Singing and Passion

More than annoy my parents I used to embarrass them publically and one of the ways I would do that was to sing. Singing was a passion that as a child I loved to indulge in whenever and wherever I had the urge, but one day the song Jesus Loves Me, became more of a preach than a song. As my Mom tells the story we were in Seattle on vacation when I was six. We were walking around the market, me on my Dad’s shoulders, and the song Jesus Loves Me came into my head, so I started to sing, and I was never known as a quiet child. Before long the song became me yelling at people walking by telling them that Jesus loves them and they are going to hell if they don’t love him back. Little did I know this isn’t the most politically correct means to go about converting people.
The other singing memory I have was more of an embarrassment to myself than anyone else. Everybody has those events or activities that make them really happy, that really get the adrenaline going. As a child and to this day one of those activities for me is skiing, and anyone who has skied on one of those blue skies, sunny days, knows that it is one of the best feelings a person can have. On those days when I was about six or seven I loved to sing when I was skiing. The thing about it is I didn’t think anyone else could hear me singing, the wind was so loud and I assumed people were minding their own business. Years later my Mom brought it up as a joke and I was completely shocked to find out that everyone I passed and all the people I was skiing with could hear me singing as I slid down the mountain side. They laugh about it, but it took me a good deal of time to get over the embarrassment. I have come full circle on the issue and once again I sing when I am happy and skiing.