Glow

A few years ago, I was watching a television show. I had heard that Yolanda Adams was performing, so I had to tune in. I am a Gospel fan. The message of Gospel is always one of victory in any situation. Slavery. Jim Crow. Lynching. Nothing could or can overcome the love, joy, hope and peace of the love of God.
And Gospel singing black women are SHARP. Anybody who has attended a predominantly African American church KNOWS the time when it comes to the clothes and church ladies. Especially in the South. The hat matches the shoes matches the purse matches the suit and it’s all ON POINT.
Back to Yolanda Adams. She stepped up to the microphone and she sang Open Up My Heart. Her voice was strong and beautiful, but she radiated something. It wasn’t the usual type of rehearsed move or sound that comes through professional rehearsals and the like. Her presence exuded pure joy. It was the kind of thing only comes from a person who is enthusiastic about sharing something great with someone else. Let me share this with you.
After the song was over, Ms. Adams sat down for an interview with the show host. He posed the standard artist questions about her career and everything. At one point he asked her one question, though, that stands out in my head. He asked her how she felt about her feelings on the greater success of white Christian/adult contemporary artists, and Amy Grant, in particular. She didn’t even flinch. She just told the host that Amy Grant was a friend and a good artist and there was enough room for all of them in the music industry. She was so smooth with it. Her smile never left her face or anything. The way she handled that, was pure class and grace. Everybody can’t be that gracious. Some people would have been indignant, and Yolanda Adams could have been, if her ego or emotions had been in control of the situation.
Anybody can hire a stylist or a beautician to get the outer shell of beauty, but I want that glow and that peace that just touches people in trouble. That gives them hope and peace at the same time. Kind of like how my Mom can tell me that everything is going to be alright, and you know what, not only will it be okay, shoot, it’s okay right now. Yolanda Adams has a presence that radiates that. I want that. I want my kids to have that.