Sometimes this Editor’s gig offers the best perks. No, not the obvious one: all the great music, although I do enjoy that as well. I’m talking about letters from readers like the one I received this morning from Tom, a Pennsylvania man.

Tom took his family to hear Sanctus Real play back in September, a show that impacted them all pretty powerfully. Enough so that they waited in the meet and greet line after the show to express their appreciation. Actually, they waited quite a while, as they were last in line. But that was no problem for Tom, who had waited all summer to see the band that God had used so effectively in his life.

However, for whatever reason, when Tom finally reached the front of the line and met the guys he didn’t get across much more than “Great show, you mind if my wife takes a picture of us?” and “Have a safe trip home”. But here is where it gets interesting.

Most of us, even if we had regrets about unspoken gratitude, would have forgotten about it by morning. Not Tom. He continued to be bothered by the thought that maybe these band members, who had done so much for others, might have the need to be affirmed themselves. In other words, he felt his sincere gratitude might be a helpful offering to worthy servants. I know, what a concept, right?

Indeed. Tom spent random time over the next few months trying to track down contact information, so he could express to the Sanctus Real guys how much they’ve influenced him toward good. He wrote the band a letter and then began to search websites, fan sites, and various other places to find an address. Which is how I finally got to meet him. I was able to give Tom an email for the band’s management team, but I couldn’t get his mission out of my mind for the rest of the day. I kept coming back to it: his relentless pursuit of an opportunity to encourage servants of the Lord. I’ve spoken to frontman Matt Hammitt and I definitely formed the same impression of his dedication and sense of mission. It really does my heart good to think of him getting back some of what he works so hard to share through his music. We all need encouragement occasionally; it does a body good. I’m thinking I might take a page out of Tom’s book for myself.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 28th, 2007 at 5:50 pm and is filed under Staff Blogs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.