Shane's Song

When I was living in Missouri, I had the pleasure of meeting Shane. Shane was a resident at Red Rose Inn, a retirement home in our community. I am not certain what caused Shane's condition, but he was at Red Rose Inn because he could not take care of himself. Although he was probably only in his mid 30's, Shane was confined to a wheelchair, unable to walk or speak clearly and had very little control of his arms. I met Shane when I started visiting Red Rose Inn for our monthly church singing. Every third Sunday of the month a group from the Mill Street Church of Christ would meet at Red Rose to sing to the residents, and Shane was always anxiuosly awaiting our arrival. He would take a songbook and sit right beside me, and as we sang a few songs he would be singing right along with us; belting out a noise that didn't sound anything like the song we were singing, but brought a smile to his face nonetheless. And even though his mouth could not form the words and his tone was a deafening shriek, he gave his best effort in singing praises to the Lord.

One dear old lady, who was also a resident there, would get quite upset at this display. She would always scold Shane for singing. I guess his joyful noise was not all that joyful to her. I, however, couldn't help but wonder, "What does God think of Shane's singing?" And, although I cannot know for certain, I feel confident that God was very impressed with his vocal performance. I think Shane's cries of praise touched God deeply. What was a rather ear-shattering sound to us, I think was a beautiful anthem to our Lord.

Shane had been dealt a pretty hard hand in life; confined to a wheelchair, living in a nursing home, limited use of his limbs and very little ability to communicate. And, yet, despite his lot in life, he felt compelled to sing. I respect Shane greatly for his courage to sing out, even though his song was not all that soothing to the ears. I admire him for still having a song in his heart in spite of what he has to endure on a daily basis. It is my hope and prayer that Shane always sings out. After all, his song is not for me or for anyone else; it's for His Lord.