Tales of a Simple Song

A single guitar sounds through the noise. It strums a simple beat over and over again. It plays so long that it is no longer heard, but credited to the rest of the noise around, tuned out and labeled white noise.

A drum beats, slow at first and quiet. It finds its voice and grows louder, beginning to synchronize with the long-lasting guitar beat. Together they continue, complimenting each other in a simple rythym.

As the two go on, a foot in the crowd taps, up and down, up and down. One soul touched, one ear pleased with the efforts of a drum and a guitar.

A bass chimes in, occasionally and meaningfully. It emphasizes certain notes, it contrasts the guitar in its light air and builds depth to the beat that has lasted so long.

People turn as they walk by, they slow, they listen to a few notes that play. They have noticed that the notes, the beat, the song being composed is not for them. The song is played because it has to. The instruments play together because that is what they were made for. They were molded for this reason and with every last effort in their bodies, they will play.

A violin begins to speak, telling a story surrounded in melancholy and hope. It plays on its own, yet somehow is exactly what the song needed. As it speaks, the notes are traced like a scarf flowing in the wind, whipping to and fro and yet beautiful in its graceful moves.

Another guitar joins and its strings are picked carefully. Sounds come from the guitar that are chosen with purpose from unlikely places and fits in unlikely ways into the song, into the ever-growing story.

And now the crowd stands enthralled by the song that has been built into this glorious beauty. They feel like they are seeing something private, yet somehow addressed directly and specifically to them. As they listen they become invested in the crescendos and in the decrescendos. They must hear more, they must listen further into this story that is pulling on them. The song, it becomes a call to live, to be more, to see deeper and to be braver then they would have dared before.

And then a voice speaks for the first time in the song and it says, "Welcome to church."