Members and visitors poured into the building under thick gray clouds, the smell of ozone in their noses. The air was dense with moisture and hints of something else. Skin tingled faintly with subconscious anticipation. Some suspected that the hair on their arms was standing up. Was it just an extension of the weather, or was there something going on in the spirit realm? Only one way to find out. There wasn't quite enough room for everyone in the sanctuary, so some stood in the foyer. No one cared about the seating. Given what had happened last week, everyone could expect to feel lighter and stronger going out than they had felt coming in. In her own quiet way, Sophia was counting on that.
The opening keyboard notes were promising ones, warm and inviting, lyrics carrying the divine perspective as they came from her mother's mouth.
Sound the trumpet everywhere / All throughout the land / Follow My decrees you must / Obey My commands / Gather with your families / Come and sing, clap your hands / It is the year of Jubilee
It is the year of Jubilee / When the lame shall walk / And the blind shall see / When the Lord sets the captives free / It is the year of Jubilee
Sound the trumpet, Yisrael / Let all the people hear / It is I, the Lord your God / Who draws you near / I have not forsaken you / So have no fear / It is the year of Jubilee...
Ohh, how she had needed to hear that! God really had thought of everything. She chuckled. Despite her earlier heaviness of heart, she found herself sailing through the chorus and even joining in the dai-dai-dais that followed it.
Sound the trumpet everywhere / Let His praises ring / Yeshua has redeemed mankind / Salvation He brings / For by His precious sacrifice / Are we here standing free / It is the year of Jubilee...
Hearing the chorus those final two times, she could easily believe it. She was already feeling it in her bones.
The next song was heavier, opening with a low instrumental murmur and slow percussive tones that aligned more directly with her earlier mood, almost like a dirge.
Ramah, Benjamite city / I hear you cry / I hear you cry / Ramah, I hear your lamentation / Crying, help me, somebody help me
Cannot I console you / Wipe away the tears from your eyes? / There's a new day coming / The prophets tell us why
Compassion... Deep pain was being acknowledged, treated right in the trenches by One who had been there.
Rachel, the loving wife of Jacob / I hear you cry / I hear you cry / Rachel, weeping for your children / Why did they die? Why did they die?
A visitor, Yelena Baranyuk, choked up and sat back down. She had not told a soul, but her three-year-old son Nikita had been pronounced dead in the predawn hours, claimed by a brain tumor. She had come here for solace.
Cannot I console you / Wipe away the tears from your eyes? / There's a new day coming / The prophets tell us why
The bridge introduced a more defiant element, mixing lament with climbing notes of hope.
Immanuel, the promised seed of David / When will You come? / When will You come? / Immanuel, You bear the sin of many / And from the dead arise / Lord, and from the dead arise
When will You console us / Wipe away the tears from our eyes? / When will You return and / Fulfill Your prophet's cry?
Immanuel...Immanuel...Immanuel...
Here the music transitioned into a righteous rage, howling at and raining blows upon the source of the pain. Thunder echoed outside, seeming to reinforce the drums. Esperanza's brows furrowed as she gave voice to the judgment in the closing lyrics.
Sorrow and si-i-ghing shall flee away / Never to return no more / Ooh, si-i-ghing shall flee away / Never to return no more / Ooh, ah, ah, they'll return no more / Ooh, ah, never to return no more / Ooh, ah, ah, they'll return no more / Ooh, ah, never to return no more
Never will forget you
A phone rang. Yelena answered. "Da?" She gasped. Eyes widening, she made a beeline for the bathroom. Everyone paused, silently wondering what was afoot. The set continued. Esperanza lowered her head. The music was very slow now--soft and melancholy, nautical. A far-seeing look in her eyes as she sang, her voice echoed off the walls.
Beyond these shores / Into the darkness / Beyond these shores / This boat may sail / And if this is the way / Then there will be / A path across this sea
And if I sail beyond / The farthest ocean / Or lose myself / In depths below / Wherever I may go / Your love surrounds me / For You have been before / Beyond these shores
Wherever I may go / ... / Your love surrounds me / ...
Beyond these shores / Into the darkness
Slowly Sophia nodded. This was her position now. Casting off from the shores of comfort and the familiar, venturing into the darkness. But wherever she went, His love would surround her, and that would get her through. The closing notes carried her so far away from the immediate present that she almost didn't notice when Yelena walked back in smiling, face alight with relief. Whatever Yelena had heard on the phone, it must have been good.
After a brief but pregnant pause, Damon began the next song. Cool, quiet notes introduced the first verse.
There is no need for our nation / To suffer things that we do / We've got to stop being so stiff / And let the love shine through / How can I do it? / Somebody tell me / How can I really be free? / If the Son has set you free / You are truly free indeed
Rise and be healed...
Jamal Delphonse closed his eyes and tilted his head upward, hands raised. His headache had vanished
Peter and John were going / To the temple to pray / They saw a crippled man by the gate / Begging those who came his way / He said, have mercy; give me money / What can you do for me? / Silver and gold have I none / But what I have, I give to thee
Rise and be healed / ... / In the name of Jesus / Rise and be healed
Virtue Adenusi raised a hand in affirmation, silently testifying with her perfect and unassisted posture that the power in these words was real. Out in the foyer, another visitor, Xiong Vang, caught the words and leaned his crutches against the wall. His arthritis was gone. Were it not for the close proximity of bodies, he would have danced, so abundant was the energy that now coursed through his body. Inside, everyone else was similarly excited.
Martha and Mary were crying / 'Cause their brother had died / If You would have come here sooner, my Lord / He would still be alive / Where have you laid him? / He said, weeping / Then He lifted up His eyes / Father, I thank You for hearing me / And may You be glorified
For ten electric seconds, the whole building seemed to hold its breath. The air hummed with power.
Lazarus!
Lightning struck, illuminating the building like a camera flash.
Rise and be healed / ... / In the name of Jesus / Rise and be healed
Can you feel it in His touch? / ... / Cleansing your body / .. / Oh, cleansing your soul / ... / Rise; God is healing you right now / ... / Rise, in the name of Jesus / Rise and be healed
A phone dinged. Yelena looked down, silently read the text. No longer could she contain herself. "Slava Bogu!" For a breathless moment, no one spoke. Everyone shared in the wonder. With a self-deprecating smile, Yelena glanced around the room. Silently but warmly Pastor Moses nodded and extended a hand. Accepting the invitation, she stood up.
"Allow me to apologize," she began. "I realize that very few people here speak Russian, but what happened just now was very close to my heart, so I forgot myself. Last night, at 3:45 in the morning, I watched my son die. I came here because I didn't know what else to do."
Sympathy radiated from the congregation.
"When the phone rang, it was my husband Pavel. He called to tell me that whatever I was doing, I should keep it up because Nikita, our little malchik, had regained his pulse. Just now, he texted me that Nik was up and moving."
The room exploded with jubilation at the news. The testimonies that followed were less dramatic but no less miraculous , and they were so numerous that there was no time left for a proper sermon by the time they finished.
***
Among the quiet grasses of Glen Haven Memorial Gardens, completely unobserved, a humble marker started glowing. The grass swelled and then deflated, as if it had been punctured from beneath. A plume of dust shot into the air, mingling with the rain and coalescing into a human form . Atop the plot there soon stood a six-foot blond with deeply set hazel eyes, clothed in black. He raised a hand to his chin, an amused grin on his face, then raised a finger in silent decision, nodded, and walked away