This past weekend I lost a friend. I had not seen John in many years, but I always held our friendship very close and always spoke very highly of John in any conversation. Not that his name came up in many conversations…why would it? Unless you consider - as I do - prayer as conversation. And John’s name came up every now and again during those times.
John was my Sunday school teacher when I was 14. He didn’t teach me anything extraordinary - on the contrary, the class was fairly ordinary as I recall. Except for one particular Sunday. John played this song Godpleaser. As a young teen dealing with ADHD I admit I didn’t always pay attention in John’s class - but when I heard that song I leaned forward in my chair and just starred at that cassette player wide-eyed like I’d never seen or heard anything so sweet.
You see, music has always been something very special to me. As a child growing up I never read much - it wasn’t enjoyable like so many of my friends said it was. Rather, reading was an arduous task set upon me that I learned not to enjoy. (Later as an adult I discovered why.) But I’ve always had an appreciation for music that goes beyond simple enjoyment. I hear in music what many people describe when they read a good book. That they are taken into the world created by the author. And that’s how I often feel listening to music - lost in a world of colors, harmonies, imbalance and counter-balance - I can ‘see‘ the music. (It goes well beyond that description - but that’s really the best I can describe how music effects me.)
When I heard that song by Petra it spoke to me like no other single piece of music had - it tied the beliefs I had always believed to this idea of faith I had been struggling with. I was just so enamored with what I heard that I needed more. Eventually I think I owned well over 600 CCM tapes - and now who knows how many CDs I have not to mention mp3s in iTunes (46.7 Gigs of music or 6874 songs - I checked).
Love for music is something God gave me - a gift I am so grateful for I generally can’t express just how grateful I am. But John - with something as small and simple as playing one four and a half minute song - was used by God to help mold who I am. And for that, I am forever grateful.
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