Miracles Amongst Us

This short piece is inspired by Bruce Springsteen's eulogy of Danny Federici, piano player for the E Street Band who died back in 2008. I especially like Bruce's idea that people who are with us in the presence of miracles can never be separated from us.

...If we didn’t play together, the E Street Band at this point would probably not know one another. We wouldn’t be in this room together. But we do... We do play together. And every night at 8 p.m., we walk out on stage together and that, my friends, is a place where miracles occur...old and new miracles. And those you are with, in the presence of miracles, you never forget. Life does not separate you. Time does not separate you. Animosities do not separate you. Death does not separate you. Those you are with who create miracles for you, like Danny did for me every night, you are honored to be amongst...

In some ways this gathers to mind all of the colleagues with whom I've shared pastoral duties, especially worship leadership responsibilities. Not that leading worship is a "performance" like a Springsteen concert, but the fact is that miracles do occur in the every Sunday worship lives of local congregations, and many times it's due to and inspired by the deeply talented giftedness of those ministers with whom I've shared the platform, people who have chosen to offer their talents to God and God's people.

Those ministers are witnesses to the miracle of an awakened spirit, a softened heart, or a renewed sense of purpose. Not only are ministers "front row - center section" for the big stuff like baptisms, weddings, funerals, and moments of birth and death, but they are also witness to the miracles more common but no less phenomenal.

Those "common-er" miracles happen on bended knee in a quiet room, over a cup of coffee at the greasy spoon, or the quick phone call "just to see how you're doing." They are easier to miss. They are earthy. Sometimes they're funny and sometimes they're terrible. But all of them. All of them. Each and every single one of them are miracles of God. And my wise ministerial colleagues seldom miss seeing them as such.

So, to all my friends involved in ministry (and not all of you are employed by the church), thank you for helping us all to see the miracles of God in the ordinary of life. I am honored to be amongst you. I'd say your music is even better than Bruce's because you play for the rea "Boss."