Written On Our Hearts

When Michael and I were unexpectedly called into this ministry of song and story, I hoped we might one day be remembered for what we did, whether by a special award (Grammy or Dove), or by other artists using and recording our songs.

But what happened instead, is that people’s lives have been deeply touched. I was reminded of that again this past weekend in Arizona.

I flew to Phoenix last Friday, rented a car and met up with a dear friend for lunch. Then I drove over to the congregation and caught a little bit of shut-eye before preparing for the evening. When I returned to the sanctuary, right before the concert, I was introduced to a couple I didn’t quite recognize.

It had been over 30 years since the last time I saw them. She held our cassettes in her hand as she introduced herself as Joan’s sister, Kate. A well of memories flooded me.

It was right around 1990. I was very close friends with Lori, who was looking for more in this life—like I was. She was interested in the New Age movement, and I was following Jesus. But Lori had a friend, Joan, who was a young up-and-coming actress.

Joan really connected with our songs. We had just released our first album, “Hey God, Are You Talkin’ To Me?” on cassette. Joan even wrote me a letter about how much she loved our songs.

Lori and I drifted apart, each of us deeply committed to following what we believed. I didn’t see much of Joan either. But one day Lori called me out of the blue, told me Joan was at the County hospital, and she had terminal cancer. She was only 30.

Lori said something about Joan wanting to see me. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do—and I hated hospitals. My brother died in one. But I prayed and prepared to go see Joan.

When I entered the room Joan was in the first bed of five, all crammed into one room, separated by curtains. Her body was swollen—especially her stomach. But her face was radiant. I had never seen anyone shine like that! She was glorious—yet she was dying. How could that be?

I sat with her for 2 hours and the whole time she talked about Jesus with so much passion, it blew my mind. She wasn’t afraid. She totally trusted Him and knew she would be healed—either on the planet or in His arms.

I left her hospital room in a mini-revival state of mind. For the first time in my walk with the Lord I felt like I wanted to stand on a street corner and yell, “It’s all true! Jesus IS the Resurrection and the Life!!”

I wrote in my journal a little later: “You whispered eternity into my soul…” And sometime after that I shared what I’d written about Joan in my journal, and Michael took that first line and began writing a lyric called It’s Just a Matter of Time. But he couldn’t finish it. Something was holding him back.

Soon after we were on tour in Sacramento, staying at Mike’s sister’s house. I awoke one morning and called our voicemail to check messages. Lori had called to tell me Joan had passed. When I told Michael about Joan, he shared that he had gotten up early that morning and finally felt a release to finish the song. He said he felt the Holy Spirit had encouraged him to complete the lyric.

I met Joan’s sister and her husband when I flew out to AZ to sing the song at her Memorial Mass. Lori was there, with her husband. There was both joy and sorrow as Joan was celebrated and remembered.

Friday night, standing there, slowly processing this unexpected meeting, I could see some of Joan in her sister’s face as she smiled and explained they had only found these cassettes a day or two before. They googled me on the web and saw where I was going to be. And then, just like that, they came.

It’s hard not to hunger for some kind of significance and recognition in this life. And it’s painful to come to grips with the very real possibility that what we have poured our hearts into may not endure beyond our lifetime. But last Friday night, none of that mattered. God gave me a tiny window into what matters to Him. And that was more than enough.

Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

—2 Corinthians 3:1-3)

Click on the picture below to hear the song written for Joan, It's Just A Matter Of Time sung by Sally

-Sally Klein O'Connor

3/18/24