Let's bring back face to face
I was talking to Rachel,a freshman band member, who is trying out for All-State Band this weekend and she was explaining the process of being adjudicated on the snare, chimes, and timpani. That conversation reminded me of trying out for the Florida All-State Chorus my senior year in high school. Owing to the fact that my state level tryouts were 46 years ago, I might miss a few details, but the point I'm trying to make is still as clear as that day.

I had rehearsed four separate pieces of music for the examination. I along with another tenor and pairs of singers (none of who went to my school) for each of the other vocal parts were led into a large room with no chairs and three judges.We were to sight read (that is what you do to a selection of music you have not seen before...however I was in luck it was a hymn!) a song and then sing a song or two that we had rehearsed. We sang as a double, mixed, quartet or eight people, male and female, singing four part harmony. Now here is the scary part of this whole deal. After receiving our pitch, we began singing unaccompanied (no piano, no CD, no string quartet, no other help) AND here it comes -the real scary part...the judges walked around the room and got right in your face to ascertain whether or not you were any good at singing! No time to re-tune or use a splash of Listerine, face to face with a person who was interested in knowing all about your singing ability and they were willing to do it up close and personal. This was Face Time well before the i-phone was even imagined.

About a week ago I saw a brief interview with Brady Quinn, quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs, who was talking about the suicide of a fellow KC football player who had prior to taking his death shot and killed his girlfriend. Quinn said that he didn't really know what was going on with him this teammate. When they spoke they each had the usual response that they were "good." Quinn continued by saying that we need to stop and listen to friends and family and quit thinking we are communicating when we "talk" on Facebook or Twitter. 

Hold your horses...I'm coming to the point even though I think have done a relatively good job of making a point without making the point which is where I am now. ^"Inside the Tent of Meeting, the LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend." Exodus 33:11 (NLT). Look again at the verse. Look for how friends communicate. How God himself wants to communicate with us is the best example for friends - face to face. Looking in their eyes, watching their body language, listening to the inflections in their voice and just being present with them, this is the way to know someone; to communicate with someone; to love someone.- face to face.

Richard