PURSUIT: A Novel – 35.1: Redeemer – Poetry

University Church – Easter Sunday Morning, March 26, 1989

Jerry arrived early to get a seat with a good vantage of the stage. Easter services were always packed, and he wanted to be certain that he had a profile view of Christina’s dance. He sat in the third row of the right section, inconspicuously tucked in a packed row. This was not a typical church, nor was this a typical crowd. Mostly college students and young adults from the community, the rest a broad selection of ages and backgrounds, laborers and business owners, married with kids, singles and divorced, and a mix of races—Asian and African, Mexican and Indian, Slavic and European. The college brought all of these cultures together, and their unity in faith was their common bond. The enthusiasm for worship is what set this crowd apart from any church congregation that Jerry had known. Coming from a traditional, hymn based, organ-filled, stand up, sit down, read this, say that, confess in unison, pass-the-peace church, Jerry was on fire after his spontaneous visit following the lightning experience. Since then, he had met a girl whose spirit touched his, a heart that knew his own, and a woman that would alter the course of his life. Although he was not aware in what direction, he felt certain to leave his family heritage behind.

The dance troupe lithely approached the center stage and took their statuesque positions. Centered, was Christina dressed in white. The others dressed in black wore white gloves and surrounded her, their configuration a beautiful montage of faces that surrounded the wavy blue-black hair that tumbled over her shoulders. They remained motionless until the crowd quieted to silence that anticipated this opening act with wonder. The bass guitar strummed, its reverb echoed in the jam-packed, peaked-ceiling assembly.

The dance was extraordinary with drama, mime, ballet, and worship dance woven together to tell the story of Jesus’ betrayal, arrest, trial, crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. Jerry was transfixed by Christina, dressed in white to represent Christ the Redeemer through the series of miraculous events that forever changed man’s ability to reconcile with God and receive salvation from Hell. Her graceful moves inspired him that depicted Jesus’ own grace to death, to Hell and back, and to live forever with his Father in Heaven. He flipped over his program to the backside and found it blank. Using a pen in the holder for the offering envelopes, he began to write—

A thousand eyes behold her, the dance flowing seamlessly,

Orchestral backdrop, a rhythm on which to float,

Musical notes like dancing partners, moving between, sliding below,

A pirouette, a graceful dip, outstretched arms into His she falls.

The drama and musical backdrop intensified as the dance team symbolized Christ’s progression from death to resurrection. A small orchestra surrounded the usual set of guitars, drums, and keyboards that accompanied the black singer, a silhouette in a purple haze as she sang from her heart:

He lives

To take away my shame

Oh thank you Jesus

He lives forever

I’m gonna’ proclaim

That the payment for my sins

Was the precious life He gave

But now He’s alive and

There’s an empty grave.

And I know

My redeemer lives

You say, I know

My redeemer lives

I know, I know that I know that I know . . .

I spoke with Him this morning

Jerry looked over his shoulder to find the audience captivated with Christina’s rebirth to life as she sprang to an airborne grand jeté. The words within him burst forth as he continued to pen—

The applause, a crescendo, flawless perfection beheld,

Broken perfection hidden, a heart aching for eyes to see below,

Deeper than the performance, into her very soul,

That of an angel, full of compassion, flowing with grace, I know.

The finale, as Christina posed gracefully balanced on the toes of one foot, artfully displayed her classic arabesque, arms spread like a swan gliding over water. The dancers knelt—now dressed in white, surrounded her like an extension of her flowing white dress—their bodies and extended arms flush with the floor in reverent surrender—redeemed from their past shame.

† † †

Nicole C. Mullen, “My Redeemer Lives”

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Copyright 2017  © Jeff Cambridge

Excerpt from PURSUIT, a novel by Jeff Cambridge, a writer of transformational fiction with real characters in real-life tell stories that change lives in the readers as the characters transform.

This is a pre-published scene.

To read the scenes sequentially, begin with

“PURSUIT: A Novel – Prologue”

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This novel is a work of fiction. Any references to real events, businesses, organizations, and locales are intended only to give the fiction a sense of reality and authenticity. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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