And of course, the one simple gift just about every Catter has to give is music. And, if music isn't to give, what in the world is it good for?
This Holiday season, Ruth and I were honored to join with Barbara and Frank Shaw and some of their friends to sing Christmas carols at a VA center luncheon. There was a lot of counfusion, as people were filing through the kitchen, getting their lunch while we were singing, but there was no doubt that a lot of them really appreciated our singing. Several of them came up to us and told us so. One man came up and said that it was just what he needed.. that it really lifted his spirits. Ours, too.
A while back, the Gospel Messengers did a concert for one. (I did that once as a folk singer, but not intentionally.) There is a woman in our church who is in her 90's, who in one year lost her husband and inexplicably went blind. The doctors could do nothing for her, so now she sits in her house, month after month, in darkness. She always loved to see the Messengers, so we came over to her house and did a whole concert just for her (and her care giver.) I don't know who was happier about it. Her, or us.
We all have blessings that just wait to be shared with those whose lives are often bleak. All it takes is thinking about it and setting something else aside.