.

Somehow, I felt like I needed to find a graveyard for these rich musical treasures, thank God for the precious memories and say my last goodbyes.

Healing

In my Bible reading through the book of Matthew & Mark, I am amazed again at how many times Jesus healed the sick, whether they were blind, lame, demented, dumb, deaf or even dead in some cases. I'm sure he didn't heal every single person in the crowd because everywhere he went, people came in droves with all manner of ailments. But there were many who were miraculously freed.
Oh, I wish, so much, that it were so today, right now, right here!

The Dash

In this last week, I attended two funerals of wonderful ladies who fought a hard battle against that awful big C. Both have won and gone triumphantly, to their heavenly home. Their life stories were told by family and friends, of how they touched so many people in such wonderful and amazing ways.

When I wander through a cemetery, I always take note of the years engraved on the headstones, but never really noticed the dash between the years. 1948 - 2008.

A poet, Linda Ellis, has written a beautiful, thought-provoking poem called "The Dash".
Here are a few lines from it.

That dash represents all the time
That she spent alive on earth.
And now only those who loved her
Know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not how much we own;
The cars, the house, the cash,
What matters is how we live and love
And how we spend our dash.

So, when your eulogy is being read
With your lif'e's actions to rehash
Would you be proud of the things they say
About how you spent your dash?

(you can "google" the entire poem on line)