Old Tunes and Old People

I stood and sang to a group of old people, yet all the while noticing a man in the front row, who no matter what song we sang, he sang his heart out as tears rolled down his cheeks. I talked with him afterwards, and listened as he told me his story of how precious some of those songs were to him and how each one held a precious spot in his heart.

I think back to some of my Grandparents favorite songs, two that stick out to me are “Trust and Obey for there is no other way” and “What a friend we have in Jesus”. Two songs that filled out a testimony and a legacy from my Grandparents and an encouragement to the next generation to live faithfully.

First Trust and Obey Jesus because there is no other way to be happy in Jesus but to Trust and Obey and Second find a friend in Jesus… and take EVERYTHING to the Lord in prayer.

When I sit back and think, that’s quite a legacy I have to live up to. The legacy they left not only from how they lived their lives, but the encouragement that they left behind, in song, in written word, in spoken word, and that list could go on is proof of what they made priority in their life.

I have the privilege of meeting a lot of old people. I look across the groups of silver hair and you look into the eyes of each one and you know there is a story there, a past, a history. You have to think of everything they have seen in there 85 odd years of life… all the stories they could tell.

Sometimes you see a distant sadness in their eyes, sometimes regret, sometimes sorrow, and sometimes there is peace, there is a joy in that old ladies smile that just shakes your backbone and sends shivers up and down your spine, and a twinkle in that Grandpa’s eye that tells you there is a joy in his heart unlike any other.

…And I can still hear George Younce say it, “I love ole people, I really do.”

Yeah, I love them and some days they crack me up.

You ask for a song favorite and they immediately pull out the good ole songs from many years ago… “The Old Rugged Cross”, “In the Garden”, “How Great Thou Art”, and many, many more… I sing them with joy because (I know I am a weirdo) I love old songs. I also like some new ones to…:)

You see their dreamy eyes as you sing songs of heaven, knowing that some of them have a handful of loved ones there already. A tear slips down that wrinkled cheek as you sing, “Amazing Grace”, and you know it meant something to her.

Have you ever thought of what heaven must be like?

What will eternity be like?

There is no time there so how old will we be?

Will age really matter?

The Bible talks about singing...

What songs are we going to sing?

How many parts will there be?

An old man remarks, “Do you think out of all the thousands and thousands of songs we are going to sing in Heaven, that Jesus will just let me lead one song?”

Will we be able sing at all... or will we simply be flabbergasted by the beauty that surrounds us, we won’t know what to say or do but simply bow our knees in adoration? I can only imagine...

You know, I have wondered sometimes.