You've all listened to the news reports about the closure of Roseville Mall due to the “Flash Mob” that occurred Monday night. In case you haven't listened to the news yet, or perhaps you changed the channel because you thought “Oh great, more stories of mankind gone wild,” let me give you a brief recap. Last night, Dec. 20th, around 7:00pm, authorities evacuated and closed the Roseville Mall due to safety concerns because of an anticipated “Flash Mob” to occur at 7:30pm. Report of the number of people in that area of the mall (around 5,000 on one report) that gathered to watch the event overwhelmed mall authorities who called in numerous squad cars, fire engines and ambulances to evacuate and close the mall. A “Flash Mob” is just a coordinated group of people who plan to do something at a set time so that the event appears random because the participants are scattered around the area. It has been successfully, and peacefully, performed around the country.
The news, of course, reported on the evacuation like it inconvenienced shoppers and got out of hand. Well, here's my take on the event, and I think it is a testimony to Jesus this Christmas season.
My family and I had decided to go to this event after it was posted on this list serve earlier this month. My husband and I had sung in the choir participating in the event and we wanted our kids to experience a Handel's Messiah sing-a-long, which churches occasionally have at Christmas with audience participation. It's the most wonderful testimony to God's glory for people from all backgrounds to be able to sing the uplifting Hallelujah Chorus at the top of our lungs, out of key and pitch, and sing of God's glory at Christmas. There's nothing like it and it is so seldom done these days. So when we heard the Sac Choral Society was doing Handel's Messiah at the mall, we had to go.
We arrived in Roseville around 6:30pm and already the line for the mall stretched across the freeway down towards Eureka. We thought it was regular traffic! We finally arrived in a parking place that miraculously opened up near the area of the mall prearranged for the “Flash Mob.” As we got out of the car, we heard from everyone the mall was closed and being evacuated. By this time, ambulances, fire engines, dozens of squad cars were arriving. We thought the mall was burning down! Surprisingly, everyone was leaving in a quiet and orderly way! We walked up to the mall and heard the choir, which had moved outside, lifting their voices in the Hallelujah Chorus, along with the remaining bystanders (a large crowd!) Everyone was joining in as they were herded by the police out of the mall and toward the parking lot, yet they kept singing to God's glory!
What a contrast to the mobs that trashed San Francisco when the Giants won. If you watch the videos of that event, people move quickly but in an orderly fashion; no pushing, trampling, complaining at the inconvenience, no yelling or cursing the authorities. Only groups of spontaneous singing to God's glory.
What I walked away with last night was priceless, and a testimony to Jesus. The news reported that people wanted to sing “Christmas carols,” and that it inconvenienced shoppers. None of the people in the crowds I saw had bags. News of the “secret” “Random Act of Musical Kindness” that Dr. Kendrick had arranged for the choir, particularly Handel's Messiah, a sacred musical peace attesting to God's glory, had spread via internet to churches, high school choirs (some came from Nevada City), and Christians from all over Northern California. People came to sing together, with scores downloaded in hand, the Hallelujah Chorus, to have hope and remember peace in this world that's falling apart.
One final word: I also saw that churches had let them down. Ask yourself this question: Why would people travel to a mall at Christmas to sing Handel's Messiah? Because no one else was doing it. I didn't hear of any churches doing the sing-a -long. Most churches today have set aside sacred music and human voices in favor of rock-type music and fancy mixes for worship. Clearly, despite what churches think will draw people in, people are looking for the sacred, the holy, to sing, not just in a special choir or pageant performance some large church put together at the local community center and charges $10.00 a person. The churches are losing people because they don't provide the sacred, the holy, in music or in their lives. Churches don't teach the Bible, who God is, or that Christ is returning.
So this Christmas, download a free internet copy of the Hallelujah Chorus, and sing to God. Take a group of friends and sing in downtown Placerville, downtown Sacramento, your neighborhood, your church. Be a living praise to God! If a crowd can do it in a mall, because a choral conductor thought it would be a great “random act” to give back to the community, shouldn't we be singing praises to God for all to hear in this dark world?
