My Life Flows On in Endless Song, ELW 763 (verse 4)
Devotion
1My 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?
2Through 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
3What though my joys and comforts die?
The Lord my Savior liveth.
What though the darkness gather round?
Songs in the night he giveth. Refrain
4The 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
We might picture the peace of Christ like a Moebius strip—a type of continuous loop with only one side. The peace-of-Christ strip appears to have two sides—an outside: our actions as instruments of Christ's peace; and an inside: the fresh heart this peace creates in us. But as we trace around the band, we discover that the outside and inside are one: the peace of Christ, which passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7).
This gift of peace is fed by one spring, God's ever-flowing love for all creation. Through this gift, we are strengthened to participate in God's work of reconciliation—to change and to heal the world.
Prayer
O Lord Jesus, make us instruments of your peace, that where there is hatred, we may sow love, where there is injury, pardon, and where there is despair, hope. Grant, O divine master, that we may seek to console, to understand, and to love in your name, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (ELW, p. 25)