We loaded up the kids and instruments, made sure we had our clothes for the night and headed to Lexington Kentucky. The Borders Band had been asked to play on WoodSongs, an old-time radio show. A show that is broadcast all around the world on 515 stations from Australia to Boston to Dublin, Ireland. It also airs on American Forces Radio Network twice each weekend in 173 nations, and on every military base and US Naval ship in the world!
That same day Rhonda Vincent and the Rage were making their way to Lexington Kentucky to play on the same stage during the program. Rhonda Vincent and her band are amazing performers. In fact, they are the most awarded band in bluegrass history. To date, they have won one Grammy, nineteen IBMA awards and she has 8 IBMA Female Vocalist of the year wins!
It was an honor for The Borders Band
to share the same stage as Rhonda Vincent.
People coming to the show that night didn’t come to hear us; they came to hear her. Yet something happened that I will never forget.
During the encore performance of The Borders Band, my six-year-old daughter picked up her bass and slipped the strap over her neck. When she did, her hair got caught under her strap. Rhonda Vincent sweetly walked over and pulled her hair out from under the strap so she would be more comfortable playing. It was such a precious act I quickly snapped a picture.
Why did Rhonda care about my daughter? The Borders Band has nothing to offer Rhonda Vincent. Her kindness to us wasn’t motivated out of selfish gain; in fact, it was just the opposite. It was love that motivated her kindness.
Ironically the next song Rhonda Vincent and The Rage performed was about that very thing. It is a song I know she can sing because she lives it. Here are the lyrics to the song she sang next – they are a good reminder to us all.
You Don’t Love God If You Don’t Love Your Neighbor
There are many people who will say they’re Christians
And they live like Christians on the Sabbath day
But come Monday morning, till the coming Sunday
They will fight their neighbor all along the way
Oh you don’t love God
If you don’t love your neighbor
If you gossip about him, if you never have mercy
If he gets into trouble, and you don’t try to help him
Then you don’t love your neighbor
And you don’t love God
There’s a God Almighty, and you’ve got to love him
If you want salvation and a home on high
If you say you love him while you hate your neighbor
Then you don’t have religion, you just told a lie
I am thankful for Rhonda’s act of kindness to my daughter. It was a simple act of love that spoke volumes of her character and humility. An act that reminded me, no matter how important you are in the eyes of man, we are all servants in the eyes of God.
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