Day 1: Saturday, 6/1/2024

Welcome to the 2024 Youth Music Mission Blog!

The Music Mission has begun. This year is a little different from years past. We are leaving a week later than we have before, and we are starting on Saturday with three local concerts. We gathered this morning at 9:30 at the church, rehearsed for a bit, had a quick lunch, and then headed out to sing three local concerts: The Mansions of Decatur, KingsBridge, and Clairmont Place. I didn't get any good pictures at the Mansions. It was our first concert, and because one of the buses didn't start at first, we were a smidge behind where I wanted to be. But we had Faith (literally...Faith is the name of the bus didn't start, but eventually it did). The picture above is from Kingsbridge.

You'll get used to seeing pictures of visiting. It's one of our favorite things to do. In the past, most of our visits have been with folks we will likely not see again (out of town, and we won't head that way again for a few years). But these local concerts are different. We will go here each year. In fact, one of the residents of KingsBridge came to me today and said she came last year and was already looking forward to next year. We have a number of church members who live at each place as well, and it was good to see them.

Special picture...I took a quick selfie with Larry. Larry is one of the most dedicated members of the choir I've ever met. He moved to KingsBridge recently and was at our concert!

The schedule for today was just about perfect. We got to all the concert venues about 20 minutes before concert time, set up, and then had just a couple of minutes before the concert started. So I had everyone just sit down where they were. It made me feel better when they all got up and were creeking and moaning like us old folks!

The room at Clairmont Place was smaller...

It felt REALLY small when we started visiting...

One thing about moving to a church that isn't too far from the church you used to serve is that you get to see some old friends at local concerts!

After Clairmont Place we headed back to the church to touch up a few rough spots in the music and talk about tomorrow...er, today. It's now midnight. We ride at dawn. Ish. We show up at the church at 7am, and we'll be on the road by 7:30. Our first concert is in Little Rock at 5:00pm, so we have no time to lose!

I'll close tonight with the "About the Youth Music Mission" section of the program. It tells you a little about our concert program...and a lot about why we do this. Tomorrow is the next day!

Peace and love!

John

About the Youth Music Mission

We tend to think of heaven as a distant place. High above us...beyond the skies. And hidden from our view. It’s the dwelling place of the almighty. A destination of our dreaming where there is no suffering. No pain. No hunger. No loneliness.  Only eternally unflinching love and bliss where all are known and loved.

We contrast that place with the world around us. More and more it seems like it is coming  apart at the seams. All around the world there is war and famine and misery. We bury our faces in devices meant to connect us only to find they drive us farther and farther apart. We feel as far from each other as we feel from a place of peace. As the great theologian Yoda once observed, “Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering.”

Jesus taught us to pray that God’s kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven.  This world—with all its faults—is also the  dwelling place of the almighty. God created it and us. God came to live among us. God continues to live in us. We see glimpses of God now and then. Reminders of who we are. Reminders that we are known and loved after all.

The glimpses call us to be instruments of God’s kingdom—instruments of peace. They call us to seek out the places of hatred, injury, and despair and plant seeds of love, pardon, and hope. Living into that call is a choice each of us makes on our own. But when we do, when we commit ourselves to the vulnerability of service, we quickly find others. Like-minded and committed, we sing with one voice. We surrender ourselves to the Great Mystery. Love takes root, and hope. Healing begins.

Yes, there is a song for all of us. A song of love and trust. When love and trust reign, the rest falls away. Dust under our feet. We sing as one. And when we sing as one, we are one.

This is why we sing. We aren’t selling anything. We aren’t here to argue or convince of this truth or that. We don’t need to agree or even agree to disagree. As we travel we toss seeds of love and peace to the wind and let them fall where they may. And maybe, hopefully, earth becomes just a little more like heaven.

Thank you for listening today, and sharing your stories with us. It is a joy and pleasure to be with you!