As I've gone through life I find myself compartmentalizing my life's experience.
The subjects that have caught my attention are always events that had a "bit of a twist" at the end _ in other words I see the end of a story and it turns out all neat and tidy but every now and again I experience something wonderful _ for example the young maiden kisses the ugly frog and yes, he turns into the handsome prince who also has a handsome twin brother and a very large sack of gold.
When I first became the minister at the West Davenport Free Baptist Church, I was very fortunate to have the support of the congregation.
With the congregation I also inherited a wonderful organist and piano player named Bernice Rathbun.
She introduced herself to me and within that moment something wonderful happened.
Bernice was one of those one-in-a million-people who, by their shear energy, could make things happen.
If the children's choir was putting on a program, those kids would sound like angels even though they fell far short of angelic demeanor. If the adult choir was putting on a program, no one sang off key. She brought the best out of every person there.
I never was afraid to pick out music for her to play _ she was accomplished to play anything even if it had 10 flats or sharps or what-have-you. She was a marvel and a delight all rolled into one.
Every once in a while she would "get me" by choosing something as a prelude that would just electrify me. There were two times that quickly sprang to mind as I was thinking of it.
The first was the Sunday before Flag Day and the second was my first Christmas Eve service.
Our adult choir was quite limited, so I often sang with them as a baritone or tenor depending on the range of the music. On this particular Sunday, we got up to sing without a rehearsal, which was normal for our situation, and the music was "God Bless America," by Irving Berlin.
I looked at the sheet music in my hand and thought, "I know this!" It's the song made famous by Kate Smith in the early 1940s.
We started singing:
"God bless America
"Land that I love
"Stand beside her and guide her
"Through the night with a light from above.
"From the mountains
"To the prairies
"To the oceans, white with foam.
"God Bless America,
"My home sweet home;
"God Bless America,
"My home sweet home."
Bernice played this song not from her fingers, but from her heart. I got to the "oceans, white with foam" and lost it. For me for that moment the enormity of this country and the infinity of the creator came together as one. I couldn't sing. I cried. I still choke, even now as I keyboard this. For me something wonderful happened.
The other time was on my first Christmas Eve at the church. I was still new to all of the church traditions, so I asked for suggestions and they trickled in.
Apparently one of the songs they always sang at the Christmas Eve service was "Let There Be Peace on Earth," by Jill Jackson and Sy Miller. I was familiar with the music so I got my copy of the sheet music and stood with the rest of the choir.
The words went:
"Let there be peace on earth
"And let it begin with me.
"Let there be peace on earth, the peace that was meant to be.
"With God as our father,
"Brothers all are we.
"Let me walk with my brother
"In perfect harmony.
"Let peace begin with me
"Let this be the moment now
"With every step I take
"Let this be my solemn vow
"To take each moment and
"Live each moment in peace eternally
"Let there be peace on earth
"And let it begin with me."
I got to the part where we sang about peace eternally and something wonderful happened _ I was overwhelmed by the thought of a world at peace. No wars, nobody being blown up _ just people visiting each other in peace and harmony. What a place that would be! Better than Disney World.
At that moment I lost it and filled up with tears. We could sing it in a song but we couldn't walk the walk. We should hang our heads in shame.
Bernice was feisty, opinionated and wonderful. We took my mother, Ella Geerken, to Disney World one summer as a "family trip" and asked Bernice to come along. With sneakers on and her bags packed, we raced down corridors to catch our connecting flights. We had the time of our lives. The music from "It's a Small World" still sticks in my mind. Bernice borrowed one of my wife's bathing suits and even went swimming!
I lost Bernice several years ago. She died of old age, and I was bereft. What was I going to do without my left hand?
And then something wonderful happened. There was Peggy, Bernice's daughter. Bernice had left me a legacy.
As time goes by, as we go through life you will notice that we seem to go from event to event, and every now and again sometimes, something wonderful happens.
Henry Geerken is a three-time NYSUT award-winner writing humorous articles addressing retiree and senior citizen concerns. Geerken also writes for Sail-World, World Cruising Newsletter, regarding his many humorous sailing episodes through the years. He can be reached by e-mail at hgeerken@stny.rr.com.
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