I love music, and music is such a wonderful part of this time of year: Christmas Carols, Christmas songs secular and non-secular, Christmas cantatas & concerts – the whole world seems to be singing (and I don’t even shop!).

God has given many of us the Gift of Music (and I know that isn’t specifically mentioned in the Gifts of the Spirit) in both voice and instruments, and my hat is off to the ones who use those talents in praise to the One who creates and parcels out Gifts and Talents.

Why some of y’all get them and some of us don’t will remain a mystery to me until whatever time I get to the Pearly Gates myownself, but I intend to ask that question once I do get there.

I’ve often declared that if God was to tell me, “Neill, I’ll give you a Do-Over, but you can’t change but one thing, so what’ll it be, Bubba?” I wouldn’t even hesitate: “Lord, lemme play a guitar!”

He did give me a fair voice, and more importantly maybe, the enthusiasm to use that in praising Him (though the folks next to me might think differently). As one Choir Director told me somewhat sarcastically, “Enthusiasm counts for a lot.”  

For some reason, I am less inhibited in leading music with the Kairos Prison Ministry teams I regularly serve on several times a year in prisons around the state.

However, when a local church – Calvary Baptist – called on me to lead their music over five years ago, I warned the committee, “Now, I can either stand still, or I can lead the music, but I can’t do both at the same time. If it bothers you for me to move around some, tell me now, and I’ll leave, no hurt feelings.”

Last Sunday, in conducting a joint Choir Cantata of “God With Us” with Calvary and Second Baptist, Betsy said the poinsettias on the stage were really shaking behind me. I told her that the Bible says Little David danced when he sang praises, too.

I wanted to share with you a different musical experience I have had recently as a Gift, during this season of Gifting.  In mid-July, I attended a Kairos team meeting, and when I left driving home, I began to hear a song in my head: words, tune, and all. I grabbed a notebook, and by the time I got home – hour and a half – I had written the chorus and four verses to The Sword Song.  I called a buddy with the Mississippi Kairos Music Team in Jackson, and sang it to Mikey, so he could figure out the chords on his guitar. That was on a Saturday.

On Thursday afternoon, mowing the pasture, I heard another song, this one about a man in prison who had been included on a Kairos weekend that changed his life. I had to go to the house for a notebook and pencil, which I laid on the picnic table by the Swimming Hole. Every couple of rounds, I’d stop and write down another verse. Friday morning about 2 a.m., another song woke me up, about a letter an inmate received from a little girl. I went to the den and wrote it.

This has now happened over a dozen times; the songs come complete with tunes, but on one, The Prayer Chain Gang, one of the Jackson guitar players read the words I e-mailed to the Music Team, and came up with his own tune, which turned out to be really close to mine – which he had not heard at the time!

You guessed where I’m going with this: God has given us – I’m on that MS Kairos Music Team (a.k.a. Uncle Bob’s Karo Gospel Blues band) too – a Kairos Cantata.

All these songs are from the viewpoint of someone who has come to know God’s Love through a Kairos or Kairos Outside (a ministry to the families of incarcerated people) weekend retreat. Admittedly, I am a writer who has published 10 books so far, has written this weekly syndicated newspaper column for 24 years now, has written probably 1500 magazine articles, plus I have written my share of poetry in my time. But never had I written songs before.

Well, actually I didn’t originate these songs – God gave them to me, and I just had to put the words on paper and call the tune in to Mikey, Mark, Stephen and Rusty!

Want to hear a Kairos Cantata after the holidays? E-mail your Uncle Bob at karobob1 at yahoo.com, and we’ll work out a deal. A Singing Gift, from God!