Jubilate

I am going to take a moment to diverge from the exciting California adventures to go into something a little more pertinent. For that, I'm going to have to explain what a Jubilate is. It's a song that is sometimes based upon Psalm 100. It refers to a "song of praise." I find that exceptionally fitting for today.

Psalm 100 is called a psalm "for giving grateful praise," and it reads as follows:

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. 
Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with jorful songs. 
Know that the LORD is God. 
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 

Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise,
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations. 

Today is my brother's one year "heart anniversary." Exactly one year ago today he had his heart transplant. If that isn't a reason to give praise, than I'm really not sure what is. Today is a day for Jubilate. For giving thanks to God for the gift of my brother, for the gift that we have been given on his life.

Of course, there is another side to the story, one that brings much grief, and mourning. That is the story of the donor family, to whom we are forever indebted. I don't know them, nor are we even allowed to know whether their child was a boy or a girl at this point and time. But their child saved the life of my brother.

I don't know how to go about praising God with my Jubilate, and knowing by the same token that more of a dirge is being sung by them. I just pray that they know the goodness of God, and the appreciation that we have for them. My Mom constantly says that in the midst of their pain they gave a beautiful gift, and I just pray that they are blessed beyond measure for that.

I feel weird trying to continue on with my story from California, though I suppose it is not just my story, but my brother's as well. And my family's. It's a story of what he was able to experience because of what the family was able to do. But I can't bring myself. I am just thankful today. Just playing a Jubilate and a Dirge. Mourning and Praising.

That's all for today. Please remember the donor family with me in prayer, and please known the depth of my thankfulness. God is so good.

--Trumpet Player