and I can’t describe the feelings that I have because it is what it is.
Just got a call from Reverend Stephanie Sorensen asking about a song that had been played at the Life Enrichment Center (LEC) in Flint, MI a few years ago. She knew that I would recall it because it affected me pretty hard then.
Gotta step back for a minute to give some background. In the late 1960s and into the 1970s, about 3 Detroit coppers a year were being murdered in the line of duty. Since I was a Detroit cop at the time, I knew some personally and had been working with one on the night he was slain.
At every funeral, sunny or cloudy, rainy or snowy, sleety or hot, the pipers would play Amazing Grace. I got to the point where I would get the shakes whenever I heard the song or even heard the sound of pipes.
This feeling stayed with me through the years and decades that passed. This was the song that Reverend Stephanie was asking about. The song Amazing Grace was played at the LEC from Youtube and, when it began, I had the same dread.
Very quickly, I recovered and was stunned by Jessie Campbell singing it acapella. To make it short, I was blown away. I had never been affected by a song like I was by this song and version before.
I, admittedly, have been emotional lately because of the transition of my wife, but was not expecting this to happen again with this haunting song. Carol would even get “sympathy shivers” when we would hear this together.
So, a lot of this resurfaced today, but I am handling it much better now since I remembered to say “God, help me,” and then let Him.
Amazing Grace is a Christian hymn published in 1779 with words written in 1772 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I am found
Was blind, but now I see’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believedThrough many dangers, toils and snares
We have already come
’Twas grace has brought us safe thus far
And grace will lead us homeWhen we’ve been there ten thousand years
Bright, shining as the sun
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’ve first begunAmazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I am found
Was blind, but now I see
Thank you, Carol Boylan, Amazing Grace, John Newton, Jessie Campbell, and Reverend Stephanie for reminding me that I can still have feelings and emotions and that this is a good thing. Thank you, God!
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