I have a friend at church who has been part of our congregation for two years now.  Until then, he was one of the hardest drug abusers in the town.  Then he met Jesus in a radical way.  While he struggles with a lot of the social and mental problems that are common with someone who has abused hard drugs for decades, there is no mistaking his sincere and simple faith.

The other thing about this friend is, he is actually a very talented guitarist and composer.  He plays in a local band which was asked to do a benefit concert for a local family whose six year old son has leukemia.  Their medical bills are enormous, and this was an opportunity to help out.  Brian asked if I would be their opening act at the Bridgton town hall.  Of course, I said yes, and the gig was last night.

We arrived at town hall at 5:00 to set up our props.  I met the rest of the band; three very amiable guys who took turns going out into the parking lot to partake, shall we say, in their own version of home grown frankincense.  I would soon be hearing about government conspiracy theories that could rival the best of FOX news or Tim LaHaye novels.  They really were nice guys, and I'm proud of my friend for not giving in to the temptation, and I must say that his friends respected his sobriety.

In one of our most strange plot twists we've ever experienced, one of our doves died shortly before the show.  I love my birds, and these two have been the best I've ever worked with.  They're part of the family.  To get in the right frame of mind for a show having just lost Blizzard was hard.  But the show must go on.

And on it went.  The town hall was fairly full by the time the show began, and the audience included kids, teens, parents and grandparents.  Rose was on stage a lot, as is often the case these days.  We did an hour set that included fire devil sticks and Rose doing three flaming torches.  There are very few indoor venues where we can do fire any more, so we took advantage of the opportunity to the fullest. 

Being a community show, and given the fact that the band members were not exactly the heavenly host chorus, I wasn't sure how a show based on the life of Jesus would be received.  I opened by saying that if Jesus were physically here today, he'd certainly attend a fund raiser that helps a family whose little boy is sick.  Throughout the show, I stated that we weren't looking for money or to get them to join our church, but if they would give to the fund raiser, that would be awesome.

The show ended up being excellent, and during intermission, I met little Noah and his family.  Two of his teenage brothers approached me first (Noah is the youngest of seven siblings) then his mother brought the man-of-the-hour to meet us, too.  Then, I finally caught a glimpse of what God wanted me to see from this evening.  The illusion in which I used the dove who had died is about Jesus teaching in which he says if God feeds the birds, how much more will he take care of us.  We're worth so much more to Him than birds.  Here I was grieving the death of a bird while this family is dealing with a little boy whose hair is falling out from a treatment that hopefully is going to save his life.  Little Noah is worth so much to God, and I am proud that my family was part of his party yesterday. 

It is my hope that God was glorified to the community last night and that those who have never been people of faith or those who have been hurt by religion could see that Jesus loves the little children of the world.