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Emily Skardon

Professor Cassel

English 1201

7 October 2019

Touched by God

I’ve always had an odd relationship with God or maybe it is just religion. I don’t know, I

have always thought it was strange how people gather together in a beautiful building with

stained glass windows and worship a higher power with all these rules of what is right and

wrong. I feel like I know there has to be a higher power of some sort or something going on, but

if I believe that it is God, I am not sure.

August 16th, I moved into my own apartment downtown it’s called Delco Lofts. It’s this

old warehouse building that was once Mendelsons, but was remodeled in 2017 to become an

apartment building. There are floor to ceiling windows in every apartment. It’s right next to Fifth

Third Field and diagonal from Riverscape. I heard that Kanye West was going to be in town

performing his Sunday Service at Riverscape on the same day as the Gem City Shine block

party. I didn't believe that he would really be there considering his Sunday Service is pretty

exclusive. I had seen some videos online of Sunday Service but a lot of it was just of his family

and other celebrities joining in to celebrate God. It seemed like an event that would never be

taken place in Dayton, Ohio. Let alone for the average person to attend. I’ve always loved Kanye

West, ever since I had heard the song Heartless, it was a go-to for me whenever I had my ipod

and headphones around as a child. Seeing him up close and personal was something I never ever

even fathomed to be a reality.

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On August 23rd, I had seen in the news that Kanye and his family (this is including Kim

Kardashian!) were in Dayton Ohio. I kind of just assumed that they were here for the Gem City

Shine block party hosted by Dave Chapelle. I had hoped to at least run into them on the street or

at a restaurant, as I would not be attending the block party due to having work. But then I saw

that Kanye was at Riverscape, that same day, supposedly checking out the space for his Sunday

Service. I could not believe he was literally less than a block away from me earlier that day and I

had no idea.

Now, I’m not really a morning person and this was supposedly happening Sunday

morning at 9 AM so I made sure to go to sleep early enough, so I would wake up well rested in

the morning. The day had come, it was Sunday, August 25th, a sunny and warm day. I woke up

around 8:30 AM. I contemplated just walking down in my pajamas to see if people were even

out at Riverscape but then I thought if they were out there, I want to get out there as soon as I

possibly could. I quickly got ready and as I walked out the door I saw police cars blocking the

street off. I knew what I had heard had to be true, I was so ecstatic. My boyfriend was still inside

sleeping and I tried to get him up but he wouldn’t wake up so I called him a bunch of times and

when he finally answered I was like “this is really happening you need to get out here right

now.” He finally got out of bed and came down to join me. I was just kind of standing there

shocked at the fact that this couldn’t be real, but they were setting up the piano and all the

instruments they needed and then the choir started filing in. As Kanye and Kim walked out they

open the barricades and we were allowed to go in to the center of the Riverscape pavilion. I was

probably four people back from the choir. I saw him, I saw Kanye West and I was freaking out.

As I was standing there listening to the music it was so surreal not only that I was in the presence

of Kanye but I kind of felt like the presence of God was there as well. It was such an amazing
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experience to feel the community together just singing and dancing and praising God. The music

and the choir singing along was so beautiful. One of my favorite songs, that I had heard before,

was “Jesus Walk.” It is such a catchy and cool song, especially with the choir singing along, in

person. It starts out with the background singers singing, “bum-bum-bum bum bum bum-bum-

bum bum bum, Jesus walk, Jesus walk” and then Kanye starts rapping over it. It is a song I have

always thought was so cool. It is not your traditional religion-type song and I think that is part of

what makes it so cool. I had goosebumps the whole time, it was so angelic like. There were

upbeat songs with singing and clapping and at one point Kanye got up and rapped along to

“Jesus Walk.” Although this was not a traditional Sunday Service that one would attend at

church, I felt God’s presence. There was just so much happiness and beauty all around me. When

it came to an end, I was right where Kanye exited and I touched him. I was right there standing

next to Kanye West! Some say he is Godlike and this is something he likes to go along with,

although he may be a little cocky claiming to be a “God,” he really is pretty cool, so it’s okay.

From this point, I felt like I had a connection with a higher power of some sort. I am not

sure if it is just the adrenaline that I had from that day or if I actually believe in God now, but I

feel like there has to be something. I have prayed to God a few times since, for myself and for

other people. It seems as though my prayers have been answered every single time. This has

taught me that I do not have to attend church every Sunday or even ever for that matter, to feel

the power of God. I believe that if I had not attended Sunday Service on that beautiful Sunday

morning, I would not feel God along with me on my journey of life today.