Songs I Cannot Sing (Volume 7): Remind Me Dear Lord

Day 145 (Written Saturday May 5) ~ Jack Parks is the epitome of a song leader in my mind. He was my song leader all through childhood when I was growing up at East Hill, and then while I was the preacher there. He came to Fairview while I was preaching there too and led singing. He’s also led singing for me during many of the Gospel meetings I’ve preached. He is one of the men who oversees the Diana Singing in my hometown, and I’ve said on many occasions, I expect him to be the song leader in Heaven when I get there. One of the reasons I love Jack as a song leader is because he knows what songs to lead when I preach (my favorites are On Zion’s Glorious Summit) and which songs not to lead, namely, Remind Me Dear Lord. I love, love, love this song, but I cannot sing it. I can sing it, but I can’t get through it without succumbing to emotion. It is far too close to home. Jack knew not to lead it before I preached because it would always get me emotional. Though I was raised in the church, I became a prodigal for many years. They were hard years that enslaved me and broke me, and although I made it through, they left scars. I made it through by the grace of God and this song reminds me of that fact. “Roll back the curtain of memory now and then, show me where you brought me from, and where I could have been.” Enough said.