Unseen yet present...

“A man’s true wealth hereafter is the good he

does in the world to his fellow man. People

will say when he dies, what property has

he left behind him? The angels will ask,

‘What good deeds has he sent

before him?’”

- Mohammed

Prelude…

Chuck departed this earth on September 2^nd in the year of our Lord, twenty sixteen. We were neighbors and met from time to time, but aside from his outgoing and enthusiastic personality, we did not know each other well. He had a good life, a productive life, and in the end was taken with merciful quickness from the ravages of cancer…in his home…his faithful wife and family with him.

A collective goodbye…

They entered the sanctuary from the right side, those twenty-one musical instruments. They came single file in the most ordinary looking shapes and sizes. None of them appeared particularly remarkable.

Most looked well used by those souls who played them.  After some brief words by the minister officiating the memorial service, his son stepped in front of the musicians and turned his back to those of us assembled. Pointing to the pianist, and nodding to those he would direct, they stood. He looked at them, they to him. Lifting his arms, they began to play and share the precious gifts God had so mindfully placed within them. The instruments? Their voices. They opened their mouths, took a collective breath and began to sing.

These mostly middle-aged singers came to say farewell to the man who had encouraged, cajoled and disciplined them over decades of love and phrasing and expression, sharing the special gift he had been given…a teacher and mentor. His spirit helped untold numbers of young people look into the fields of their minds to find what he knew was there. He prospected for gold, and he found it.

Chuck touched many students through his love for music, giving them voice to places inside themselves they had not known existed. He taught them to sing, not just to perform, but to come alive, first within themselves and then to those that heard them.  He understood the scripture that it is better to give than to receive because he understood its paradox. If one truly gives of themselves, they cannot help but receive…a double blessing.

There is something about music that touches our souls in ways that we cannot describe. It is a compelling force that transcends culture and language and politics and religion and every other thing I can think of.  It builds bridges between us that little else can accomplish. It is a force that dives deeply into our souls and evokes feelings we do not have words to express.

This is embodied in the parable of the three servants, all of whom were give a certain amount of talents (money) by their master. One was given ten, another five and a third, one. The master then went on a long journey, and upon returning went to see them.

The servant given ten had doubled the investment to twenty. The servant given five had increased his to ten. BUT the servant, who had been given one, buried it in the ground in fear of losing what he had been given.  The master rewarded the two that had worked to increase the value of their gifts, but the servant who did nothing was sent away.

The point of this story is that when given gifts, they are intended to be grown. They will not do so without action. Often, however, people need help and guidance to find the talent hidden in the fields of their minds. That requires a teacher, a mentor also gifted as he or she searches for the buried treasure.

As it turns out, my neighbor Chuck was one of those willing servants whose gift was to help others find theirs. While I did not know him well, I knew him much better by the end of the memorial service I was honored to attend. The choir was students from different choruses he had led over the decades. Men and women, nondescript in appearance, filled the room with tightly woven harmonies. It wasn’t just that, but they sang with passion and love in honor of a man who had literally changed their lives.

And so this group of former choral students came to say goodbye to their friend and mentor in the way they knew best. They sang. The sanctuary was filled with classical, gospel, and popular evangelical music…soaring and soul touching. It was an open demonstration to all in attendance and to ‘their master’ that his investment had not been in vain.

I wept as they sang, feeling the richness of their faith and love. The investment Chuck made in the lives of these people was as evident as a shooting star in the heavens, streaking brilliantly across the sky. His faithfully exercised gift planted so diligently from his garden into theirs had brought forth fruit radiant from his labor.  The pebble dropped into the pool of their minds growing in ever expanding concentric circles into the universe.

I walked away from the memorial service feeling privileged to have felt the results of the work to which this man dedicated his life. Those to whom he gave, responded in kind, and while Chuck has shed this mortal coil, his gift remains alive to touch others hearts as it did mine.

- ted