Last Sunday, I was observing the Choir from the audience seats since I wasn't eligible to sing in the broadcast (I had missed Thursday's rehearsal). For some reason, I decided to sit on the 2nd row of the section--which is odd because I normally sit much farther back. As I sat there, I noticed plenty of staff members busy doing a variety of things to make sure everything was going to go smoothly. I also noticed Derrick Porter (the new voice of the Spoken Word) among them and didn't think much of it until he ended his conversations and came over and introduced himself to me and a friend I was sitting next to. For the next 5-7 minutes, he and I talked about various ways that kind of connected us (he saw my name tag and asked about other Pitt individuals I was related to and things launched from there). Apparently my dad was the one who helped convert someone who later became Derrick's mission president. And that mission president had a son who, it turns out, I ended up hiring at IBM back in the early 90s. It was also discovered that he had gone to school with my sister. Anyway, he was very friendly, very kind, and I was honestly in awe of how much time he took to talk with me. We even exchanged a few texts later that day and he said some things that were very helpful and insightful to me personally as I continue to figure out my life and which path I want to end up on.
All to say, I'm thoroughly impressed with Derrick Porter and very much look forward to hearing all of the future Spoken Word messages he'll be sharing with the world. He doesn't just talk the talk. He walks the walk. He's a Christ-like person who I'm honored to call friend.
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In other, not so uplifting news, I've been really frustrated with the way the Church has handled the distribution of tickets to concerts being held in Florida and Georgia (our tour destination in September). There's been zero official communication to the Choir about the tickets and when I went onto the website to get some the first day they were available, the site was asking for a code. What code?! I finally was able to bypass that and request some tickets--only to get an email saying "Thanks for requesting tickets to an upcoming Tabernacle Choir event. More information regarding your request for tickets will be sent by the hosting arena."
Sigh.
After waiting a couple of weeks, we finally received this internal info: "IF tickets become available, we will provide a code...".
Thankfully, a Choir staff member put me in contact with another staff member who tried to explain why this hadn't been rolled out very well and asked me to send him an email with my ticket request. He said he'd see what he can do. At least it's something. Something I'll put my hope in.
I get that the Church has every right to withhold tickets so they can be given to non-members in the hopes that they will be inspired and want to know more about the Church. But I don't think it's unreasonable to ask that a block of tickets be reserved for friends/family of Choir members who happen to live in the areas we'll be visiting. There may be important reasons why such friends and family members are being invited. As is the case for me.
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In my last thought for today, I wanted to give a nod to the Choir's performance of "Call of the Champions" today. It was very inspiring. Composer John Williams can seriously do no wrong. He's brilliant--and this music of his was perfect today as we look forward to watching the Summer Olympics play out soon in France. It was nice, too, for the Choir to end the broadcast on this song.
And that's it, folks.
Until next time, God be with you.
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