Roots, Relationships, and Important Things
Months ago Ray and I bought tickets to attend a concert night before last. Back then April 12 was simply a date on the calendar when we didn’t expect to be gone for a convention. I have to admit though that having just gotten home the night before after being gone for two weeks, we weren’t quite as excited about driving an hour and a half to and from Nashville on Tuesday night as we might have been. Still, deep in our hearts we knew that we didn’t want to miss it.
Longtime readers know about Ray’s and my fondness for bluegrass stars Dailey and Vincent. On Tuesday night they performed with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville.
This was our first time to see the duo and their band outside of our adopted hometown of Gainesboro.
In the hours before the concert, I wondered if the strong message of Christian faith would permeate their concert in this grand venue in Nashville, as it does when they perform here in Jamie Dailey’s hometown. I was not disappointed.
Important Things
As Ray and I enjoyed the beautiful music of Dailey and Vincent and the orchestra, I thought about the Christian message all those members of the orchestra were hearing and I was grateful. Every musician and every member of the audience had many opportunities to contemplate the most important things both in our lives on earth and for eternity.
Roots
Of Tennessee’s 95 counties, only nine have a smaller population than ours. Our county seat of Gainesboro is just under 1000 people. Yet Jamie Dailey always honors his roots. He told the crowd that his parents and grandpa were in the audience; and he gave us, his hometown crowd which was a small but vocal part of the large audience, the opportunity to let everyone else know we were there.
In our ladies Bible class yesterday, one of Jamie’s former teachers told us that the last time Jamie spoke at the local high school graduation, he told the seniors not to let where they are from hold them back. He told them that they could do in life what they want to do. While some people encouraged his dreams and others did not, he chose to hang on to the encouragements.
Relationships
I’m used to hearing great things about Jamie Dailey because he’s a hometown hero (Ray even heard more when he picked up our income taxes yesterday afternoon). On Tuesday night I was struck by his impact on folks from other places.
We were barely out of our car when we ran into a couple we knew in Cookeville where Ray last served as a minister, a town about a half an hour away. “I’ve known Jamie [and his daddy] since he was a little boy,” the husband told us. “Jamie is doing what he always wanted to do.”
At the cafe inside the Schermerhorn, we sat by fans from Georgia. They had never seen Dailey and Vincent in a live concert before. Their kids had given them tickets for Christmas.
During the concert, Ray and I enjoyed watching the couple in front of us enjoy the show. They were almost middle aged with matching short and round statures. They obviously loved each other, and they obviously enjoyed the show. When we met them afterwards, she said that they had heard Dailey and Vincent first about five years ago when they played at the Ryman (known in Music City as the “Mother Church of Country Music”). They’ve been fans ever since.
We had three Jamie Dailey conversations in the lobby on the way out. One was with one of Jamie’s former teachers. While we were talking to her, we saw someone else from our church in Cookeville. She said that she has known Jamie since he worked in a factory there before he went full-time as a bluegrass entertainer. In our last conversation before heading to the car, we ran into yet another couple from our church in Cookeville! Believe me! I don’t think I ever had a conversation there about bluegrass. I wouldn’t have known there was a fan in the entire church. That couple introduced us to another couple and, sure enough, the wife of that couple had known Jamie at the factory, too!
Every person in that center Tuesday night had a reason to be there — some had a personal relationship with someone on stage and others have been touched by their music.
When we first arrived at the concert hall on Tuesday night, Ray hopped out to get a parking voucher while I drove nearby. On the back of the bus in front of me was this Bible reference.
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
John 3:16
The heart of this message was proclaimed inside the concert hall and on the streets outside. Seeds of the inside message were planted years ago in a little blond-headed boy growing up in Gainesboro. I wonder where the seeds you are planting will grow someday.
What a great testimony!!!