[Dialogue] [Oe List ...] FW: Entertained by Angels

[Marge Philbrook]

What a great way to start my day! My mood will be grateful today.   I 
loved your story.  Finding gratitude in the midst of all our blaming and 
complaining is so welcome. Marge Philbrook

hypnocenter wrote:
>
> Thought some of you might be interested in our eldest daughter's 
> latest communique about the downtown church they're involved in 
> Columbus, Ohio. Let her know if you want to hear from her further.
>
> Del
>
>  
>
>  
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> *From:* Eileen Howard [mailto:eghow at columbus.rr.com]
> *Sent:* Monday, September 25, 2006 6:13 PM
> *To:* eghow at columbus.rr.com
> *Subject:* Entertained by Angels
>
>  
>
> It has been too long since I've written about our work down at the 
> Church for All People -- I've thought many times of events to share 
> but then never get them written down.  Here is a report on one such 
> event, today.
>
>  
>
> ENTERTAINED BY ANGELS
>
>  
>
> An angel joined us at Open Mic today.  His name is Dave.
>
>  
>
> On Mondays between 4 and 6 we do a variety of music programs at the 
> Church for All People.  We have guitar lessons, voice lessons and an 
> Open Mic event where anyone can perform.  It sounds great on paper, 
> but in practice it is sometimes chaotic and messy.  I find it 
> challenging because we often don't have consistent guitar students 
> from week to week;  I'm overwhelmed by voice students and can't figure 
> out a good way to help so many people at so many levels of skill, not 
> to mention that some of my students have mental or emotional 
> challenges that make learning difficult; it is hard to maintain 
> attention and focus during Open Mic.    Today we had the added fun of  
> an air conditioner leak in the music closet which meant we had to take 
> everything out and wipe stuff off and find another place to store it 
> (the Pastor's Office -- where else?) 
>
>  
>
> I have to admit I sometimes find Mondays challenging and 
> I occasionally ask myself if anyone is actually learning anything!  
> (other than me learning to deal with chaos and learning patience) 
>
>  
>
> But.. I have seen the power of music at work over and over again here 
> and so I also trust that God is transforming lives.   In her book 
> "Traveling Mercies", Anne Lamott talks about how when she was strung 
> out on drugs and alcohol, bulimic and suicidal, she would stand at the 
> back of a church and the music would wash over her and heal her, even 
> before she was ready to listen to any sermons or talk about Jesus or 
> any of that stuff.  
>
>  
>
> Today while we were moving stuff out of the flooded music closet, a 
> guy came in who I hadn't seen before.  He very much seemed the usual 
> "hard living" kind of guy we see around the Free Store.  Probably 
> homeless, wearing worn working clothing.  He was medium height, 
>  white, looked to be late 50 or 60's with a broad friendly face, and 
> some white tufts of hair sticking out from under a red stocking cap. 
>
>  
>
> He said "are you open?"  I said, "it depends.  The Free Store is 
> closed" (which is what I assumed he wanted) "but we'll be doing Open 
> Mic here in a short while.  You're welcome to join us".  "Open Mic", 
> he said, "that's what I want". 
>
>  
>
> Now, I have to confess, I assumed he was really there to have a cup of 
> coffee and a place to sit down.  That happens a lot and it's fine.  So 
> I finished wiping out a storage bin and then asked if he wanted coffee 
> and I made a pot.  I really expected he would stay awhile and then leave.
>
>  
>
> We got our equipment set up and Chris started the Open Mic.  Someone 
> is selected to be the Emcee, usually a youth, and he or she announces 
> the acts, who sign up on a piece of paper.  RoRo (aka Ronald) a very 
> tall African-American youth played Emcee.  After a couple of acts, he 
> called David Grey, who turned out to be the guy I figured was just 
> there for the coffee.  He picked up the guitar and sat down.  Then he 
> said "I'm a stranger and you welcomed me in from the cold." (obviously 
> speaking metaphorically since it wasn't actually cold!)  "The Bible 
> says you should welcome strangers, for you never know when you might 
> be entertaining angels unawares."  Then he spent some time tuning the 
> guitar-- appearing to be very comfortable with the instrument.  Then 
> he started playing a standard blues pattern with energy 
> and competence.  He sang some lyrics that seemed to be loosely based 
> on "Jesus is on the Mainline".    
>
>  
>
> Tell Jesus what you want
>
> You gotta call him up
> And tell him what you want 
>
> Jesus is on the mainline
>
> I can't remember what other lyrics he sang, I was too overwhelmed by 
> the presence of God and the sanctity of the moment.    I truly felt 
> that we were not only entertaining an angel, but being entertained by 
> one.  This wandering traveler (later on that's how he described 
> himself) found a temporary home in this building and shared music with 
> us.  It felt like sharing communion.
>
>  
>
> Then RoRo called up Thomas Cole.  Now Thomas started by singing with 
> the praise team over a year ago.  Since then, Thomas has taught 
> himself drums, personally saved up money to buy a bass guitar for the 
> program, and has taught himself some basic chords and notes on a small 
> keyboard he also purchased.  Thomas has very little income and has 
> made some sacrifices to buy these items.  He has composed several 
> songs which he has performed at Coffee Houses in the past, so it was 
> not a surprise that today he chose to sing a song he wrote. 
>
>  
>
> Now, a "real" musician would find this song pretty basic.  It only has 
> a couple of chords and Thomas uses the pre-set R&B rhythms on the 
> keyboard plus a couple of notes to create the song.  But it has some 
> good style, the lyrics are pretty good, and most importantly, THOMAS 
> WROTE IT HIMSELF. Thomas has not needed anyone to give him permission 
> or lessons to jump in and try anything and everything musically.  But 
> in addition, today the song had some extra elements -- extra notes, 
> and a combination of R&B and hip-hop phrasing that made it clear that 
> he was also progressing musically in his composing.
>
>  
>
> Again, I sat and felt the presence of God wash over me as I was 
> entertained by the angel Thomas.  I sat in awe of the power of music 
> in Thomas' life and in my own.  Music and drums came before spoken 
> words.  Music is in every culture and used in the worship experience 
> of every culture on earth.  It is the language of God, I think. 
>
>  
>
> There were more moments -- Mimi who lacked confidence a year ago and 
> now is our star singer; Aretha who forgot her lyrics but said she was 
> doing it for God so she didn't care what anyone else thought, and so on.
>
>  
>
> Later this evening I was alone and locking up at church and was 
> surprised to see Thomas hanging out by the laundromat.  He was 
> surprised I was still there too.  I told him how much I admired what 
> he has done musically.  He told me he feels I have been responsible 
> for making that happen.  He said, "ask anyone, I never stayed still 
> for anything before this.  I tried lots of things, but you remember 
> that first day how you told me if I wanted to sing with the band I 
> could do any of that other stuff anymore?"  He was remembering that we 
> had talked about being an example to the congregation which means not 
> doing drugs or getting drunk.  I barely remembered that conversation.  
> "Well I stuck here, and it has kept me away from all that junk.   
> You've pushed me and kept me going and getting better."
>
>  
>
> Now, I have no illusions -- Thomas was thanking me, but it wasn't just 
> me.  Chris Sunami who runs Open Mic, and Big D who plays guitar, and 
> Dee Shepherd who loaned her Conga drum and Chris Ciampa and Ed Moed 
> who've encouraged Thomas to compose -- so many other people all 
> contribute to the music programs.  But at that moment I was also 
> grateful to Thomas for his encouragement of me in my ministry and 
> calling.  It is sometimes very challenging, but tonight I feel like 
> God has put me in so much the right place at the right time to make 
> some small contribution.
>
>  
>
> I also feel like music is like a tree here, growing many branches, and 
> it also feels good not to have to control where those sprout. Thomas, 
> Chris Sunami and Big D have formed a "house band" for Open Mic and 
> there is also a "youth Band" .  Yesterday Donita talked to me about a 
> group wanting to form a choir to do African American music (and they 
> have a volunteer leader who is not me!!!).  Wow -- how great that all 
> these possibilities are budding and I don't have to be in charge of 
> them.  Now that also means I have to relinquish some quality control, 
> but I'm really beginning to think that the quality has little to do 
> with it.  The musical spirit is sprouting and bursting into song all 
> over the place.  Off key, sure, but full of joy.
>
>  
>
> Thursday night is our first Coffee House of the Fall from 6-8 p.m.  
> Please feel free to join us at 895 South Parsons Avenue.  Open mic is 
> also open to anyone and if you feel you can teach or help out in 
> someway, that's great too.  (we always need $ for guitar 
> lessons, guitars and music, too!)  Worship is at 10:00 a.m. on Sundays 
> and 9:20 am. on Tuesdays.
>
>  
>
> Have a blessed week!
>
>  
>
> Eileen
>
> (as always, if you wish to be removed from this email distribution 
> list, just let me know)
>
>
>  
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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