Choir Eyes

This morning I could see faces I’ve never seen before, glance on people
who come through the doors of the church, and leave without a spoken word to anyone.
I know they don’t want to be seen, but I can see them now. What are they thinking when
their eyes are closed but no song is coming from their mouths?
Are they just listening for God?
Something happens to them when they are there,
something that gives them life,
and always brings them through the doors again.

From where I stood, I could see the children holding their daddy’s fingers, and moving
back and forth impatiently.
They reach no higher than a belt buckle. They do not know the meaning
of the words that ring around them, and yet those words are slowly wearing away the layer
on their small hearts, and becoming part of them.
Though they whined and fussed, and anxiously
kicked the backs of their seats against the rhythm of the music,
I know that one day the songs of worship will reach them profoundly, truly.
I know these few little ones will one day help lead our church.
They hold the future of the body in same hands that often
lead them to trouble during worship.

This morning I could see the running blush and tear-struck cheeks of the woman
who forgot her Savior years ago, and she lifted her hands to beg Him to take her again.
I could see the elderly man dressed in tweed gray and removing his hat
in submission as he used all the strength he could to sing those sweet old hymns,
while his voice crackled with age. I could hear the crying baby in the very back, watched
as his mother swayed him back and forth to the soft rhythm of worship
and whispered the words against his ear. I could see the quiet boy in front
standing alone, while praise filled every part of him until he could not help
but lift his hands.
And I could see the oneness of the church,
the unity of the body,
the bride of Christ.

“We need to remain one in the Spirit and one in the Lord, even when we are in different places. And what pulls us together is the reality of a risen Savior; we are all listening to the same Lord, and any shred of unity that we have is because of Jesus.” -Pastor Scott