Lewis E. Silverman  - Theater Review, Harrisburg Patriot News  - July 22, 2010

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WWII Bomber

Recently I had a chance to entertain at the local Rotary meeting and afterward a very dapper older gentleman asked to speak with me.  He happily told me that this year he is celebrating his 90^th birthday and he had a story of faith that he wanted to share with me.

Many years ago during the height of the Second World War, he “joined up” to do his part to help our country.  He was trained to be a pilot of a large a Bomber and in no time was shipped overseas to England to aid the Allied Army with their fight against Hitler.  Day after day he went up in his plane, not knowing if he would return.  When he was on one of his last missions, he was sent directly into Germany to take out a very strategic arsenal.  He dropped his bombs onto the target and turned his plane to head back once again to England when he began to experience difficulties with his oxygen tank.  He had been flying too high and being in a plane without pressurization meant that the oxygen tank could be the difference between life and death.  He began to feel very sleepy and went in and out of consciousness.  Some time later, he awoke to the plane flying straight and strong as if a co-pilot were steering the plane yet he knew he was alone.  He looked at all of the monitors and they were just as he left them.  So, he radioed into the base and reported that he had “gone under” for a little while.  He was greeted with astonishment and the cheers.  You see, he had not been out for just a brief few moments as he had thought; he was unconsciousness for more than an hour and a half.  In that time the plane had remained on course and latitude.  He cried as he told me that that was the first time he realized that the Lord could do anything when He has more plans for you.   He was only 20 when this happened to him and he is amazed that the Lord has 70 or more years planned for his life.  For all of us that may question our place in “God’s Tapestry of Life” we would do good to remember that His plan is infinite and we need to just let him take the wheel and enjoy the ride from the passenger seat.

Don’t loose faith; God will guide you to the right destination!

God Bless,

Jessie

The foothills of Scotland, 2008.

Durring the summer of 2009 I performed a concert for Immanuel United Methodist Church in Cleona, Pennsylvania.  As an encore for the program I chose “Climb Every Mountain” from the musical “The Sound of Music”.   As an introduction I explained that I have found myself in situations that I was unable to be open about my faith and therefore I had to search out God’s guiding words in more secular venues. So, when I had to work in an office that only allowed secular music to be played on the radio, I was amazed how many “main-stream” songs can have a very Christian message.  The song “Climb Every Mountain” has a very uplifting message on it’s own, but if you apply our Christian values to the words, it can take on a much greater significance.  I then explained that I look at my life as a series of mountain ranges that I am to traverse with the help and guidance of the Lord.  The reward for the many hard climes and descents is that on our final day, when the Lord is ready for us, he will guide us to the top of our last mountain and allow us to look out over His “Promised Land”.  Then he will take our hand and lead us to our final home with him in the valley of the “Promised Land”.

After the concert the church had a dinner social and I enjoyed meeting and greeting the my audience.  As the day was winding up and I was about to start packing my equipment, an elderly couple came up to me.  The wife, who was physically challenged due to a crippled spine, motioned to her husband, who seemed rather week and perhaps ill himself.  She tearful explained that they were so moved by my music and testimony that her husband was unable to talk to me so he asked her to thank me.  I hugged them and thanked them for their kind words.  Then the husband simply said in a very broken tone, “Tell her!”  His wife began to explain that earlier that week he had been rushed to the hospital with chest pain.  They sat together in the emergency room for many hours as the doctors checked him.  They had been there for almost four hours when she noticed that he was reaching for her to hold his hand.  She touched him warmly and noticed that his hands were ice cold.  Then she heard him say, “Oh, she is taking me up! Oh, it is beautiful!”  Then she looked at the heart monitor and with each heartbeat the line got further and further apart until it stopped completely and the line was flat.  It was then that she prayed to the Lord to please look after her beloved husband and the God give her strength in his absence.  You see, not only was this man the love of her life, but he had become her caretaker over the last few years because of her own failing health.  She said, “A calming peace came over me and she knew that the Holy Spirit was telling her not to worry.”

Suddenly, she heard her dear husband say, “Oh, no she is sending me back!  I can’t stay.  There is more for me to do.”  Startled, she looked at the heart monitor and saw one blip of a heartbeat then after a few seconds another appeared.  Then another appeared and slowly his heart rate returned to normal.

It was then that he said with tears streaming down his face, “I was on “The Mountaintop” looking at the Lord’s “Promise Land” and it was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.  It is just so hard to have to leave there, but I knew God wanted me to do it for her.  He then wrapped his arm around her and kissed her on the head.

Praise the Lord!

A Beautiful Morning View of the Atlantic Coast of Scotland

A new year can bring so many hopes, aspirations and fears.  This year I am looking forward to so many things.  With the completion of my second CD and the prospect of yet another trip the Scotland in 2011, I have a lot to look forward too.  Yet it is so very difficult to enjoy my blessings when so many around me are struggling just to survive.  The destruction in Haiti has really saddened my heart and like many of us, I am doing whatever I can to aid those unfortunate people.  It amases me how your perception of self loss and discomfort can change so drastically if you just take the time to see life from others perspectives.  It is my hope and prayer that we do not forget these people when the cameras are gone and we are back to feeling our own personal struggles.  With the dawning of a new day we can experience so much.  May the Lord bless you with a year full of beautiful sunrises and days filled with joy and laughter.

Hillfoots Church, Tillicoultry, Scotland, UK

When I was in Scotland in 2008 on my first concert tour, I was asked to come and sing in a small church in the foothills of the Highlands. The minister there had explained that the area had been hit hard economically in the previous years and most of their congregation were the struggling working class. He suggested that I should prepare a concert of mixed secular and religious songs combined with my personal testimony. You see, he had planned on advertizing the concert as a community concert rather than a “Christian Outreach Concert”. It was his hope that the many people who did not regularly attend church would be willing to come to this concert because it was not specifically a Christian Concert.

I prepared a concert that included such American favorites as “It’s a Grand Night For Singing” from Rogers and Hammerstein’s’ State Fair and “The Italian Street Song” from Herbert’s Naughty Marietta. Then, because they had advertized me as a “Operatic Soprano” I sang “O mio babbino” from Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and Verdi’s “Caro nome” from Rigoletto. To round out the concert I sang a few negro spirituals like “Deep River” and “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho” and I finished the concert with a few of my favorite hymns and spiritual songs of “My Soul Wait For The Lord’ and “Down form His Glory”.

After the concert the minister asked me to go to the entrance of the church and greet he many guests that had come. As I stood talking to the people I noticed a man standing in the shadows just watching and waiting patiently. As the crowds dispersed he sauntered over to me. He was a middle-aged man with sandy colored red hair in a worn brown bomber jacket. He spoke with a thick Scottish brogue and he had a very discerning look on his face. He looked directly at me and said, “I just wanted you to know that I did not want to be her tonight. I do not like any music, especially opera and I only came because my wife had spent three weeks insisting that I come tonight. So, needless to say I am not here of my own free will.”

As you can imagine, I did not know how to respond to him so I simply apologized to him hoping not to offend him more. He abruptly stopped me and added, “No, I’m not finished, I wanted to let you know that God sent you to Scotland here just for me.” He then explained that he had experienced a lot of struggles in his life and he had given up on God. After all, how could God allow anyone to suffer so much? He was very unhappy with his life and he had decided that God had given up on him. Why should he bother with God? He then added that he really hates any music and he doesn’t even listen to it on his hour drive to work every day. So he was sure that I understood, he was not looking forward to coming to the concert. Then, through choked back tears he explained that one particular song had really touched him. You see, the song “My Soul Waits for the Lord” has a very uplifting story of its own behind it and I had used that story to introduce it. The composer, a dear friend, had writen that song at a very tumultuous time in his life. His marriage of over 20 years had just dissolved before his eyes and he was faced with raising his two young sons on his own. At the lowest point in his life he found solace in the Lord and set down and wrote the song.

“The Scottish Man” began to weep rather uncontrollably and he confided in me that he found so much encouragement that a man could be so filled with the Holy Spirit and not be afraid to express it. I wrapped my arms around him and we cried together knowing that the Lord had used both of us to touch each other spiritually. Then he took my hand in his and said, “Thank you, I invited Jesus into my heart while you sang tonight about His gift of salvation “. He never gave me his name and I have never seen that man again even though I sang at that church again in May 2009. The minister looks for him every Sunday but he has never come again. I pray for him daily because the Lord knows his name and I know in my heart God is reassuring me that the “Scottish Man” knows the Lord and is walking with him daily. That is a moment I will cherish all of my life. The Lord blesses me time and time again by allowing me to share in the most intimate moments in other peoples’ lives. That is why I never question His guidance and path in my life and I thank God every day that I get to be His tool.

God Bless,

Jessie