My church spearheads the effort in community, among all other churches, to end homelessness. That is why I found such a deep connection to the ministry at FUMC and made my relationship with my faith so much stronger. One of the homeless we served began to give back to us by volunteering and later one day decided to join our choir. This guy walked from Alabama to Florida and made a home on the streets of Miami being fed and clothed by my church. I was so incredibly impressed with the natural talent this guy had. He wasnt much of a musician but he had a sharp ear and a beautiful quality to his voice. I insisted he sings solos and gave him a list of hymns that I thought would be particularly beautiful in his voice. After time passes and he makes wonderful friendships with people in my church and feeding the homeless with us, he decided to travel again, by foot, to California. He has made stops to many Methodists churches along the way and volunteered at their facilities to attend the homeless and participate in choirs. We all prayed for him often because we were worried about his trip and if he would be well received at other locations. Its been months and he sent back a letter to our church. He often crossed my mind and I said a prayer in passing. It was the first I had heard from him. Pastor Cynthia read his letter aloud to the congregation, comparing his journey and new found faith to the meaning of Easter and Resurrection, to be made new. At the end of it he wrote to Pastor Weems to be sure to thank me, that my singing and support was an inspiration to him. Thats when the water works started, (and right before I was supposed to sing!!! I couldnt get the lump out of my throat!) I had an incredible Easter because I realized that the slightest connection you can make with any single person can change them in ways we cant begin to comprehend, and Im happy to have helped a great guy with a tough life feel a little stronger. Music can heal. Carl wishes everyone a Happy Easter from Missouri. :-]
Posted on: Mon, 21 Apr 2014 01:34:32 +0000