" It was a moment overflowing with hope and the world felt united . God ' s presence was alive in me and in all of us ."
Faith & daily life
At the heart of our faith is the belief that God meets us where we are in all the places and relationships in which we live , work , play and relate . We pray , support and encourage one another as we grow deeper in faith and learn to trust God with our whole lives . Some of us are new on the journey ; others have been at it for awhile . All of us can find inspiration and hope in the stories of our fellow travelers . FAITH & DAILY LIFE will be featured monthly with stories of God at work in YOUR life .
God ' s Eyes by Linda Madson
One of the many times I ’ ve felt beckoned to see the world through God ’ s eyes was in the year 2000 . I was lucky enough to travel to Venezuela with the Minnesota Chorale to sing at an international choral festival . On the first night , hundreds of us gathered in a concert hall to be welcomed and to do some singing together . It was magical . Thousands of people from all over the world , singing in their native languages and new ones , celebrating music , each other , life .
One performance stood out more than the others , however , and with good reason . The Venezuelan Youth Symphony came on stage in a rather chaotic way . Over 100 children , most of whom live in poverty and travel hours to rehearse , finally got set up in front of their conductor , who at the time was 19 years old . God ’ s eyes may have known what was coming , but our eyes did not . Turns out , it didn ’ t matter what we saw . It mattered what we heard , which was perfection . Precision , musicianship of the highest quality , passion . From kids — some whose feet couldn ’ t reach the floor as they held their cellos . It was a moment overflowing with hope and the world felt united . God ’ s presence was alive in me and in all of us .
" It was a moment overflowing with hope and the world felt united . God ' s presence was alive in me and in all of us ."
After days of intense rehearsals , we all gathered again for a grand finale concert . Our featured piece was Leonard Bernstein ’ s Chichester Psalms — a challenging , emotional piece which ends with Psalm 133 , v . 1 ( sung in Hebrew ):
“ Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity .”
Those words , sung with people from literally all over the world , accompanied by these gifted children … we were the example of what we were singing . I was absolutely filled with the Holy Spirit . God surrounded us , and I felt like a part of something that was actually changing the world .
I hope in that moment , God ’ s eyes saw the world as it was created it to be . That ’ s how it felt to me .
Next month : Lila Mayes from the Minneapolis campus .
4