I received my greatest moments in college as a result of joining concert choir. During the first week of my freshman year, a guy down the hall said that he was going to choir auditions, and he asked if I'd like to tag along. I said "Okay, that sounds like something," and auditioned purely on a whim.
Nearly four years later, I had been to the Pacific Northwest, the upper Great Lakes, and had sung in Carnegie Hall on account of this "whim." My senior year, our choir planned a spring break tour on the Hawaiian islands. Trust me, I'd never been so excited to leave the Indiana cold.
After spending some time touring the Big Island (and drinking my first cup of 100% Kona!), we took a puddle-hopper to Kauai. Never in my life have I seen such a beautiful place. Each stop was wonderful: the food was fantastic, the sunsets were majestic, and our hosts were incredibly grateful to have us. As we traveled around the island to stop at one of the larger churches on our tour, we were given our host home assignments.
Eight of us men were incredibly disappointed when we discovered we would not have a host. We determined that we were specifically chosen because of our perceived ability to "rough it," thus we were stuck in a seldom used church parsonage in Koloa, HI, while our peers received the usual hospitality of a nice bed, a hot shower, and a large breakfast.
When we arrived at the church, we could see why it was chosen for our tour. The sanctuary would have barely held a third of us, but the people of the church had been kind enough to set an entire banquet table full of junkfood, for those that had now dubbed themselves the "Crazy Eights." A pile of donuts, chips, and drinks would have to be sufficient during our stay. The church had a small "closet" shower, and we didn't have any transportation to show us around the village.
Hungry from the travel, we decided to walk it. As we entered the small village of less than 2000, we found that every restaurant was closed, save the bars -- sort of an issue for a group of Bethelites. We decided to browse anyway and ended up singing some Boyz II Men harmonies to a pair of women in a custom soap shop. We didn't get a meal, but we did end up with free soap :)
The next day, we were driven to the beach. Compared to every other stay, this beach blew the others out of the water. The way the colors burst when the sun hit the water was breathtaking, and the beach itself was less densely populated than the touristy areas.
That evening, a group of around fifty from the church that housed us came to the beach for a worship service. We didn't have a piano to sing our entire performance, but we were able to oblige with a few a cappella pieces. As we surrounded the church body under a pavilion on the beach, we began singing Randall Thompson's Alleluia.
The perfect blend of our voices, the beach, the sunset, and the Spirit living in this congregation allowed His Presence to fall heavily upon us. Without question, it was the most profound time of worship I have experienced on this side of heaven.
[BTW: I've already decided that I will be marrying my future wife on that beach...I just hope that none of you are expecting a wedding invitation :) ]
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