MAY GOD... (We Sing These Songs)

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.