Memories and Hope

Since I am not burdened by the apparent requirement to post, as happens sometimes at the links right, the two weeks or so since last posting don't particularly bother me. It has been a busy time here, and blogging is really only a sometimes hobby of mine.

My parents flew to Columbus this evening for a celebration of a different kind. The church we attended when I was a child, and that I later attended in my college and graduate years recently experienced the passing of the choir director, a woman well-known in the church for her iron rule of law over the singers and her dramatic flair. I don't suppose that the choir would be considered one of the best in the world, but her arrangements were always good, and the song choice was excellent. There is something of home in that church, and not a little part of that was her banter with the pastor and underlined comments in the music. (As an assistant sound guy, I was privy to a few of them when recording the Easter contatas.)

One of my earlier memories is learning "Come, Christians, Join to Sing" as a member of the children's choir, and singing it now stirs those memories back into existence, like an old picture or long-forgotten scent.

The church body has obviously aged, but the place is otherwise immune to the passage of time. The smell is the same as it used to be, even the chairs are the same model (if more recently purchased). Walking into the sanctuary today is to become a young child again for me.


Her passing in many ways sets my heart yearning for the Grand Reunion, of which I have had only glimpses and shadows in my short life. I would have liked to have gone to the funeral, to mix again among my betters in the faith, to have some company walking along the road. That fellowship is rare in my experience—indeed, it's one of the reasons I even write here. There is such a happiness in that limited and brief impression of heaven.

It is late here, and past my bedtime. I meant to write here more of the hope of Christ, but perhaps it shows in my brief comments. "Sing, choirs of angels!"