Just In Time

This blog was most easily written as a letter to my children and grandchildren–please know all its readers are my extended family in Our Lord!

“God comes to us in the things we know best and can verify most easily, the things of our everyday life, apart from which we cannot understand ourselves.” –St. John Paul the Great

“Music uncovers the buried way to the heart, to the core of our being…. Wherever this happens, music becomes the road that leads to Jesus.” –Pope Benedict XVI

My dear ones,
What truth these holy words ring for me after the preview of heaven given me so unexpectedly a week ago today, Shrove Tuesday. I must share it with you before it fades, in the hope that it will encourage and bless you long after I am on the other side. You may remember my tales of your Dad/Grandad Soren, your sister/aunt Marian, and me in the Christmastime 2000 production of “The Sound of Music” at our local Fulton Theater. To be on that stage as Sister Sophia (of she-climbs-a-tree-and-scrapes-her-knee fame), hitting the jubilant, high soprano notes of “Confitemini Domino, Quoniam Bonus!!” –“Give thanks to the Lord for He is good”–as the Captain and Maria exit the cathedral stage left, what soul-fulfillment! Our Rolf (I-am-seventeen-going-on-eighteen) was a local high school junior, a Lancaster County Mennonite farmer’s son by the name of Jonathan Groff–dearest, most natural fellow in all the world. His burgeoning talent was as huge as his engaging heart. We SOM cast became family in our forty-two performances, uniquely bonded by the message of that story. Once in the heart, always in the heart, as a friend of mine loves to say.

Fast forward twenty-five-plus years. I’m eighty-one; Jonathan is forty and, his multiple Tony nominations/awards notwithstanding, as endearing and “normal” as ever. Whether running into Marian on a chance visit home from the Big Apple or delighting in a mini-SOM reunion years ago around our dining room table, Jonathan invites “be home with me.” He is currently starring in “Just In Time” on Broadway, and the accolades pour in. What fun, Dad/Granddad and I thought, to go see him as Bobby Darin–a staple of our teenage years. Look up “Splish, Splash, I Was Takin’ A Bath,” and “Mack the Knife,” and you’ll catch a flavor! We could stay with your Aunt/Great-aunt Sissy, and make it a threesome for her seventy- ninth birthday–perfect. What wasn’t perfect was the outlandish price of the tickets, so we settled for “standing room,” with high hopes for no-shows at the last minute. It can happen.

But not that night, the confident box office attendant assured us the moment we arrived. Presidents’ Day/Week in NYC with all the schools off and Jonathan’s last weeks headlining the show–not a promising combo. I persisted, “Is there someone I could talk to?” She all but rolled her eyes directing me to the House Manager, who, she announced with some satisfaction, would not be available anytime soon. The inside usher proved more sympathetic, showing us to our assigned standing spots with a promise of sending the HM our way if possible. Not much to bank on there, but–”Jesus, I trust in you.” Moments later, along she came, kind as could be, not the least bit skeptical of my story that we knew Jonathan Groff from Lancaster theater days. “I’ll keep my eye out, she said empathetically, but this is one very tough night.” Sissy, from our perch high above the stadium seating, concurred–”Bonnie, look at the hoards coming in, like ants in an anthill. I hate to see you disappointed, but there’s no way.” My sister was at a low ebb with recent suffering in her own life, and I so wanted a faith-boost birthday for her. “Jesus, take care of everything.”

Three minutes before curtain, the HM materialized beside us, her eyes alight. “Come with me now!” she directed–and led us to extraordinary seats. WHAT???!!!! THANK YOU, AMAZING GOD!!! While we were still catching our breaths, the dazzle began– mesmerizing, enthralling, enchanting. The live band thrilled, the dancers astounded, the sets captivated. But Jonathan? Jonathan wowed. Captured every heart with his signature capacity to connect. Voice, eyes, heart–whole being–completely given and completely received. St. Irenaeus may have been anonymous there in the two-way street of Jonathan Groff and his audience, but was he ever present: “The glory of God is man fully alive.”

Could it get more entrancing? Yes it could. Something dormant in me was waking up, for sure, sitting there in that aisle seat I “happened” to occupy. Muscle memory stirring–the impact of live theater in our being, a swell in my every cell of the Abbey nuns’ “Confitemini, Domino.” I was transported–something pulsing within. Then, perhaps ten minutes into the show, came the title song in all its razzle-dazzle choreography.” Just in time, I found you just in time”–Jonathan’s sincere romance with the crowd as he moved among the cafe tables below was magnetic. Suddenly–magic–he was coming up my aisle! I looked up in startled delight and he caught my eye–the recognition instant, the smile melting. He bounded the remaining steps to my seat, as though he couldn’t get there fast enough, bowed with near-reverence, eyes fixed on mine, extended his hand and asked so dearly, microphone in hand, “May I have this dance?” I was transfixed. Out of my seat I floated to the sweetest embrace, swaying and singing with him (the words just couldn’t not come out), ♬ Now you’re here, and now I know just where I’m going, no more doubts or fears, I found my way, cause love came just in time, you found me just in time. ♬

I sat back down in a daze, Sissy beside me dumbstruck, your Dad/Granddad out of reach. WHAT–JUST–HAPPENED??!! This was so much more than Rolf recognizing Sister Sophia and having a fun moment for auld lang syne. This was heaven reaching for me! The Father picking me out of a crowd, knowing and loving all the intricacies of my heart because He created it, intending to satisfy them completely. All the untapped yearnings, seen and touched and brought to life…all that shaped and formed me–beginning with my grandmother at her piano–delighted in, rejoiced over. This is the Bridegroom, waiting out months of performances until I got there “just in time” for His tender, “Oh, my dove in the clefts of the rock, let me see you, let me hear your voice…you ravish my heart, my sister, my bride” (SoS). This is the Holy Spirit, plugging me into an eternal electrical current, all the senses on fire in an explosion of joy. Life, and life to the full. Oh yes, Theology of the Body speakers, I see. “God wants to marry me.”

But the picture wasn’t complete. Heaven is not just God-and-I. Heaven is the full Eucharist–union with the whole Body of Christ. I “came to” with the intermission lights going up, stunned by the chorus of exclamations around us, “what a moment for you, bravo!”–“wow, to see that dance so close to us!”– “can you believe that happened–you’ll never forget it!” Someone recognized my bright blue sweater in the ladies’ room and announced, “bathroom celebrity right here!” to excited cheers. So visceral: Heaven is one-for-all and all-for-one, rejoicing in the Father’s love poured out. Celebrator? Celebratee? No matter– the blessing is equal. In Christ, humility and magnanimity inseparable. Glorious Com-union.

How to square waking up to Ash Wednesday, next morning at Sissy’s, with the Resurrection bursting within? The nudge of the Holy Spirit was clear–don’t even try to “get somber;” allow Lent to keep Easter before you. ♬ Now you’re here, and I know just where I am going…. ♬ Such a small price–to give up what our dis-tracted appetites bend towards, so we can taste God’s endless appetite for us. How madly in love He is with all he created in each of you, my dear, precious ones! Music binds us together. Sing with me in my St. Joseph’s choir loft Bernadette Farrell’s tender Ps. 139, “You are with me beyond my understanding…God of my present, my past and future, too,” and know it is true. He has perfectly choreographed previews of heaven for you “just in time” as you need them. You’ll know them when they come, and you’ll never be the same.

How blessed I am in you.

With all my love,
Mom/Nanna

Bonnie West, Copyright 2026