Our Glorious Cantata

I had the great joy of attending our church's Cantata today. One of the "side effects" of having the gift of empathy is managing not to cry too much in the face of such beauty. The voices were amazing, uplifting and reverent, but equally moving were our lay reader and our translator of American Sign Language each contributing a wonderful gift of communication.

"Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth;
break forth into joyous song and sing praises!
Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre,
with the lyre and the sound of melody!
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD!"*

Although I struggled a bit to keep my two young children in check through the service, they too made wonderful contributions in their own ways. My 4-year-old son, who never allows me to sing and covers his ears when we sing Happy Birthday, was bouncing up and down on my lap and clapping during "Joy to the World" among others. As for my little daughter, when I whispered to her that the choir was singing about baby Jesus, she said in 2-year-old speak, "I like to sing about angels." How can you not cry with joy!

*Artwork - Angels Playing Violin by William Adolphe Bouguereau; Scripture - Psalm 98:4-8 ESV