The Impact of a Story or Song
In case we ever lose sight of the incredible effect that a story or song can have on us, a little story from Jeff…
Recently I was invited to share with a local youth group. After some warm wonderful greetings we gathered around the piano in the sanctuary and I shared a few songs. As soon as I started “Beggatting” there were smiles all around, they knew it right away.
I sang “Tell Me a Story” from Jesus Stories and again it was familiar. We talked a little bit about songwriting and how it all happens. And then the conversation drifted back to the shows: Oooh…Ooo…do you remember how to play “Beans and Spices.” Another girl asked rather softly… what about “My Little Jacob”…. I pulled it from my memory somehow and sang a little as she closed her eyes and rocked back and forth. This particular group of senior high were 10 & 11 years old when we did Jacob’s Ladder and then subsequent shows and they were right in our wheelhouse for impact. And impact it did. Much more than I knew.
I did a little snippet of “Get Mary Off the Donkey” as I explained how one line of lyric can be the whole song… and then I shared just a little bit of the song and story of “The Sun is Going Down” and it was quiet… as they took it all in deeply.
The girl who asked about “My Little Jacob”… I wondered to myself why? Why that song? And then I learned that it was the 10 year anniversary of her Mom’s death. Her Mom passed away on a quizzing trip in Ohio. Her Mom went away and never came home. So for a few moments I think that “My Little Jacob” was her Mom rocking her to sleep and holding her….”
I’ll hold that memory for a very long time.