A STORY Moment (1)
So much to say about our two days at STORY in Chicago this past week, but I thought I’d start with the description of a simple moment.
Second day of a two-day conference. Afternoon. I’m standing just inside the double doors that serve as the primary entryway into the third floor auditorium. My job is to direct the flow of traffic in and out of this door depending on the activity on the stage. Since the lights have just come up and the crowd is ready for the final afternoon break, I can concentrate on the music and not worry so much about how softly the door lands against the frame.
The worship band Sons and Daughters begins an encore of their original song “All the Poor and Powerless.” It went well the first time we heard it; I’m ready to really engage in it this time.
Video of the song:
All the Poor and Powerless from Journey Franklin on Vimeo.
As we sing it now, the tech guys (special shout out to my friend Jason) have a surprise. The conference has been full of astounding technology. The opening segment (written, produced, and performed by the amazing Blaine Hogan), powerful enough had it only been spoken as a monologue, also included holographic rain and an intense musical soundtrack. The wall behind the stage, as far as any of us know, is covered by a thick black drapery that serves as a perfect neutral backdrop.
Just as the song escalates into the chorus (minute 5:00), those drapes dramatically separate revealing an entire wall of windows. As we sing, we look out at the Chicago skyline on a clear Fall afternoon. Gorgeous. Inspirational. We are visually reminded that everything we’ve talked about in here is only useful if it makes a sense out there. The church planter in front of me breaks into tears of love for his city. My own heart is fueled with passion for the glory of God and the restoration of our cities under His guidance.
I wanted to share this as one of the many moments that added up to a great STORY. More to come.
I’m grateful that you’re sharing this experience =) waiting patiently for the next post.
Sounds very awesome, so I’m sure it was more awesome in person…
Wonderful. Can’t wait to hear more.
Wow. I can think of no more perfect symbol than that of high windows.
That’s so weird – I thought I commented on this yesterday. What I meant to say was that I hoped you would blog about this moment. It’s such a beautiful one. And after your tweet about the social networking love, I did a search for your name on twitter and saw all the RTs and such. Very cool! They picked out my favorite line as well – none of it makes sense unless it makes sense out there. I’m so glad you went to this and had such a great time and were welcomed into such a great community.
That was a very cool moment.