Blest Be the Tie That Binds (Evangelical Lutheran Worship 656)
1 Blest be the tie that binds
our hearts in Christian love;
the unity of heart and mind
is like to that above.
2 Before our Father’s throne
we pour our ardent prayers;
our fears, our hopes, our aims are one,
our comforts and our cares.
3 We share our mutual woes,
our mutual burdens bear,
and often for each other flows
the sympathizing tear.
4 From sorrow, toil, and pain,
and sin we shall be free;
and perfect love and friendship reign
through all eternity.
Devotion
Once I thought this hymn to be a quaint, old-fashioned hymn, until my wife was given a terminal diagnosis. Then, we began to experience the ties that bind—on Caring Bridge, through emails, texts, visits, and phone calls, the connections made over a lifetime began to be made visible. People from all parts of our lives prayed for us and shared our burdens. These relationships can’t be formed just when you need them. When cultivated and nurtured, they can accumulate over an entire life and show up when you most need them. This community is a precious gift and is how God shows up. Then at the very end, as an act of defiance in the face of death, we gathered to claim for her and us, the promise of the resurrection. It was a glorious celebration of my wife and God’s infinite love but also of the power of the ties that bind.
Prayer
Thank you, Lord, for the gift of community, the body of Christ, a healing presence when we need it most. Help us to show up and be joined at the heart when others, who suffer, need us. In Jesus name, Amen.