Amy

Long after the other bands had begun their trek home Amy came out to sing.  Her lyrics reflected the honesty of someone on a journey who could sense and empathize with the experiences of others.  On the surface the appearances told a story.  Her songs told of something more different, complex, and real.    In the midst of an hour long set there was one song which more than anything else reached out and caught me unprepared.
 
The song spoke to a God involved in a journey.  It was messy, tough, and painful.  It was full of the stuff human journeys always include – relationships, obstacles, and difficult moments.  Yet the lyrics and music didn’t call out to in despair and anguish.  You could feel more than hear the resiliency which comes from surviving with hope.  This was real.  It was personal.  The testimony came as a reflection which could have been a recent as the day’s beginning.  
 
We found ourselves compelled by the testimony.  The song was like no other in the set.  It drew each into a reflection, uninvited yet welcomed, unfamiliar yet like an old friend, far more personal than anyone had given permission for it to be.  Amy sensed the audience’s reaction.  She explained she had recently gone back to church.  This song reflected her experience even though the church was full of formality, ritual, and strange proceedings.  
 
In the midst of gritty New York, “there's a day coming when the mountain of God's House will be The Mountain—solid, towering over all mountains.  All nations will river toward it, people from all over set out for it.” (Isaiah 2.2)  I may not see it coming but it is arriving.  I often find it hazy beyond description, yet everything seems to move towards its center.  Even in the pain, uncertainty and death I have come to accept there is a beacon of hope.
 
One singer is on a honest pursuit of an experience with Divinity, if only to give meaning and purpose to what is.  This is a calling we share today; now.