I Wanted to be There

September 6

My family was supposed to be in Nashville last week, taking part in the Getty Sing! conference. We were supposed to be in the pews of the Ryman Auditorium, drinking in Andrew Peterson’s Behold the Lamb of God concert and worshiping Jesus with people of different tongues and nations.

Instead, we watched it all on TV.

It was rich, yes, but also a stabbing reminder that I was supposed to be there— voices around me, mingled with the scents of wood and perfume and Nashville barbeque.

But all I could do was watch recorded reality, hum along, and ache for the day when I’ll be there for real, singing with thousands:

“Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away our sin.”

I had a thought on Wednesday morning:

Bethany, even if you never make it back to Music City, even if this pandemic lasts longer than you want, even if you only ever watch Behold the Lamb of God on a screen—

A Day will come when you’ll be There.

The voices, the feel, and the smells will be more real and radiant than any Ryman concert (yes, even with Andrew and Jess Ray on a stage together).

Your voice will join with thousands and won’t stop singing:

“Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away our sin.”

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“I see, [Lucy] said. “This is still Narnia, and more real and more beautiful than the Narnia down below, just as it was more real and more beautiful than the Narnia outside the stable door! I see… a world within world, Narnia within Narnia…”

– C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle