Dear Friends,
It is almost 12 o'clock at night and I am sitting in a restaurant on Manhattan Beach Boulevard with my fellow choir members. We just finished our concert at the 47th annual Gospel Music Workshop of America. We had a blast performing three songs for a roomful of other choirs and gospel music enthusiasts. Before we went up, our director and musicians emphasized the need to give it our best performance thus far, because, in the words of one of the choir members,"This is legit".
We really felt the need to prove ourselves. I'm just going to say it: We killed. The crowd loved us. One man said,"You were off the
chain. You were off the Jesus chain!"
They responded immediately to the familiar 'O Lord We Praise You'. I think they loved the complex choreography of 'No More Burdens'.
Our pies de resistance is always 'Psalm 150'. The operatic and intense vocals coupled with
the intensity of the choreography had the audience really engaged. They gave us a standing ovation.
We also had tons of fun praising the Lord with the other groups. We danced and cheered with them all night and finally left at 11 o'clock. So now we are celebrating here at the restaurant. We are joking and laughing as we wait for our food, waving aside the thought that we will be waking up at six tomorrow.
Thank you, Jesus, for this day!
Love,
LucyRose
Please tell those of us who are old and far away what "The Jesus Chain" is.
ReplyDeleteMore thoughts about Jesus Chain. Seriously -- we would like to know because we don't. But while we wait...
ReplyDelete1) The Jesus Chain is the chain gang of Jesus. As his bondservants, we are linked together in His service, laboring for Him. You have just come from such a time of service.
2) The Jesus Chain is a gene sequence. Your protein chain (metaphorically) is a sequence of components such that you bear an extremely close resemblance to the Master.
3) The Jesus Chain is a franchising outfit, like a chain of fast food restaurants or retail stores. The franchising concept is that there is one primary model and the rest are copies of the model, and you are clearly copies of the perfect model, Jesus.
4) The Jesus Chain is a range of mountains. You have had a mountain-top experience, which is evident in your joy and worship. Coming "off the chain" means you are coming down from the spiritual pinnacle but you are still sharing the "high" with the audience.
5) The Jesus Chain is a reference to paper chains, the kind made by school children when they decorate their classrooms or a family room. Imagine that Jesus wants to ornament a place of worship. Your shining faces and beautiful music are like festive ornamentation that Jesus Himself might make. Since paper chains are made from simple materials, the analogy is very fitting because your celebration is very joyful but you are all individually simple human beings.
6) The Jesus Chain is a communication chain, like the people who link together in a chain to play the telephone game, or a series of stations that send a message along a network. Either way, someone who has given a message "off the chain" is bringing a message passed down from the original source.
7) The Jesus Chain is an ironic twist on the concept of "chain smoking." The chain smoker has an addiction; he depends on his cigarettes and is constantly smoking. If you are off the Jesus chain, you have been depending on Jesus and constantly communing with Him.
Your mother thinks that you misheard, Lucy, and that he was speaking of the "Jesus train." She continues; "Of course we all know that you are actually off the Jesus bus. You are either on the Jesus bus or off the Jesus bus."
If it is true that you misheard the man, then there are many more possibilities beyond "Jesus train."
I like
"Jesus brain" and
"Jesus Jane."
LucyRose' Dad ur Ha-Larious!
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