This is the final installment of my converstation with Pastor Pete

Feeling I wanted to give something back, I asked Pastor Pete what I could pray for him. He immediately answered that I should pray that he could get his strength back. “I am tearing at the bit to do the things I want to do.” These things include not only holding down one job but two.

One is at a retirement center in Florida and involves ministering to 1200 retirees. He said that some have not yet confessed Christ. His voice broke and tears rolled down his cheeks as he told of a German immigrant who had confessed Christ after he and Treva, his wife, sang Rock of Ages at one of their services.

I knew I had stayed longer than I had intended but I couldn’t resist asking them if they would sing a song for me. Treva went for Pastor Pete’s guitar and pulled up a chair next to him. It wasn’t easy to balance the guitar on the hassock and somehow avoid the surgical tubes that were still in place from his surgery, but after deciding what to sing, they sang together with strength and ease. A second start needed to be made because the family dog, who also enjoyed the music, turned the duet into a trio and needed to be escorted out of the room. Because the room was large with more than one entrance the dog soon found another way in and the duet again became a trio. This is what they sang.

THE CHRIST OF THE HUMAN ROAD

There’s a road we are all called to follow
While here in this world below.
And we oft find it rough and uneven,
While on in life’s pathway we go.
There are hills we must climb as we journey,
And into the valleys descend.
But there’s One who will always go with us.
It’s humanity’s unfailing Friend.

In the long, long ago two disciples
Were walking at the close of the day,
When a stranger drew near and went with them.
Blest thought: He was walking their way.
They were looking for someone to comfort
For they were so lonely and sad.
Then this stranger revealed Himself to them
And He blessed them and made their hearts glad.

CHORUS:

He’s the Christ of the human road
And he offers to carry our load.
He is walking our way
Every night, every day
This Christ of the human road

He is human and yet so divine
And he knows your heart’s sorrow and mine.
In all kinds of need,
He’s a true friend indeed.
This Christ of the human road.

Feeling like I should take my shoes off because I was standing on Holy Ground I instead, once again, prepared to leave.

Pastor Pete said, “Don’t go before you hear Treva play the piano. She’s not had lessons but you need to hear her play Jesus Is All the World to Me.”  The music began as I whispered the question, “How old is she?” He whispered back with pride, “She’s 84.”  As we stood beside the piano, Pastor Pete and I began to sing together. We put our arms on each others shoulders and sang, When I am sad, He makes me glad, He’s my friend. 

My heart continued to sing as I drove out of the long wooded drive.  I had been in deep communion with a good friend of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Does singing make you glad?  With whom do you have to sing and what are your favorites? Share with us the songs that make you glad!

Note: If you missed any of the previous installments of my conversations with Pastor Pete, just click on the tag Pastor Pete and you will find the rest of the story.