In my humble opinion, the Encounter CD sung by my friend, Amick Byram, is one of the most powerful musical arrangements that have ever been created. As a side note, Amick was the voice of Moses in the movie, “Prince of Egypt”. The Encounter CD rushes me into the presence and worship of God like no other experience in my 49+ years. The 11 song CD is comprised from men of the Bible and how they deal with a specific encounter with God. Some of the men are confronting a crisis point in their life.

In particular is the song, MAKE A WAY. Its focal point is one of the most profound and compelling stories in the Bible where Abraham encounters God. God says to Abraham, “I want you to take your son Isaac, whom you waited so long for, and I want you to sacrifice him.” Abraham, being an obedient servant, takes Isaac and walks for three days up Mount Moriah.

Can you imagine what Abraham is thinking as they walk up the mountain? Surely he must have been wrestling heavily with the unfathomable emotions of a loving father…

• “God, is this really you?”

• “How can this be?”

• “You’re going to stop this, aren’t you?”

• How can you ask me to do this?”

Here are the lyrics of the song:

All my life you’ve been there
With a word for my prayer
So sincere, so assured
You’ve been true.

Now I need greater faith
To believe, to be sure
Need to know, need to see
What to do

Are you there? Do you hear?
Do you know what you ask?
See me now, hear my pain
He’s my son

Make a way
Once so sure of my heart
Now I’m lost in the dark
Wondering why

Wonder how to go on
But if this is your way
Show me now, make it plain
And I’ll know you’re still there

Think of me
Make a way
Father, I know that you
have spoken

I must trust you and obey
If this has been ordained by
your own hand
I know that you will make a way

Here I stand on my own
Still afraid but not alone
Though I doubt, though I fear
I will go on

I will hope, I must try
Give me faith or

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6 p.m…

For her “exercise”, Irene would walk the hallway of the Oncology Ward of 11 Long at UCSF.  There is a framed quote on the wall that says:

“Cancer might rob you of that blissful ignorance that once led you to believe that tomorrow stretched forever…….In exchange you are granted vision to see each today as precious, a gift to be used wisely and richly.”

“Tomorrow does not stretch on forever…”  It doesn’t matter whether one has cancer or not. This is a very sobering reminder of REALITY.

Scripture drives home images to remind us that our stay on this planet is briefer than most of are inclined to think.

“All men are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
because the breath of the LORD blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God stands forever.”
Is 40:6b-8

Flowers will fade …. His word endures forever. Isaiah 40:8
© 2006 Hosanna Loh

James adds this additional perspective:

“Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”
James 4:14

This perspective is not “negative” but very positive, helpful and hopeful…!!  It is so because it communicates that there is more to life than what we presently see and experience.  There’s an assurance that our longing for more than this world has to offer is not merely a distant dream.

Ken Boa puts it this way in his book, Conformed to His Image:

“…it usually requires the struggle of the midlife crisis (or midlife process, depending on the way we go through it) before we experientially grasp our mortality.  As we discover the decline of our capacities and the increase of our responsibilities, we realize with clarity and force that we will not be able to fulfill many of our earthly hopes and dreams.  This can be traumatic for those whose expectations are limited to this planet, but for believers whose hope is in the character and promises of God, it can be a powerful reminder to

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