Full circle

It happens every time, it seems. A band comes out with hit song loved by millions and it's overplayed on the airwaves, resulting in a bad after-taste of sorts given enough passage of time. There is one song, though, that has been around for over seven years and can still be heard on a daily basis which has yet to succumb to that category for me, and I got to hear it live last night -- "I Can Only Imagine" by MercyMe.

It was February 23, 2002, and I'd gotten into my car to leave the hospital on the day that my Daddy breathed his last on this earth. My Mama, my sisters, and I had circled around him, and though he was not really conscious, we had hoped to ease his pain of letting go by somehow joyously walking him through that portal to eternity with his Lord. He'd suffered a lengthy battle with Alzheimer's disease and we'd grieved his passing from us long before this day, so our sorrow was mixed with a sense of relief for both him and for us. "I Can Only Imagine" had begun to play in the instant that I turned the ignition. At the time, the song was still fairly new and it seemed to be God's gift of love to me, helping me to keep my focus on my Daddy's freedom from physical and mental bondage rather than my own sadness. Sure, I cried a bucket of tears, but they were healing tears. Now each time I hear the familiar introduction, I embrace the feeling I had on that day, and I picture my Daddy, and now my Mama, too, in Heaven. And as for the question the song asks...I believe my Daddy knelt before the Lord, just as he did every time he prayed. My Mom? I think she danced. :-)