In one of those life is a musical afterall moments, I was driving into work today, through fog so thick I couldn't see the tail lights of the car a quarter of a mile in front of me, when track 9 of a new CD kicked in, and I was immediately transported to another time and place.
The CD came in the mail yesterday, a gift from Eddie over in Hickory, NC. Eddie knows I like bluegrass so he sent me the CD. I enjoyed most of it on the drive home last night but hadn't gotten all the way through the playlist.
So this morning, I popped it back in and cranked up the volume. I was just outside Aberdeen when track 9 started to play. And there I was, driving along, tears streaming down my face. I haven't heard the tune for decades. Not since I was a college coed.
The only kind of CDs around at that time were Certificates of Deposits. I didn't even have an 8-track tape deck in my car. Still the song was one I would play over and over again on the turntable. Remember those? The kind where you had to lift the needle, find the groove and reset it, gently, if you wanted to rehear a tune. I think, but I can't be sure, that the album was one of Evie's. Remember her, of 4'11 fame? I used to listen to her all the time. I even went to Portland to see her in concert. I loved Evie.
And I especially loved this tune:
In shady, green pastures, so rich and so sweet,
God leads His dear children along;
Where the water’s cool flow bathes the weary one’s feet,
God leads His dear children along.
Some through the waters, some through the flood,
Some through the fire, but all through the blood;
Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song,
In the night season and all the day long.
Sometimes on the mount where the sun shines so bright,
God leads His dear children along;
Sometimes in the valley, in darkest of night,
God leads His dear children along.
Though sorrows befall us and evils oppose,
God leads His dear children along;
Through grace we can conquer, defeat all our foes,
God leads His dear children along.
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I can't even read the words to this tune without crying. Okay. So I'm a sap. I admit it. Still it's a beautiful confession of God's faithfulness to us.
I think, maybe even more so, to those of us who grew up fatherless. Here I am at work, tears still streaming down my face. I can't help it. This song touches me in deep places.
The message is only made more meaningful by the passage of time. I think of my friends who are now walking through the floods and the fire. Connie comes to mind. As does her husband Ed, as he looks for a job. Then there's Gordon, whose calls I miss every single day, and Pam, who is caring for her dying husband. And Jane who starts chemo tomorrow. I think of Mama and the struggles she's had of late. And Shari whose house burned down.
Yesterday, I got a phone call at work from a man I don't know. He reads my column. He was a Marine in Vietnam. He told me about a buddy of his who was killed, who left behind a wife and newborn. He said whenever he thought of his friend throughout the years, the picture that came to mind wasn't that of his buddy but of that little infant in her mama's arms.
"I think all of us who lost buddies in 'Nam always wonder how our friends' kids turned out," he said. "You make me think that maybe she turned out alright. I think your dad would be so proud of you."
And this morning, listening to track 9, I thought of that call, and my friends who are now struggling and I thought these lyrics were especially encouraging:
Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song,
In the night season and all the day long.
That man's call was the song that came from great sorrow. As much as I hate to see my friends suffer the way they are now, I know, the truth of "God gives a song."
Thank you, Eddie, for the CD. Now, would somebody please send me a box of tissue and a make-up repair kit? Good grief, it isn't even 10 a.m. and my make-up is totally ruined for the day.
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