Earlier this month, Tony and I, along with members of our family, went to the 12th annual choral celebration, “The Sacred Sounds of Christmas,” featuring Seattle Pacific University’s concert choir, wind symphony, symphony orchestra, and other fine musicians and readers. What a way to begin the Advent season!
The Benaroya Hall, in downtown Seattle, is a 2500 seat performance venue and it was filled to capacity. As we were seated, my eyes were immediately drawn to the simple but elegant decorations setting the atmosphere for this beautiful event. There were several Christmas trees with white, sparkling lights, and a huge wreath of greens with their lights. It was dramatic in its simplicity. The atmosphere of the season was filling the air.
As the lights went down, the members of the orchestra took their seats. Then the conductor walked on stage, taking his center stage position. Every orchestra member’s eye was focused on him in readiness for his first signal. There was a pause. He then lifted his baton, and pointed towards the wind instruments. With the first stroke of the conductor, every wind instrument played a single note simultaneously. They were obviously tuning their instruments so that the sound they would make for the glorious musical event of the evening would be beautifully coordinated and in tune with each other.
We have just returned from Aglow’s U.S National Conference in San Diego, CA. In my opening message, I made the statement that “This event is not a conference; it is an assignment!” I quoted Chuck Pierce as saying, “For the last 8 years winds have been blowing in the heavens. But now those winds are released to come into the earth realm. What has been stirring in Heaven will now blow in the earth. Brace yourself! The winds that will now blow are the winds I’ve been holding back these last 8 years, and now I will release them."