When He Lifts His Eyes

Choral music passed a milestone this month.  Dr. Gary Bonner is retiring at age 74 from his duties as the Dean of the School of Music at California Baptist University.

Over the decades of his professional career, Dr. Bonner continually experimented with choral conducting in the use non-verbal gesture to create spontaneous, almost improvised performances that were highly engaging for both the singers and the audiences.  His son Judd's DMA dissertation goes into depth in describing Bonner's non-verbal technique along with that of Rodney Eichenberger's—who independently from Bonner also uses non-verbal gesture in his choral conducting.

Somehow, the duty of putting together a faculty good-bye luncheon fell upon my shoulders along with that of my new colleague and friend at CBU, Dr. Steve Betts.

I've found that one of the best ways to mark these kinds of milestones is to write a poem.  I learned this from Pastor Brian Morgan when I served beside him up at Peninsula Bible Church in Cupertino.  Poetry allows one to express one's self in a deep, highly meaningful manner that we Americans seem to be unaware of.  It's appropriate that my first blog post includes a poem, especially for a man who has had such a significant influence upon who I am.

We closed the luncheon with the reading of this poem.  I was fighting back the tears as I read it to him. At least two things happened that afternoon—he felt highly honored—and I felt that I was able to express my feelings for him in an appropriate but powerful way though the unique and neglected art of poetry.

When He Lifts His Eyes

When he lifts his eyes, a journey begins.

He’s wanting to fly to high places

Where both the air and life are crystal clear,

And a fragrant aroma wafts through the air.

On breezes of song he glides, flies and swoops with ease,

His destination is a place so high, nothing less than the Heavenlies.

We are his wings.

And we move, sing and sway with the Spirit’s whispers leading.

This musician’s forward motion beckons, calls and entices us to be heeding,

To fly us onward to heights and places he’s uniquely gifted to see.

And Oh what he sees.

When he’s in the room, he somehow knows that you’re there.

Though throngs may surround you,

There’s no ducking, no hiding, he always sees you

And his expectation is that you will join his song.

For he knows his gift

and to share the joy of his journey

Is for you, what he longs,

To choose life, and to say yes, to simply follow along.

He savors each moment, so aware of how the time flees,

Yet somehow, on these wings of music, we glimpse eternity.

The door to heaven opens just a little with each flight

And we see the truth he envisions as we sing, wing to new heights.

His gifting, his visions, his dreams of what’s possible

Inspire me to press on and grow to be the best me that I can be.

Years of discipline leading to a moment of freedom.

He makes me believe that like him, I am not ordinary,

For none of us are just any old Tad, Doc or Gary,

We are all children of the Heavenly Father, gifted to change the world for the good.

Some of us lead, some of us follow,

For the eyes cannot say to the hand

“I have no need of you,”

But, there are times when the hand must say to the eyes, “Thank you.”

For flights to high places and songs that have been sung,

Today we are grateful to you for leading us in this journey

That’s barely begun.

Glenn Pickett, May 2012