Beautiful Things

I’ve always loved the praise team at Antioch. It’s never been a group of super cool, young male hipsters who represent only one portion of the church’s population, rather it’s always been a diverse group of musicians representing young, old, male, female, student, professional, married, single, academic, athletic, musicians.

Currently, our team is as follows:

P and DD, acoustic guitar and vox
DA, keys
DO, bass
Drummer Boy, drums
J, R, G, M, and C, vox

Last Sunday night, everyone was at practice except for one person (whom I knew wouldn’t be there because of a super busy schedule). We practiced our music for yesterday, including a new arrangement of “Ancient of Days,” revised a version of “Beautiful Things,” during which I play the xylophone instead of the guitar, and left excited for Sunday morning.

On Friday, DA wrote to let me know that he had strep, so I mentally prepared to play keys on “Beautiful Things,” which meant I would play a simple cello part. What I didn’t mentally prepare for, though, was not having a guitar player (which my guitar player didn’t plan for either) and having to play lead…which I couldn’t do on guitar because it was too difficult…so I had to throw out the cello part and try to figure out something on piano…with no practice at all.

But sometimes things happen and plans are thrown to the wind and all you can do is try your best and pray that things don’t fall apart…

Yesterday, they didn’t fall apart.

In fact, the opposite happened and God created something unexpectedly beautiful out of “Beautiful Things.”

As we played an impromptu arrangement of the song in worship, I found myself covered in Holy Ghost Bumps (otherwise known as goose bumps) while playing and singing along in a way I’d never before played or sang.

It’s hard to explain. I obviously didn’t plan it. But I just felt like I needed to sing--which I'm not talented enough to do while playing the xylophone. So I opened my mouth and sang a harmony that blended with the melody that created a moment that words could not explain.

Patrick said, “I don’t know about you. But sometimes something happens and my only response is silence. That was one of those moments.”

It was one of those eyes closed, lost in worship, spirit-led and moving moments that could not be planned with any amount of planning.

It was one of those moments that could never happen again.

It was one of those moments of which I was privileged to bea part.

It was one of those moments when God was doing exactly what we, the ragamuffin praise team, were singing…

All this pain
I wonder if I’ll ever find my way
I wonder if my life could really change at all

All this earth
Could all that is lost ever be found
Could a garden come up from this ground at all

All around
Hope is springing up from this old ground
Out of chaos life is being found in You

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

You make me new, You are making me new
You make me new, You are making me new

Amen.