Overture
A gathering crowd is a great thing. People pushing past to get to their seat (and always, always that empty seat in the middle of the row belongs to the last person to arrive); your view is great till the person in front sits down and they have either the most enormous hair, or despite being five foot nothing "tall", this is due to remarkably short legs and their upper body is freakily blocking the view for three rows back...
The band is tuning up. Random notes and runs and trills send anticipatory thrills through the assembled throng. Then the lights start to dim.
I love this moment. Sheer expectancy. And I cannot believe how many people miss it! Last night I was in Cardiff for "The Rat Pack Live!" (a great show) and as the lights go down, there are people talking, shifting around, opening toffees - missing one of the best experiences a human being can have: the almost time, the time before the time, the nearly there time, the about to begin time.
Which is where we all live all the time if only we could see it. The Lord is about to do something amazing. We are almost at heaven's door. Salvation's Song is about to sound out. And we eat crisps or talk to our neighbour or ourselves or think of the supper slowly cooking in the oven or watch TV or do any ordinary thing that prevents our eyes seeing and our ears hearing and our souls soaring because the Overture is about to begin.
