Top-Sellers Banquet

On the ridge there's a camera
And a DP framing the shot
Of a hillside at twilight
And a country club on top
In the foreground there's a paved road lit
By the black cars splitting the night
Tunneled headlights burned in the darkness
Move the camera to the banquet hall

Where they all arrive in turn
Give their coats to a man at the door
They come for a dinner planned
In their honor all here, top-sellers for the year on the list
On the far side by a glass wall
At a table the executives sit
They watch people coming in on a pilgrimage
There's a slow pan pull the camera back

Let it linger, hanging over the room
Let the viewer feel the heat of the light on the screen coming through

And they're all in awe of it here standing with the pyramid tip above
Shift the focus on each entering guest like some television wedding event
They come in to the hall and almost kneel on the ground in suits and jewels and diamond ball gowns
Praise Jesus for the gospel of more for the kingdom of eternal reward and the camera tilts

An announcement made, a welcome, thanks, your seats, please and we'll start
It's good to see or to meet you to celebrate the year that we've had
They'll serve dinner soon, enjoy your drinks, the ensemble starts to play
Move the camera now from the hallway out, shoot the dancers from in back of the line

One by one going into the room, keep the camera close, follow behind
Floating weightless between tables, we change focus crossing paths
All their guests hold their phones out, no one notices the flash all around
Pass through glass and showed the hillside glowing white right before there was sound

That's only relatively true
But one thing is sure
We must die
And if you'll just turn to your last page in the banner this week
You will find a series of articles by Arnold Brink
On that subject
You must die, I must die
In view of that
Where will you place your energy?
Where will you set your ambitions?
Where will be your goals?
How will your aim be determined?
What will be your seeking?

And a hush fell all around in the room gone pitch black
For the glow of their phones in their hands
And they wondered, "Had the power gone out?"
But they couldn't hear anything in the dark that surrounded them
Not a sound made and nothing came out when they opened up their mouths
You could sense how they felt in the expressions revealed by the screens

Those who are involved in the wheel
And in the pleasure of God
These things shall be shadowed over you
Someone said I don't have to work anymore
Who said that?
Not me

It was a dancer they discovered first between tables in the hall near the center
Frozen in her pose mid-jump, suspended in the air
In the corner all the players in their chairs with their bows mid-stroke
And the servers too, scattered like a statuary in a garden or a tomb
Motionless, each of them
Except for the guests and the executives still seated at their table at the front end of the room

Then from the ceiling came a tunnel of light settled downward on the dancer in the air
Still floating with her legs outstretched in a leap above them
They saw her fingers moving first then her eyes blinking softly in the brightness
And the guests stood dumbstruck watching in awe, her return as if unthawing back to life
Floated slowly, going weightlessly up through the chandeliers above
Through the roofbeams then out, disappearing through the ceiling in the night

And another one fell downward on a dancer by the hall door
And another one fell downward on a cellist in his chair
And another on a server, and another on a valet
On another dancer, and another, and they all begin rising skyward
And the camera starts to rise skyward with them
Where its lens fixed downward at the room shows guests in horror pull out their hair
And the head table in the center carries on
Eating and drinking and talking as if entirely unfazed
And the camera rises through the ceiling
And the shot widens as it climbs
And we see in all directions, long beams everywhere to the ground
Where bodies inside smile at music only they can hear
At a thousand voices singing in their ears
At the warmth of the light on their skin
And on the ground people weep
Gnash their teeth, burn their belongings
And we see everything around rising upward
Until the camera goes grey in the clouds
Until the camera goes grey in the clouds
Until the camera goes black
Until the film cuts
Until it ends without credits
And there's nobody left to see

That is the big purpose
All my goals
And as we work the work of God
The work of day
As we seek the kingdom
And his righteousness
We are also going to be faithful in our daily neighbors
We're going to use our time
We're going to budget our money
We're going to be careful in spending
We're going to be wise in investing
And He will regulate these things
For the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord
Amen

Our God
We thank thee for all the mercies bestowed upon us
For thy word and thy spirit
For thy power of grace
And for thy love as it speaks to us

May we never cease seeking thy kingdom
Seeking thy righteousness
May we wait on thee day by day
To receive at thy hand food and drink and clothing and shelter
And all things
In Jesus name
Amen