Love Song From a Friend

Today I attended my first Costa Rican worship service at the Mount of Olives church in San Jose. We received warm bienvenidos, full of hugs and kisses and wide smiles from strangers who refused to stay strangers for long. The pastors wife, Lidietta, opened the service with prayers and announcements...everything in Spanish. Then we began to sing. Joyfully. We clapped. We swayed. We grinned. We swam in the river of God. All around us, people called out Hallelujah and Gracias Senor (that is, Thank You Lord). As the songs changed, someone would project the words on the wall behind the one-man-band and his three lady singers. I was able to pick out a few words, getting the gist of each song and trying to sing along in my somewhat lame, unmusical way. None of the songs were familiar to me, but it did not matter. We were having FUN and grooving along with these groovy Costa Ricans. Then the tone changed and suddenly, it almost seemed spontaneously, the whole congregation began belting out our own beloved How Great Thou Art. The only words I could pick out were Mi Corazon in the place where my mind was singing Then Sings My Soul, but there was no doubt we were singing one in the same, beautiful song. Although we were uttering different words, the common language was one of pure praise and thanksgiving. It seemed that every person was singing it out loud, from the heart, eyes closed, hands raised. The music, and perhaps the Holy Spirit, surrounded us and filled every corner of the room. I will never be able to adequately describe the moment when I remember it in the future, but it was Big. Throughout the day, I heard snatches of conversation between team members...Didn't you love it when they sang How Great Thou Art... wasn't that awesome....I just wanted to cry...It opened my eyes....It was so beautiful....And it was. Although that song was obviously a gift to every person in attendance, I secretly think it was meant just for me.