God Loves His Children...

I had the lucky chance of going to see Radiohead for the second time in my life and while I have no recollection of the previous show, this show in particular was amazing. Their performance was completely perfect. The humanity of the band and of Mr. Thom Yorke really showed when he messed up only once in the night and they had to start the song over after he forgot the lyrics.

As amazing as it was, there was something deeper that resounded for me there last night. When I saw Radiohead back in 2003, surrounded by alcoholic reflexes and the smell of weed in the air, I asked God a simple question: How could He touch such an audience if it were so His desire? I remember seeing the venue, which can hold over 18,000 bodies and the knowing that the heart of Heaven is to meet every one of those hearts in that space. 

So could Heaven use me? What would that look like? I know for sure it would not be through tracts, me standing on the wooden bench and telling everyone to turn to Jesus and I think that not even Thom Yorke could convince them if he himself had been like a modern Paul in their midst without getting booed and shut out. But, I asked myself, what if there was but one person God wanted me to encounter? One person to interact with? One heart to speak into?

I entered the Hollywood Bowl last night with my friend Amanda after dinner at Alcove, totally forgetting all of this had happened years before. It wasn't until the first encore (yes, there were two!), that they began to play Paranoid Android, a personal fav of mine. It was in this moment that it suddenly became holy and I closed my eyes as I naturally began to pray and intercede. Then the flood of memories came back to my mind; memories of my questions and my learning so many years ago now. Eyes closed and swaying to the Android's beat, I smiled, swept away in a moment that only God himself could have orchestrated. As the song began to near it's end, I opened my eyes and began to sing along...

Rain down, rain down
Come on rain down on me
From a great height
From a great height... height...
Rain down, rain down
Come on rain down on me
From a great height
From a great height... height...
Rain down, rain down
Come on rain down on me

...
God loves his children, God loves his children

God loves His children. Each and every one. The ending of the song had become, unbeknownst to everyone including the band, a living, breathing prayer last night. It was living and breathing because it was my prayer, yes, but it was also the prayer of Heaven that they know His love. It became my prayer that, even if I were the only one prayerful last night, each of those 18,000 people would know His love for them this week as His children, whom He calls each by name.