Tomorrow's Such a Daily Day

Good morning!  Thursday is here again!!  Welcome.

 A few evenings ago there was nothing of any importance on the one hundred and whatever channels that is cable television, so I popped in a DVD.  I have gathered, over the years, several DVDs that  have come out of the Gaither organization, most of which are his Homecoming videos.  However, he has produced others…among which are several in which he sits down with an artist and does an interview, interspersed with video segments of that artist performing in a former homecoming video.

He has interviewed the Statler Brothers, Anthony Burger, Mark Lowry and others.  One of the people he has interviewed is Sandi Patty, known in southern gospel circles as “The Voice.”  Sandy has retired from active singing and touring now, but in her day as a gospel singer was without compare.  And the songs she sang had a message that couldn’t be mistaken…a message of hope, grace, and trust.

One of her songs was one called, “The Stage Is Bare.”  The idea for the song came to her and others one night after an especially fun and joyful concert.  She and others had just come out of the dressing room area onto the stage where they had performed just awhile ago.  The stage was bare.  No amplifiers, no stage props, nothing was on the stage that had been there just an hour or so before.  The room was quiet…everyone had left.  The only light on the stage came from a bare bulb that was burning.  In theatric circles, it’s known as a ghost light…a single bare bulb that lights the stage when everyone goes home.  If you want to know more about the tradition of the ghost light, you can Google it. My purpose for this thought isn’t to tell you about the ghost light…it’s to tell you about a song that was written when Sandy saw the light on stage in an otherwise empty theater.

I’ll share here a portion of the lyrics to that song.  Listen, and then we’ll continue our conversation.

 It was so easy to call you Lord when a thousand voices sang your praise.  But there's no one to hear me now—So hear me now, be near me now.

 Lord now’s the time I need your song to give me joy and certainty when no one else is watching me.  I need you more than words can say…tomorrow's such a daily day.  And so I need to feel you then holding my hand—Please hold me then—I need you, Lord

 OK, this is Jay again.  Did you get what Ms Patty is saying in this song?  It’s really easy to worship and serve the Lord when you’re on top of the world and there are untold numbers of others joining in the praise.  But it’s a different story when we are alone…when we’ve gone on the downhill slide off of the mountaintop.  And the day that’s coming is just such a “daily day”…an ordinary, regular, routine day.  No crowds.  No mountaintop experience.  No special feelings of joy and love…it’s just an ordinary day.

And it is on those days, during those times…those days and times when it seems that the ordinariness and routine will never end…those days and times when life seems to fall apart all at once…those days and times when we feel the most alone and vulnerable…that we really need our Lord to hold our hand and lead us through the day.  Because as the song says, “The stage is bare, the crowds are gone.  Lord, now's the time I need your song to give me joy and certainty when no one else is watching me.  I need you more than words can say.  Tomorrow's such a daily day…

 

Blessings…