There\u2019s no credit for students to attend, no requirements,\nand no tryouts. They just show up and sing or bring a mandolin, guitar, banjo, upright\nbass, or violin. For a dozen years I\u2019ve done this. We sing old gospel songs,\nover and over, and they light up, relishing the chance to sing or play a break\non their instrument. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just about every week my angel band will sing the old\nfavorite, \u201cMy latest sun is sinking fast.\u201d I look forward to this high point in\nmy week and it thrills my soul with great joy when students sing and perform.\nOur little angel band is unpolished and does not compare with the fine music\nperformed elsewhere on our Mennonite high school campus, but for the weekly\nangel band of singers in my classroom, it lifts me near to heaven. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the third verse, there\u2019s a humorous but haunting phrase\nwhen the song writer heard the \u201cnoise of wings.\u201d My mother taught me to listen\nfor the noise of wings, to look for angelic visits, and not to discount the odd\nor extraordinary ways that God meets us through angels. The kids who sing in my\nroom each week bring me deep joy. I have my dear mother to thank for helping me\nsee angelic visitors, right in front of me, every Thursday at the end of lunch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Second\nstory<\/strong>: A few years ago a young leader in Harrisonburg passed away.\nIn his prime, a great musician, and involved in a number of kingdom enterprises,\nour community mourned his early death. I took off school to attend his mid-day\nmemorial service at Park View Mennonite Church, Harrisonburg. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Angel Band song brought tears to my eyes and caused me to\nweep. Performed by outstanding musicians, I will never forget that moment of\nbeing drawn into an angel band of mourners and musicians, all attempting to\nmake sense of a death that we found hard to comprehend. Deep joy trickled into\nmy soul amidst great loss, borne on the wings of an old traditional song with\nsimple lyrics. In that moment of loss, an angel band of great musicians with\nlilting harmonies bore me away on snow white wings, helping release the grief\nso deeply embedded in my soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Third\nstory:<\/strong> On October 21, 2018, my congregation held a Sunday morning\nworship service to embrace our grief and loss. In the past fourteen months six\nadults have passed away. We\u2019re not a large congregation, and these deaths have\nimpacted us. One of those, my father-in-law, passed away seven months ago, and\nto help me cope with his loss, I chose Angel Band as the offertory song. At his\nfuneral, his sixteen young adult grandchildren sang Angel Band.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During our recent service on grief and loss, I may have\nlearned how the shepherds felt when they were \u201csore afraid.\u201d It was at the end\nof the second verse of Praise the lord,\nsing hallelujah<\/em>, that I forgot whether we\u2019d sung the last verse. The\nrefrain is long and I had been working on dynamics and tempo, and the\ncongregation followed my directing. Enraptured by the soaring sopranos and the\nstrong bass lines, in the last two measures I knew I was in trouble. I couldn\u2019t\nremember if we had sung the last verse. With my directing arm raised and poised,\neveryone stopped. Embarrassed, I had to ask, \u201cHave we sung the last verse?\u201d\nWith smiles and shaking heads, they made it clear that we had another verse to\nsing. I have a new affinity for the terrified shepherds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leading music at church gives me great joy, in spite of my\nmistakes and foibles. Usually I am surrounded by excellent musicians who cover\nmy average musical skills. I am grateful for the weekly \u201cangel band\u201d at church who\nenter in with joyful songs, ready smiles, and sincere affirmations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Join me, during this holiday season, to look for angel bands all around. They are not mysterious, ephemeral, or ghost-like. Angels are those in your world who sing heartily, laugh and listen to you, or who help you deal with the loss of a loved one. Heavenly visitors are near if we can see them, just like the shepherds who saw some sort of an angel band so very long ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Like the shepherds, I\u2019ve had angels visit me. Unlike the startling heavenly hosts in Luke\u2019s gospel, however, I\u2019ve felt the presence of angels in the harmonies of great songs. One that stands out is called \u201cAngel Band\u201d and this song has helped me through difficult times, but it has also sparked moments of sheer joy … Continue reading “Oh Come, Angel Band”<\/span> ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/15i.48b.myftpupload.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Sunshine-Band-October-25-2018-EMHS-1024-1024x683.jpg\")