1. 'Delights in the Darkness'
2. or to take a Biblical phrase - 'treasures of darkness'
3. or even 'songs of the night'!!!!!!!!!
but I've chosen 'A night to remember' because it was what the compere of the concert I attended on Monday night called it!
Well, by now you are probably wondering what all this has to do with the photo above - I will explain...
The cold chilly temperatures of winter have arrived here, but none-the-less, rugged up in my warm woollen black coat, I was ready. My carer, while my hubby was away, had bundled my wheelchair into her car boot (trunk for the American readers) and we had set off for town to the Maitisong auditorium/theatre for a special Youth Choir Festival that was to feature the 'Drakensburg Boys Choir' from South Africa. Having heard them 4 years ago when they first visited Botswana, I was very keen to hear them again.
Following the singing of the National Anthem, the night started with some local primary school choirs performing, with one who sang all Acappella really standing out. But after about only half an hour into this wonderful concert, the power went out!
All was dark.
Such is life in Botswana these days when you never know when you will be without power. Being a cold night, I guess supplies were running short as demand was high. The choir performing at the time was amazing, they didn't even miss a beat!
After most members of the audience turned on cell phones to give a little light and a couple of small emergency lights were found so pianists accompanying could see and conductors could see and be seen by their choirs, and some small adjustments were made to the program, the show went on!
As expected the Drakensburg boys were just superb. Some of the pieces were simply awesome and I could have listened for hours.
But we were all still in the dark.
And in the dark, when the compere announced intermission, he remarked that this was a 'night to remember' in more ways than one!
After a short intermission (still all in the dark), the Botswana "PPC National Youth Choir" performed a few pieces. They are a relatively newly formed choir who are still 'finding their feet' fully, but are going from strength to strength and are getting to be a really quality group and gave a great performance - the potential in this country is amazing! It is so wonderful to see that these young people now have the opportunity for an outlet for their abilities and can begin to know the joy of using the talent God has created them with for both their own enjoyment and to bring enjoyment to others as well.
As they concluded their numbers, all was still dark.
Then the Drakensburg boys returned to the stage, but this time not in their 'formal attire' but their standard attire for the 'second half' of their performances - a "Kaleidoscope" of the South African flag colours and their white gum-boots! They looked great.
Even though it was all in the 'dark'.
They performed a variety of 'folk' songs of an African nature and once again were superb.
Then just after starting their well known "Gum boot dance" - (it was fantastic) -
The power came back on!
Perfect timing - as the multi-coloured stage lights brought the colours of their costumes alive!
The music had lit up our hearts all night despite the lack of physical lights, but the addition of the physical lights coming on, was appreciated all the more, after the lack of them.
It all ended with all the choirs together for one final item....
.....with the lights on!
It was a wonderful evening, and while the power outage was a 'not so nice' reminder of the current power problems and their inconvenience, it was also a wonderful reminder of the rewards of not letting circumstances destroy joy. It was a help to not forget that one can still sing in the dark, and when we do, there are 'treasures of darkness' to be enjoyed. Dark times are not necessarily times to give up and go home, but times in God's strength to persevere through, and just like the light eventually came back on, joy comes in the morning. If we had all just gone home, feeling defeated by the darkness, we would have all missed out on the wonderful gift of music the choirs had to bring and we would have withheld the choir members from sharing and giving - instead we all went home filled with the joy and blessing of the evening. And we would have missed how special it was when the lights came on right at the 'Gum boot dance'! It truly was ....
A night to remember!
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