Psalms 100:2

As I stood in the shower, my thoughts hopping through loop holes in my memories like rabbits being chased by hound dogs through a forest, my mind went somewhere I had not been in years.

The Tulsa Workshop.

All my life my family and I attended this workshop every year, faithfully. I don’t remember one year that we missed this grand event. Throughout my childhood, this was what I looked forward to. This was my Disney World, my summer vacation, or luxurious cruise; this was my excitement.

Explanation:
The Tulsa Workshop is held once a year, every year in Tulsa, Ok. Hundreds, if not thousands of Christians from all over the United States and numerous foreign countries would travel to Tulsa to participate in this workshop.

(pictured is the Tulsa Workshop at a typical evening worship.
This is a sports arena filled with close to two thousand Christians at one time.)

This was the highlight of my childhood. There was nothing better than those four days we spent worshiping with so many Christians under one roof. Many who experienced it would explain it as if they felt like the roof might explode into nothing and God himself would descend from the clouds to take us all back to heaven. It was, in a way, heaven on earth.

I’ve explained all of that to explain this one random memory that came to me today.

Another highlight of our trip from Missouri to Oklahoma was getting to eat at Casa Bonita!

We went there two or three times during our stay, to enjoy the food, play in in the arcade & visit with old friends who had also come for the workshop.

On a typical afternoon, on break from the workshop, there might be hundreds of patrons migrate from the fair grounds (where the workshop was held) to Casa Bonita.

We would all chat in the long halls that twisted and turned as we waited for our turn to get inside. Most visits, the wait was long. So long, that we would have ample time on our hands to chat, laugh, discuss the last speaker we heard or even sing.

And that’s what we would do. We would all sing.

We didn’t sing “Mary had a little lamb” or “She’ll be comin’ round the mountain”, we sang worship songs. Most of us, after all, had just came from the same event, so singing just seemed the proper thing to do whilst waiting fourty-five minutes to an hour for a table in a public restaurant.

Seventy-five to a hundred plus people would singing in four part harmony in the winding halls of Casa Bonita. We never sang quietly, either; we sang with all of our heart, loudly.

There’s a stirring deep within me
could it be my time has come?
When i’ll see my gracious savior
face to face when all is done.

It would start rather innocently as my dad or another man would start us out in whatever song came to the top of his head…

Is that His voice I am hearing?
Come away my precious one.
Is he calling me?
Is he calling me?

It normally worked like a game of “Telephone” as the people at the end initially had no clue what was happening. But within seconds, the entire line would be falling into their parts.

I will rise up, rise up
and bow down
and lay my crown
at his wounded feet

The front hall was an amazing place to sing. The base would boom off of the walls, the soprano soared through the open space, the alto rang like a church bell and the tenor brought tears to ones eyes.

There’s a stirring deep within me
could it be my time has come
when i’ll see my gracious savior
face to face when all is done

It was the most beautiful sound you could imagine within the confines of a public fine dining facility. When one song would conclude, the patrons already inside, sitting at their tables, would applaud.

is that his voice i am hearing?
come away my precious one
is he calling me?
is he calling me?
(calling me)

When our large choir would finally get to an open area where we could see inside the dining hall, there would be people crying, standing, singing along or applauding.
Another song would begin.

i will rise up
rise up
and bow down
and lay my crown
at his wounded feet

Once we reached the line to get our food, we would respectfully stop singing, grab our tray and move to the dining hall to become the audience. Slowly, one by one, the choir would die down and all began eating with their family.

Is that his voice i am hearing?
come away my precious one.

Year after year this would happen. We went to Casa Bonita, stood in line, sang worship songs, got our food, sat down and then enjoyed one another’s company.

I will rise up
rise up
and bow down 
and lay my crown
at his wounded feet

Until one year, the manager came and asked us all to stop singing. He told us that we were disturbing the other patrons. We were disturbing the other people’s meals. That we were being a nuisance to his establishment.
Year after year, we’d go back, stand in silence waiting for our turn to grab a tray and then sit down.
Something was lost.
A beautiful tradition was turned into a beautiful memory.

Maybe when we sang those worship songs, we were forcing our beliefs on the unbelievers. Perhaps we were being rude by being a slowly moving choir in the middle of a public establishment.
Or maybe we were just so extremely happy to be alive and together, that we couldn’t do anything BUT sing out loud.

Maybe what the world needs now is a little less quiet respect for everyone else’s miserable silence and a little more beautiful proclamation of  something so amazing you have to sing!

i will rise up
rise up
and bow down
and lay my crown 
at his wounded feet

Now that I’m older, I realize I live in a very somber, respectful world. It’s been years since I’ve sang worship songs in public for the sheer reason of just to sing. I live in a world where the joy is silenced, the beauty if forced to wear a mask, the love is forced not to show any affection and the saved are forced to pretend their still lost.

And then we wonder why the news only reports on killing, greed, wars, starvation and terrorism. Why is hate encouraged by those around us? Why are they so excited to hear about a star found dead from a drug over dose? Why do they crave to know which president may be assassinated next?

Maybe we all should just stop a moment, wherever we are… and just… sing.

There’s a stirring deep within me.