Plymouth Magazine-Summer26-DIGITAL - Flipbook - Page 19
As I made one of my infrequent in-person visits to church one
Sunday morning, Jesus found a way.
I’m there because jazzman/minister Julian Reid is preaching
through his music, and I don’t want to miss it. Live jazz lights me
up. I listened to him, seated at a grand piano, wearing an orange
cardigan and a delicate, warm smile as he played stunningly
beautiful jazz versions of hymns I’d known my whole life. His
voice was calm and kind; his words gentle and insightful.
“And here’s one about our friend, the best one we’ll ever have,
an eternal friend who’s always with us, has always been, and will
always be with us. What a friend! What a Friend We Have in Jesus.”
I’ve been singing that hymn my whole life. It’s a song I doubt I’ll
ever forget. One of my first musical memories is singing it for
Ladies Aid one summer evening when I was three, almost four,
while my mother accompanied me on the piano. Mom and I had
practiced until I could stand straight, not wiggle, or swing my
arms, or fiddle with my dress.
Julian’s version was much different from mine. He began with
a gentle, slow progression of sustained chords. He added his
mellow voice, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”…with a drifting
melody only vaguely similar to the one I knew, punctuated with
surprising riffs and chords, and several key changes.
As I floated through meandering music, suddenly, it hit me.
A friend. Just a friend who loves me. Not an abstract idea or a
bloody sacrifice—a friend. I thought of all the people in my life
who genuinely love me and saw Jesus among them. Tears slid
down my cheeks, just like now as I write this. I sense a warm,
comforting presence surrounding me. The warmth is so intense
that I can hardly see.
It took that completely improvised version I’d never heard before
to make me understand something I’d heard and sung hundreds
of times. Thank you, Jesus. A friend. Just a friend that I can talk
with easily now: a gentle, jazz-loving friend.
Judy Olson is a teacher and speech/debate
who retired after 38 years. She lives a
Scottish Rite Park (Plymouth East) where
she is an author, musician, and healer.
She loves people, the arts, biking, and space.
Plymouth Magazine 19
