So You Want To Sing With Angels?

So You Want To Sing With Angels?
By Joey Daddario

“I was unquestionably in the presence of the Lord’s angels this evening.” Those words, in essence, are what I wrote in my journal one night. It took place on the mountain top in Mt. Hermon, California one evening at a Paul Baloche concert. It was other-worldly – literally. Unlike anything I have ever (or since) experienced. The longer I reflect on that evening, the more pressing it has become to share it. So here it goes.

Last August (2008), I attended a Christian Songwriters conference in Mt. Hermon, CA – an endearingly quaint community in the Santa Cruz mountains. On the last evening, various artists performed under a clear, starlit sky in the amphitheatre. It was comfortably cool…but things were about to warm up in a most wonderful way.

I got to the show a little late (well I wasn’t late by CST – Christian Standard Time). I had attended the conference alone and yet never once felt lonely. Over the course of the intimate conference, I met so many people that I couldn’t walk across the campus without saying hello to a new friend. It was that cozy. I mention this because I believe this atmosphere was catalyst to the angel experience I was about to have. A growing unity was building in the air. The expanding membrane of heaven was stretching to earth – becoming thin. I believe that unwittingly everyone in attendance played a part in ushering in the Lords angels that evening. It was as if God truly wanted to be there – to participate and sing with us. Remember, this was a Christian songwriter’s conference. It was about music, creativity, and, encouragement. But mostly, it was about sharing the unique, incredible gift of songwriting that our Lord had sewn deeply into us. We were saying to the Lord, in effect, “We are here because we love You and want to openly thank You for this wonderful gift of songwriting.” As it turned out His response was, “I am opening up your eyes to experience a slice of heaven tonight.” And that’s just what He did. I’ll never forget it.

OK, it’s the last night of the conference and the amphitheatre is packed. Most of its 250 attendees were under the roof of the amphitheatre. A few of us were in the back, outside of the indoor seating. And that’s where it happened for me.

Paul was closing the concert with his signature song, “Open The Eyes Of My Heart” (how fitting, as you’ll soon see). From where I stood, I could both hear and see the entire event clearly. Then I closed my eyes. I began an inner dialogue (more along the lines of a description) of what I was seeing in my mind’s eye. At least, at the time, I thought it was me talking to me. But, as it turns out, this wasn’t the case. It was the voice of God telling me what was really going on and asking me to describe it back to Him.

Before I continue, let me point out that, sure, I talk to myself. I pray a lot too. God typically responds to me through people, circumstances, and of course, His Word. Never once have I heard audible voices from heaven clearly pointing the way for me. It just hasn’t happened. After the angel experience I’m about to share with you, I must add one more method God chooses to talk to me – through my inner dialog. Actually I’m sure He has used this technique before but somehow it’s new again. Different. Upgraded. The thing that used to be troublesome was not really knowing when the thoughts in my head were mine or Gods. Honestly there are still times (even after the angel experience) when I can get it wrong. The good news is that the angel experience has taken this (inner dialog) communication with the Lord to a new level. Now I have this insight: The deeper my relationship is with God at any given time, the better I can distinguish His voice from mine.

So there I am standing in the back under the stars. Oddly, above all the music and audience singing, I hear a man shouting at the top of his lungs, “A new level of worship, a new level of worship.” (again, how fitting). I open my eyes and look in the direction of Shouting Man and see him in the aisles literally jumping up and down in childlike fashion. Excited. Uncontained enthusiasm. It startled me for a second and then he just stopped. His mission complete. In retrospect it was an awesome reaction. Obviously things were really stirring up.

The song was over. The band was playing musical riffs and free-styling praising. The entire audience was responding by praising God.

Then I heard a sound I had never heard before – angels singing. Obviously I can only describe it with (weak) worldly comparisons. It was like warm bubbly chirping – a symphony of birds. Like legions of morning doves. So beautiful. So incredibly, indescribably soft. Pure. Organized. All the thousands of voices were individual and yet amazingly (defying common sense) they did not interfere with each other. Quite the opposite. They mixed together joyously, all tuned into the same master music conductor. How was this possible? It was not a human sound. There was a joyful sincerity in their utterances that was as heartfelt as a heart can be. I remember thinking that there must be a tape loop playing from the sound engineer’s booth. There was just too much sound coming from the place for it to be anything else. The audience of 250 people could not possibly make this much sound. Well if it were a tape loop, I reasoned, it would be easy enough to verify. Later though. Right now I just want to hear more.

Let me mention again (in more detail) that from my vantage point, I could see all the way down to the stage. I could see the whole audience. As well, I could see the roof line that housed the theatre. I closed my eyes again, having taken a mental snapshot. That picture became transformed in my mind – embellished. I then began speaking in a soft voice, an inner dialog, describing to God what I was seeing. I felt a little silly communicating this way but I stayed with it. Hands raised. I began describing the scene…or should I say the unseen. “I see a blanket of angels. Hovering. Winged. Similar to a flock of birds. I see them on the roof line. In fact I know there are many more of them covering the entire roof of the amphitheatre. And they are in the audience too. Shoulder to shoulder, wing to wing, huddled-like, hovering in and around the audience. Protective. Shielding. They are singing sounds that are not of this earth. Praising the Lord continuously. Focused. Their voices are like rolling chirps of beautiful sound. Voices distinct yet amazingly linked to one another as they are aware of each other and their collective, single-minded purpose of worship. Yes, distinct collective angelic voices mixing awesomely with the praises of the audience.” I had to open my eyes just to re-orient myself and verify that I was where I thought I was. Closing my eyes yet again I saw their color. These were not the blinding white angels I had read about in the bible. “Their color was like old brass, bronze, gold, yellow in an ancient-of-days kind of way.” The phrase “a slice of heaven” rolled in and out of my mind many times. The bible speaks of heavenly hosts praising Jesus day in and day out. I think what I witnessed was a slice of this very biblical description. A lyric idea came to me: “Yes I saw the Truth today.” Everything was just as it was supposed to be. I felt calm. Peaceful.

Time had stood still. The singing angel’s entrance and exit was almost stealth-like. A gentle fog rolling in and out. As the scene slowly and sweetly faded, I opened my planner and began jotting down expressions describing what I had witnessed. Words like, “organized”, “non-human”, “a tape?”, “blanket”, “soft”, “most beautiful”, “sincere”. And this is where it gets even better. Apparently my experience was accurate because, as I was soon to discover, I wasn’t the only one who had it.

Here’s how I know I wasn’t the only one who had the angel experience. I walked down to talk to people milling around in the back of the last row of seats. Without tipping off my intentions, I approached a woman and asked, “Wasn’t that awesome?” She said, “Oh yes, a blanket of angels.” My heart leapt. Did you say blanket? I said, “Here look at this.” I showed her the notes in my planner. There it was. The exact descriptive word, “blanket”. Both our jaws dropped. I repeated the same question to a half dozen other people. Each described angels in their response. Wow, what a confirmation!

The interpretation of the experience being “a slice of heaven” also kept coming up among the people I spoke with. So this was a little taste of what it’s going to be like in the presence of day and night worship? Then I can’t wait. Gone is my childish worry that heaven might be…well…a little boring. After all, eternity is a long time. But after the little slice of heaven I stood witness to, I promise you it won’t be boring, for it was mesmerizing.

So what did I come away with from Mt. Hermon? A big thank you from God. A confirmation that God is with us. A newfound understanding that, more often than not, the rational steady voice in my head is His. The doubting one is my own. So now I talk to God in that same conversational voice I used at Mt. Hermon. There is a new level of trust I have for Him. I speak His Word back to him. The Truth. Especially if I’m stressing. It is quite calming to feel God’s Word protecting me. Here’s a thought that’s running through my mind: “If you want to see angels…close your eyes.”

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. My analytical mind did get the best of me. I went up to the sound engineer afterwards. In a nonchalant tone, I asked, “What was that interesting music track you had playing during the free-styling part of the last song?” He replied, “What music track? We didn’t play any music tracks.”

Joey Daddario
Singer-songwriter
6X ASCAP Plus Award Winner
www.crownsofcreation.com “…stirring up goodness, peace, and joy from God” (Romans 14:17)

One of the many paths through the beautiful forest on Mt. Hermon.

Rev. 005

Tags: angel encounter, christian song, christian songwriter, contemporary christian music, joey daddario, joeyandjeanie, Mt. Hermon, paul baloche