I Saw Love

Last Sunday evening, Sandra, I and others attended a farewell concert for our departing Snowbirds held at the Destin Florida American Legion. Those Snowbirds are the folks from the north that come to our area to spend their winters with us and then return home in the spring. The music was provided by our friend Jabbo.
Jabbo’s voice started giving him problems about half way through his program. I’m sure he wondered if enough was left to be able to finish. Being the trouper he is, he made it! Although, I’m sure that he wondered if that last hour would ever end!
After Jabbo’s part of the show, Bob the bartender, came out from behind the bar with his bagpipes. Yes, I said behind the bar, and yes it was Sunday! And no, I did not say “forgive me Father for I have sinned!”
Bob played “Oh Canada” and “America” on his pipes, and then, he started playing “Auld Lang Syne.” All fifty or sixty of us had been standing and singing but with the start of the new song, everyone joined hands and formed a circle of LOVE!
Suddenly, I had the feeling that every heart in that room was beating as one! For over eighty years I have attended many religious presentations, but here I stood on a dance floor in a bar room on the Sabbath and I found myself experiencing one of the strongest feelings of group love of my life! Could it be, when God is ready to touch someone, he doesn’t bother with the surroundings?
I’m sure that each of us walked from that room with a bit of that shared love that I had just experienced! It seemed that no one was in a hurry to leave! It was important to hold that experience as long as possible! Those moments are so few and far between and I feel sorry for anyone that goes through life never having the opportunity to experience one.
Many times in my life I have felt love happening, but I can’t remember a time that I could stand and watch it happen! And, watch it happen to so many!
Thank you Jabbo because it takes someone like you to set the mood for it to happen! Thank you Bob for doing the right thing at the right time! Thank you God for bringing all of us together in that odd place! Many of us walked in as strangers, but we all walked out as family!