My most precious Christmas gift

The season of Christmas always rekindles in me the sweet childhood memories. I still vividly remember the excitement for Christmas Eve gatherings where my siblings and I would receive toys exclusively shipped for us from the United States. My father was the first Pakistani employee of General Motors in Pakistan. His American boss, Mr. Ham, used to be our generous host. Year after year, he would invite our family to celebrate Christmas Eve with his family, even though we weren’t Christians. Though, I was just a little kid at that time, but the impact of his generosity and kindness has been profound.

My most precious gift arrived on Christmas Eve of 1994, at the nursing home where I reside. As I opened the package I found a cassette tape and a folder with written sheets of music!  I was delighted to listen to my words put to music by the renowned music director, Mr. Michael Duff. The soloist was Mrs. Josh McQueen of Winnetka. I will always remain grateful to them for this lovely gift.

How these lyrics came to me is a beautiful story in itself. It all started with a simple prayer that I made in a church: “God, I want to write a hymn for you and I want my Christian friends to sing it the way they sing their religious songs.” It was quite an unusual prayer that just came from within to reciprocate the sincerity of my friends for my wellbeing.

One morning, as I was having breakfast in my room at the nursing home, suddenly, the first verse of the hymn came to me from my heart like a prayer. I was thrilled and I started to repeat these words over and over again to myself. Thankful and eager for more, I spent the next few days looking up at the sky and praying to God for more words, to complete the second verse of the hymn.

It was the fourth day when the words for the second verse came effortlessly in my mind again during breakfast. At that moment, I had this overwhelming feeling that whosoever opens their heart and lets these words sink in would experience peace, healing, and the assurance that God’s love is unconditional for them. Similarly, I had this unexplained feeling that someday this hymn will be heard all over the country. Since then nineteen years have passed by, and perhaps, just a few hundred may have heard these words. However, I remain hopeful that someday some celebrated gospel singer would make this a reality.

It was Easter Sunday, 1995, at a Church in Winnetka, Illinois, a twenty-five mixed voice choir sang this inspirational hymn, to the music played on an organ, in a full house church.  It was an amazing moment for me as I saw my prayer becoming a reality right in front of my eyes. All my heart could whisper was: “Thank You God for honoring my prayer.”

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