There’s a Stirring – Annie Herring

Think about death’s moment. But, don’t be morose. If you think those two objectives are mutually exclusive, then you haven’t met Annie Herring. Was she ill, one might ask? Or, suicidal? According to her husband Buck, the answers would seem to be ‘no’. When asked what was going on in her life that compelled Annie to write “There’s a Stirring”, Buck Herring replies ‘The song is the story’ – nothing else. And, it is an inspiration, unlike what our secular world might coax us to think about this subject. Nevertheless, knowing what happened in Annie’s life by the time she was 25 might make you pause. Meet Annie Herring.

Annie’s parents, Walter and Elizabeth Ward, raised their children in a musical home in North Dakota. By late 1970, both parents had died, Elizabeth of a brain tumor and Walter of leukemia. These were undoubtedly profound milestones for Annie, as they would be for anyone with loving parents who are gone by your 25th birthday. Annie had married Buck by this time, and they raised her younger brother Matthew and sister Nelly. Their musical and Spirit-fed upbringing stuck with them, and the three siblings formed the singing combo 2nd Chapter of Acts, spending the next couple of decades singing to Him. 1988 marked the group’s retirement, but not the end of God-centered music in their lives. Annie’s song “There’s a Stirring” was written the following year. It had been 21 years since her mother’s death and 19 since her father’s, but did these episodes linger? Annie was 44 by this time, and a new page had turned in her music life. The song’s words tell us she also thought about another page-turning, about Eternity.

If you’ve been a 40-something, you know what it’s like to sense time’s passage, and to have a thoughts about mortality. Something deep inside whispers. Some might say it gnaws at the spirit, a foreboding that troubles a non-believer. But, to Annie, it must have sounded like an invitation. She’s not alone among God’s people. Many have said that life flashes before the eyes in a brush with death, but Annie’s song proposes that Eternity’s the real scene. The Bible’s patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph all sensed life’s end. Moses sang a song. Stephen, Paul, and certainly Jesus knew what lay beyond, and told those close by about it. Simeon (Luke 2:25-35) welcomed death – because he had seen Christ. I think I’ll be a little afraid, despite knowing the bliss that approaches (and the resurrection, like Christ’s – see the picture above). That’s OK, really, isn’t it? What Herring wrote is supposed to rouse, not tranquilize. Her song also reminds me of these immutable facts for the Christian, which look this way: Death >>> Life, and God’s presence = Ecstasy. The following website provides the history of Annie Herring and the group 2nd Chapter of Acts: http://www.annieherring.com/store/history.php?osCsid=75e7c9753f55d7c146c311b43e878f55

See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Herring for Annie’s Herring’s biography.

Brief information on the song story was also obtained via an e:mail with Buck Herring on Oct. 15, 2010.