My Life Flows On in Endless Song (ELW 763)
Devotion
1 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?
2 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
3 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
4 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
Text: Robert Lowry, 1826-1899
There's a standard joke in the interior of Alaska: if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes. Though the summer day may be sunny and hot, we are more than likely to have a brief rain shower almost every day.
On one sunny day, I took one of my boys on a hike at Angel Rocks, a 3.5-mile loop up granite pillars that overlook the surrounding hills. By the time we got near the top, it started to sprinkle — but only on the Rocks. The valley around us was a brilliant sun-drenched green. Now that the granite had become extra slick, I was holding on to my 5-year-old with one hand and the rock with the other, and stepping as carefully as I could when, suddenly, he pointed. "Mommy! Look!" In the valley along a stream, a mama moose and her calf had paused for a drink. Soaked on our hike, my soul sang: "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?"
Prayer
Give me reason to sing, O God. Through all the tumult and strife, let me still hear your voice and sing out your praise into the storm. Amen.