MAY GOD (We Sing These Songs...)
(This is the poem of a pastor, watching his congregation going through all kinds of pain. The third verse applies something Philip Yancey said about spiritual maturity, where he used that verse in Isaiah 40: 31 about tgose who hope in the Lord and suggested that when we are young we fly but maturity causes us to land, then run and finally we are walking. That is good to keep in mind as those “winds come out of nowhere and knock us off our feet” (Bruce Cockburn). Sunday worship too, at its most Biblical, will bring catharsis in using songs of lament as well as songs of praise. Fitzroy are going through such a time as we grieve the loss of the mighty Mo Blake. Mo and her husband Chris were very much in my thoughts when I wrote this a few years ago. We used it as we came out of a reflection and prayer for Mo's passing into our worship this morning.
When a loved one’s tossed in turbulence
You watch them smashed whichever way
And God never seems to bring the calm
No matter how hard you pray
May unseen threads of mercy
Weave in, the unravelling doubt
May God grab you by the finger
Before life’s hurting drags you out
Knowledge loves the questions
Cos it has a seamless answer
But mystery shimmies all around
She’s an awkward little dancer
And when she dances out of sight
Leaving the soul that lonely ache
May God send a holy comforter
Before you crack up in the heart break
Lord we flew on wings like eagles
Then landed with reality’s thud
We ran but soon were walking
Now crawl through this tear soaked mud
We mature in a world that’s broken
Confessing what our part is
We sing these songs to temper grief
And hope in their catharsis.
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