Some people call them ‘ear worms’, those little bits of a song that get stuck in your head and plays itself over and over like a vinyl album that continues to go round and round on the turntable and never turns off. Many people enjoyed their Easter brunch with "Christ the Lord is Risen today" playing background music, heard only by an audience of one. Others had the Hallelujah Chorus providing the soundtrack for their Monday commute.

It is the Wednesday after Easter and I still have an Ann Reed song from our sunrise service accompanying  me  every where I go.  As I drive on busy freeeways, when my mind wanders in a meeting, while I’m eating my breakfast, cleaning this morning’s frost off the windshield, these are the words playing in my head: "Oh, it is time,  I will live out loud and open my eyes to the great divide. I’m walking my path. Finding my way and every step’s a Leap of Faith". Given some of the ‘ear worms’ that have traveled with me before, this one is a blessing.

Leslie Ball led us on this song and as her smoky, rich voice provided the lead, I watched as people sat up straighter in their seats. Snow was falling outside the windows, not a particularly welcome sight on Easter Sunday. Those who were there had risen in the wee hours of the morning, maneuvered icy streets, braced against a cold wind to welcome the day. The song was a moment of transcendence, a time when usually static Minnesotans allowed their tired, bundled-up bodies to sway in their seats as they claimed these words for their own. Every step’s a Leap of Faith and along the way I will live out loud.

It might not have been a traditional message of resurrection but it worked for those who were there. In that gathered body of people there were those I knew who were struggling with great loss, unimaginable loss. There were those who were surrounded by their children and grandchildren together in one place, a great joy. There were those who have new found relationships in their lives and those who had just seen the end of something they thought would last. There were elders and children, young and middle aged. So many life stories singing together proclaiming their path as sacred…..step by precious step.

As I go out into the world today to do my daily tasks, I pray this musical mantra continues to accompany and remind me of its message…..and that moment when ordinary people were lifted to something higher and more beautiful than they could have imagined.