More Than

There once was a very brief moment in time when three of the Fabulous Four joined by their friend, Kevin, (whose tenor voice was another of God’s miracles,) lifted their combined voice in song.

Weekly the young quartet visited houses of prayer to worship not with only the traditional Latin hymns, but also the contemporary songs of their world.

They traveled near and far to spread their combined gift of sound. It was a fragile fragment of time when none of the young songsters had the ability to provide their own transportation. Since that responsibility fell on my husband and I, we attended each and every performance.

Whenever I listened to the sound of magical harmony that came from two guitars, three very young men and an adolescent damsel. I was vaguely aware it was a moment in time too delicate to endure.

And of course, it didn’t. A voice, or maybe two, began to deepen and when the damsel left for college, the music stopped, never to be heard again.

However, there was one vocal selection that invariably seemed to evoke an inexplicable emotion whenever I listened . It was called “Five Hundred Miles.”

Today many years later and far from the Island where once four young people shared their gifts, I sat and listened to other voices raised in the same bittersweet melody.

And yes, I wept as I recalled what a brief moment of life it had been and how blessed I was to have been there.

Listening today to other young voices, I reflected on how once, very long ago, life and love seemed secure and “500 miles” was just a song.

The memorable lyrics soon became a reality that came into being as time, and minutia and more than that made 500 miles a grim description of how important it is to embrace each moment shared with love .

The poignant words were also a forecast of how easily and quickly the music sometimes stops.