FEAR NOT- Della Reese – Touched by an Angel
Ok by now you know I am totally moved by the so called corny…after all I named this Blog after my favorite Christmas movie which was made long before I was born. So naturally you might know I never missed an episode of Touched by An Angel – just to hear Della Reese say “God Loves Ya Baby”. I would frequently cry through the episodes – let’s face it – that message is NOT one you hear every day. (and yes I own the DVD’s)
This has been a week of more fear – more numbers – more extensions – more people out of work and now facing no payment during this time – if we ever needed Della’s voice it would be now. So although I am not a Black woman with an amazing voice, I am hear to say Fear Not. I have been watching the outpouring of positive and hopeful exchanges. From my fiber arts group who shared photos of projects and wishes of love and care as we distance – to my spiritual study groups that are focused on being miracle workers in every way we can imagine – from music of uplifting faith to hosting podcasts and webinar’s of how to trust as we come through this amazing and difficult time. And as we watch Mother Nature take a breath ( the San Francisco Chronicle reported the air quality for the Bay area reached levels not seen in 46 years.)
So for this week’s uplifting story – I am going back a few years and entering the potentially schmaltzy story of Susan Boyle. The Scottish mezzo-soprano whom comedian Stephen Colbert described at the Grammy’s as a “48 year old cat lady in sensible shoes.” She is this week’s quintessential model of transcendence.
She was the youngest of nine kids. Her dad was a miner. The family got by, barely. When she was born on April 1, 1961 (Happy Birthday – it is April 1 as I write this), there was trouble with her delivery, and doctors told her parents that because of a sustained absence of oxygen, she was probably going to a slow learner, lead a second rate life. At school, she was bullied, called Susie-Simple.
She had one short lived job as a cook’s apprentice and lived at home with her parents until her dad and then her mom finally passed in 2007 when Susan was 46. A year later, still grieving, Susan Magdalene Boyle showed up for an audition on Britain’s Got Talent. She was decades older that most of the contestants, certainly a lot less “hip.” She had a thick accent and looked about as opposite as you can get from most successful singers today.
Until she headed to Glasgow for that now-famous audition, she had never sung for an audience bigger than her parish church, had never ridden a bus by herself. In fact, when departing her hometown of Blackburn, Scotland, she initially boarded the wrong bus.
When she stepped out onto the stage, barely getting a bored glance from Simon Cowell and the other judges, she looked like the rest of us: average, scared and destined to be forgotten.
But before she could even finish her captivating performance of “I Dreamed a Dream from Les Misérables, the entire audience was standing, applauding wildly, and Simon Cowell was, for once, speechless. Within nine days, her audition had been watched by 100 million YouTube viewers, and when her album debuted a few months later, it was the best-selling album across the globe. SuBo (as the media began calling the Scottish songstress with the big voice) has since gone on to sing for the Queen of England, Oprah, and Pope Francis. She has performed with her idols, Donny Osmond and Elaine Paige, and less than a year after that transcendent performance, was voted by Time as the seventh-most-influential person in the world. Needless to say, she no longer lives in poverty.
Transcendence is inevitable – it doesn’t matter how grim it looks this week, or what you are offering – your voice- your hands – your meditations -your cooking – your mask-making -…it doesn’t matter you don’t feel hip or young or talented – or if you got on the wrong bus. Without any intention to offend, I say with all seriousness, God Loves Ya Baby. (thank you Della). And if you are open to an approach that includes the Big Guy, here is some music to remind you of Della’s words of wisdom.
Enter Holy Week for those that observe – with hope.
