The pandemic has changed the ways we live our lives. COVID updates are part of the daily newsfeed with positivity rates, hospitalizations and sadly death rates presented. Trips to stores and hospitals have encouraged or required us to wear a mask, maintain social distancing and check our temperatures on a regular basis.
Delivery companies like Uber Eats and Grub Hub have blossomed as many of us have selected the eat-in over the dine-out option. Some persons have decided that this is the time to seek new work, realizing their current jobs were not helping them achieve their goals.
And worship now includes an online option, creating a new space for those who are unable or unwilling to come to our buildings. We are still discovering how the internet is transforming our relationship with our Lord.
What I have missed most over these past two years is singing. Unless one utilizes the Original Sound feature on Zoom, singing together provides a slight auditory delay. A solution is to mute yourself and sing along with another person, but it’s not quite the same. So many songs capture the spirit of the living God.
Songs help us to grieve and to express our joy. They are a form of prayer and a declaration that God still moves in us and through us. There are a variety of hymnals that offer us traditional songs by composers like Charles Wesley, Isaac Watts, and Fanny Crosby. There are also artists today like Kirk Franklin, Chris Tomlin and the Wayans family who continue to create new music which connects us to our Creator.
There are songs that come from other places which inspire us and affirm that God continues to fulfill the promises He has made for our lives. Choral requiems, songs from musicals and even top 40 hits can inspire us to see our Lord in new ways. Whether you enjoy Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus or Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah made popular in the first Shrek film, our Lord is present in the music and words of both.
Whatever music speaks to you, and however it does, as we return to being side by side with one another, may we enjoy singing to the Lord with praise, thanksgiving, and joy.
I also ask for prayers as the war in Ukraine continues. I offer this song to help us know that the Lord is with us through the valleys which are a part of our lives. Ma you always be blessed. And Amen.
Lean on Me by Kirk Franklin and a variety of artists