My new friend, Paul Copeland, is almost totally deaf and has been his entire life. But he has amazing skills at lip reading and the intelligence of an engineer. He has effectively "solved" many of the problems of communication and as long as you are facing him as you speak there is no problem with conversation. Paul is also gifted in the area of creative lighting for dramatic productions. He has done this for church and dramatic presentations at his previous church in Ohio and this year he is serving our church for our Christmas concert series (Paul and Cindy now attend the Chapel). Paul and the team of technology people at church spent hours setting up lights and the sophisticated systems to program and "cue" them and the results have been stunning. Shades of color from every hue are coordinated to match the mood and spirit of each song as the lights wash the background and focus on the choirs and center-stage speakers. Cf course Paul cannot hear the music and so he watches for other signals, such as director Ted Cornell's hands, to indicate the next song or stage of the program. Paul explained to me that, because he cannot hear the music of the concerts, the lights represent much of the beauty of a Christmas program. It is in the subtle variations of light the Paul finds the worship experience. He multiplies the importance of vision to replace the absent sound. He finds the Lord in the silent light.
Acts 12:7 Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, "Arise quickly!" And his chains fell off his hands.
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