Grand... 6 grand, actually...

Photo snapped during the audience participation portion of Black Water

Well, we did indeed have a grand time last night, and we raised more than $6,100 for UMCOR's Haiti Emergency Fund. (That total would've been just over $3,000, which would be nothing to sneeze at, but at some point before the Finance Committee chair finished counting the money, an anonymous donor let him know that whatever the total, this person would match it. Awesome.) That doesn't count other gifts that were added to the offering plate in worship this morning, and still others that were designated for the same cause the previous two Sundays.

As far as the performance itself goes, if we can just make the time to go out on tour, doing the same two song sets every night for the next six months, we'll have this thing down.... (Oh, wait. That's one of many reasons I'm not a rock star.) Seriously, things did go pretty well from a musical standpoint. And it was good to see different people in the crowd, too -- not just folks from our congregation. We weren't quite at standing-room-only, but I don't think I've seen the sanctuary that full since Easter.

Twenty-one songs is a lot of work, especially when you begin by whittling the list down from 40, finding mistakes in every chord sheet, enduring waves of panic when you're certain you'll never have it ready on time, deciding exactly how to play every intro, bridge, chorus, etc. ... But I think this is the point, at least for some of us, when the pendulum swings from "This is too much trouble. Let's never do one of these again..." all the way over to, "Hey, what's our next set list going to look like?"

There's no telling when we'll actually do another concert, but I confess, I like it when the pendulum has swung over to this side.