I hate it when I have a lot to say but no time to write. I've been reading two cool books, "Searching for God Knows What" by Donald Miller and "Urban Tribes" by I don't know who, but they make some great points I want to elaborate on at some time in the next week or two.

This morning at church after the sermon a guy got up with a banjo and starting singing "Amazing Grace." He has a real southern twang to him and really stirs up a spirit of worship in me. Anyway, as I sang and looked around, I was totally broken by the humble hearts singins praises to the Lord. I don't know who they are, where they're from, what their background is, whether they are following the Lord or not, I don't care. All I know is that for that song, their hearts were calling out to God, thanking Him for saving them from their sins and asking Him to be more a part of their lives. It really touched me.

And what it reminded me of at the time was the part from "The Color Purple" when Shug Avery is at the bar while her father is preaching in church. Shug and the people hear the singing from the church and stop their playing and dancing. Shug begins singing the same song, "God's Trying to Tell you Something," and leads the people on the path to the church where they continue their singing. Shug goes forward and embraces her father and says, "See daddy, singers have soul too," while a tear goes down his face. I can't put into words what God needed to tell the pastor, but the movie makes it clear. The next frame shows Danny Glover, the abusive husband, at the office of Naturalization and Immigration bringins Celie's children back from what is assumed to be Africa. An act of grace...then we have Celie's children joining with her...remarkable movie, brings tears to my eyes.