“My Life Flows On in Endless Song” (ELW 763)
Devotion
My life flows on in endless song;
above earth's lamentation,
I catch the sweet, though far-off hymn
that hails a new creation.
Refrain
No storm can shake my inmost calm
while to that Rock I'm clinging.
Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth,
how can I keep from singing?
Through all the tumult and the strife,
I hear that music ringing.
It finds an echo in my soul.
How can I keep from singing? Refrain
What though my joys and comforts die?
The Lord my Savior liveth.
What though the darkness gather round?
Songs in the night he giveth. Refrain
The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart,
a fountain ever springing!
All things are mine since I am his!
How can I keep from singing? Refrain
I live in Washington State only a few miles from the coastline, where the storms roll in off the Pacific Ocean and our average yearly rainfall is 67.55 inches. It can be a gloomy and stormy place. This hymn is one that captures the imagination with its imagery of storms, a far-off hymn and a rock. Christ gives our inmost calm and is the rock to which we cling while storms rage around us. Sometimes it feels like the storms around us will never end. This hymn is a joyful song of praise to encourage us to cling to Christ, our foundation—to sing out loudly into the storm. We are called to sing out into the storms surrounding us with the sweet promise that we are all made new in Christ. How are you called in your life/community to sing out the message of Christ's grace in the midst of the storms of life?
Prayer
God of strength, give us the courage to sing loudly your message of hope, grace and love in the storms that rage in this world. Amen.