There are some days when I just wonder, “What’s God up to? What’s the deal here?”
Saturday we attended the senior voice recital of Wilshire’s Katherine Pottkotter, who is graduating from high school and will continue her studies in voice and music at DePaul University. For 90 minutes we were treated to a beautiful showcase of Katherine’s talent singing across genres from Mozart to Sondheim. I knew she was amazing from the many times I’ve heard her in church, but this was over the top.
Katherine was joined by her mother Amy who accompanied her on piano and sang with her, and her sister Audrey who also sang with her and soloed while Katherine took a break. I’d be remiss, too, if I didn’t mention the talents of our music ministers, Ariel Merivil and Jeff Brummel, who not only accompanied Katherine on the piano but also encouraged and shared her gifts with Wilshire over the years. And, while the program said “voice,” Katherine played two pieces on the organ, demonstrating another musical talent she’s developed under the tutelage of Dr. Brummel.
In short, it was 90 minutes of wonderful music, and there was a moment when I had a very clear thought in my head: This beautiful music and this amazing talent to create such beauty is not just an evolutionary invention of the human species. It’s a clear and unquestionable sign of the presence of a very real God who has created not just the music but has given some the talent to create it, express it and share it. And thankfully, this same God has implanted in us some sort of receptors that receive this music that in a mysterious way nourishes our spirit. Indeed, there were moments while listening when I was swallowing back tears coming not just from my eyes but my soul.
We left the recital with perhaps the perfect spiritual fuel we needed to go to where our friend Mary Lynne Bright was spending her final days in hospice care. We had last seen her in the hospital and with her situation changing, we were eager to see her and perhaps share a last little bit of time with her.
Mary Lynne and Preston Bright came to Wilshire in 1990, the same year as me. It took me many years to get to know Preston as more than just our associate pastor on the chancel or a friendly voice in the hallways on Sunday mornings. And for whatever reason, it took longer than that for me to even just meet Mary Lynne. But their reputations as generous encouragers and models of the joyful, Christ-led life loomed large, and beginning about seven years ago when LeAnn and I were given the opportunity to take communion to the Brights several times each year, we were blessed in more ways than we could imagine.
I didn’t know Mary Lynne half as well as many of you who will read this, but the most important thing I learned about her was how much she loved her family, how much she loved and missed the Wilshire community, and how strongly she believed in a loving God that is leading each of us every step of the way on our life journeys. As her health declined, Mary Lynne would say she was ready to be with Preston and in the presence of the Lord, but she wouldn’t rush it either. She was up for the struggle if that’s what God wanted from her. We told her several times she still had plenty to teach so many of us about courage, strength, faith, patience and trust.
On Saturday evening when we got to Mary Lynne’s room, we found her alone and quiet. We weren’t sure but a nurse came in and confirmed what we thought: Mary Lynne had passed away about 10 minutes before we arrived. We were standing on holy ground, but the reality is that was the case any time we were with Mary Lynne and Preston.
So, as I asked earlier, “What was God up to? What was the deal?” I think both of these events were beautiful beginnings. In one case, a beautiful, talented young woman is beginning the next phase of her life with a future that is boundless. In the other case, a beautiful, talented older woman has begun a new phase of her life, one that is eternal and unimaginable. Both embarked on these journeys led by a God who created them, gave them amazing talents to share, and ultimately will be with them always.