LOVE'S STEADY SUPPORT ON STAGE

BY ESTEBAN XIFRÉ

I HAD JUST A WEEK until my high school graduation. I was very excited. My mother had come all the way from Uruguay to Missiouri, just for my graduation. I hadn't seen her for a long time. This particular day was the day of the "Big Bash," which was a celebration put on by the school for all graduating seniors. They serve food, offer music, games, and performances from students and some faculty, too. I had prepared two songs to perform with some friends' musical group. It began to rain, and we had to crowd inside one of the dorms. We had to set up a small stage, and everyone came inside to watch us—nothing formal, but there were lots of people there, including my mother.

I had a lot on my mind that day, and it weighed me down. I was about to graduate and didn't really know what my next step was going to be. I felt very confused and a little bit scared, but I had to sing those two songs. Anyway, when it was my turn, I stepped on stage. The band started playing. I was about to start singing when the weirdest thing happened to me. Everything just started to black out. Suddenly I couldn't see anything clearly; everything was just a blur. The music continued playing behind me. It felt far away; but I knew I had to start singing, so I did. I began to feel woozy, so I closed my eyes while singing. And the next thing I remember I was on the floor. I had fainted right there on stage in front of everyone!

Right away my mother rushed over and embraced me. My vision was still very blurred, but all of a sudden I heard something beautiful. I sat up and realized that everyone in the audience who had been watching was now singing. They were singing Hymn 30, "Love," from the Christian Science Hymnal, by Mary Baker Eddy. (Since I was attending Principia, a school for Christian Scientists, this hymn was familiar to most people there.) I later learned that one of my friends had started singing the hymn and everyone had joined in. The love and support that I felt at that moment was so wonderful that I instantly stood up and quickly regained my senses. I walked to my room with my mom, and she put me in bed to relax. My roommate then came by and said that he wanted to read to me, so I closed my eyes and he read passages from Science and Health. By the time he had finished reading, which was about an hour after all this had happened, I felt completely well again. For sure, the support and love from my friend, as well as from everyone who had been singing earlier, helped me recover in such a short period. I felt so surrounded by Love that day. Even though I had gone through something hard and a little scary, the presence of Love was all around me and made me feel good.

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