This past Sunday, November 7th, it was Kris's turn to conduct during the Fast and Testimony Meeting. He bore his testimony, as is customary for the member of the Bishopric who is conducting. During his testimony he told of his love for me, among other things, and what he said made me feel that I needed something to describe 'the essence' of Kris.
The obvious choices, in saying who Kris is, is son, husband, father, papa, and Bishop, mentor, hard-worker, son of God and so on. He is loved by so many, and rightly so, but I've never felt like I could express adequately how I feel about who Kris is. Then I read this article by Brother Johnston. The italicized portion is what I feel perfectly describes my sweet husband. I have much to live up to with the lofty perch he places me upon, whilst I truly believe he deserves the one he sits so modestly upon.
"Last Friday, Clive Romney, his wife, Bonnie, and bass player Rob Honey trekked north to perform for our little band of brethren in Brigham City, Utah. Clive, engineer and conductor of the group Enoch Train and a celebrated songwriter, gave us a taste of our own medicine. He sang about shared pioneer heritage.
One song, a haunting little ballad he'd just penned, has stayed with me for days now. It tells of a pioneer wife who was going through hell but kept seeing bits and pieces of heaven.
The woman isn't in denial. She acknowledges the suffering. She's no Goody Two Shoes.
She simply chooses to see the stars, not the darkness.
She chooses to taste the sweet within the sour and hear the masterpiece, not the missed notes.
I think the ability to do that — to feel joy behind the pain — is a spiritual gift, right up there with healing and preaching.
And the people who have that gift live in a world vastly different than the one most of us know. It is world where goodness lies hidden inside of everything — like maple syrup in a tree.
And Clive's song quickly had me bustling to my bookcase for a book called "Here and Now" by the Christian moralist Henri Nouwen.
Nouwen and Romney are singing the same wonderful song in harmony.
Nouwen writes:
"Joy is not the same as happiness. We can be unhappy about many things, but joy can still be there because it comes from a knowledge of God's love for us. … Often we discover the joy in the midst of sorrow.
"Joy is contagious, just as sorrow is. I have a friend who radiates joy. … He doesn't deny the great sorrow that surrounds him, nor is he blind to the agonizing sights and sounds of his fellow human beings, but his spirit gravitates toward the light in the darkness. … There is nothing sentimental about him. He is a realist, but his deep faith allows him to know that hope is more real than despair."
Nouwen ends by saying he used to get distracted by the clouds instead of looking for the sun. Then he realized it was the sun that allowed him to even see the clouds.
So with the gentle pioneer ancestor in Clive Romney's song. Her story both broke my heart and made my heart soar.
Clive says when he records the song he'll send me a copy.
Maybe I can learn it and sing it for others.
It seems to be the kind of thing the woman in the song would want me to do."
1 comment:
You are just as amazing as he is...
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