DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?

The Colla Voce concert series during the Christmas season was the source of many inspirational moments (see blogpost “Follow the Voice” published January 1, 2014 http://samiwolf.blogspot.com/2014/01/follow-voice.html).  One of the songs sung by the Children’s Chorus was “Letter From A Girl To The World,” by Andrea Ramsey, about the hopes and dreams of a young girl.  For so many chorus and audience participants, especially girls and their parents, the lyrics resonated:

LETTER FROM A GIRL TO THE WORLD

By Andrea Ramsey

In my heart there are hopes and dreams,

And all different beautiful things.

In my heart there's a sunrise glowing

And a warmth that holds me there.

And I think of God’s beauty in the world all around,

In the clouds that roll across the sky,

In the clean smell of the rain

And the colors of the Fall,

And it makes me happy

And I wish that others saw it too.

If you love your children are you sure they know?

Have you said the words out loud?

Are you listening with your heart when they’re sharing theirs?

We want to hear them.

Have you given us a chance to make you proud?

Do you know who I am?

Do you really know?

Cause you can’t tell from looking at me.

That underneath all this happiness inside

There’s a part of me nobody sees.

I wonder who am I. 

I wonder who I’ll be.

What will my life become?

Who am I? Who will I be?

There are just so many questions inside me.

Am I good enough?

Am I pretty enough?

Can I learn not to care what others think?

Can I make a difference in someone else’s life?

And can others see God’s love in me?

The Children’s Chorus includes a young girl whose father had died unexpectedly six months before the Christmas concert season.  She is a brave girl, and a dedicated singer whose personal trauma was unknown to most (I only learned of it because I happened to have spoken to her Mom about what a radiance I saw in her, and she was happy that showed in spite of her sadness).  Each child performer was asked before the concert to write a “Hope Statement” to be entered and judged as a possible choice to be read during the concert performance of the song.  This young girl wrote a statement which was accepted as one to be read: “I hope doctors find a cure for cancer.”  She had had this dream for years, and would like someday to be a doctor.  However, after she read her statement in the first concert, she privately told Jean, the director, that she wished she had spoken her real truth... and Jean listened and then gave her license to change her statement for the next concert on Sunday afternoon.  When the time came for the Hope Statements Sunday, she came forward and said, to the surprise of all who had heard her statement about a cancer cure the day before, “I hope my father is watching over me.”  Remarkably, the audience was moved to tears, partly because (not so remarkably) so was she.  She evidently had not known how it would affect her, but was overtaken by emotion after she made her statement.  All eyes were on her as she struggled to keep her composure until the song’s end, and in that frozen moment Jean moved in the special grace for which she is known and took her by the hand, lovingly walking her off to a very special ovation.

Prior to Colla Voce’s 2013 Christmas Concert, few knew of this little girl’s story. But it seemed by their emotional reaction that all in attendance knew she became a living testimonial, both to the Colla Voce Children’s Chorus stated mission to

“Create unforgettable, life-shaping experiences in rehearsals and performances and share her gifts with the community”

and to very song lyrics she had performed

“Do you know who I am?

Do you really know?

Cause you can’t tell from looking at me.

That underneath all this happiness inside

There’s a part of me nobody sees.

I wonder who am I. 

I wonder who I’ll be.

What will my life become?

Who am I? Who will I be?

There are just so many questions inside me.

Am I good enough?

Am I pretty enough?

Can I learn not to care what others think?

Can I make a difference in someone else’s life?

And can others see God’s love in me?”

“Letter From a Girl to the World” is a profoundly moving song, as its lyrics shout out to anyone with a little girl in his or her life that all young girls, across all cultures, need to be seen, to be heard, and to be appreciated.  But on a sunny, cold winter day in December, in a Methodist Church in Auburn, California, a poignant message found its way through those lyrics and touched all in attendance because it was more than a plea for a listening ear.  It was a plea of faith for a presence not possible in the natural, but infinitely possible in spirit for a believing heart of a loving daughter missing her father.  By stepping to the microphone and mustering the courage to speak her personal truth, one little girl shared with the community and with the world an unforgettable Christmas message.  And others certainly saw God’s love in her.