I Surrender All

Wouldn’t it be great if life came with a sound track? Eerie music would prepare us when something frightening was about to happen. Canned laughter would accompany even our most feeble attempts at humor. Symphony music would swell right before we said, “I do.”
If life had a sound track, I wonder what I would have heard during the worship service at LifeGate Church last Sunday. Would there have been any indication that it was the last time that I would see Joseph B. Winters at the piano? Only four hours after he played his last note, Joey went out to walk his dogs, and stepped into eternity.
I’ve known Joey for a little over a year, but it didn’t take that long to realize his passion for worship. He began piano lessons at the age of six, graduated from Carnegie-Mellon, and spent his life teaching, conducting, and composing music in worship to God Who blessed him with the gift.
Whenever someone’s death hits close to home, it causes me to ponder my own mortality. As a result, I often shift a few priorities. Joey’s death was on my mind as I read this question posed in a devotional, “One second after I’ve arrived in God’s presence, what am I going to wish I had done?” No one can answer that question for another person; however, Joey’s musical accomplishments would indicate that he used his God-given gift to the fullest.
I can immediately think of many answers to the question in the devotional. Can you? The conversations that we want to have, the things that we want to accomplish, and the gifts that we want to develop should become our priorities.
Oh, and with regards to the sound track of life, maybe the last song that I heard Joey play would have been appropriate. It may not have warned of his death, but it seems to sum up his life, and I will probably always hear it in my heart when I think of him. I will picture him at the piano, playing, and singing, “I Surrender All.”
©2010 Ronny Michel - Ronny may be reached at rmichel@rtconline.com.