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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?
- Refrain from My Life Flows On by Robert Lowry
I think it can be hard to really feel what the opening of this refrain is talking about. In good times, I like to think that I am strong and nothing can disrupt my inmost calm, but right now, I feel like the storms swirling around all of us are seriously rattling the shutters on this calm! I don't know about you, but I find myself seeking ways to cling on to some rock - any rock! - every day. But this hymn, which we will sing together during worship online this Sunday, helps to at least shift my focus away from the storm itself and more towards the Solid Rock we should all be clinging to.
But simply knowing that the peace of Christ should bring me a sense of calm doesn't always bring the comfort that I need. I'm sure it's different for everyone, but I find that two things that can help me relax and be able to feel the peace of Christ amidst the tumult are nature and walking. Walking along a path deep in a forest somewhere, I am able to stop the noise and get closer to really feeling the peace of Christ. But through my Saturday trips to hiking trails, I've realized something else: this peace I so desperately need is also often found during worship, which the pandemic has disrupted.
We say that "worship is the most important thing we do," and part of that worship is singing hymns together. We've managed to do some virtual singing together, but there's nothing else quite like singing together as a group in worship, voices joined in praising God. It also just so happens that singing may be one of the best ways to spread diseases. It seems so unfair the way this virus has disrupted our ways of worshiping together, but no matter how rough the storm gets, it will pass and Christ will still be the Lord of heaven and earth. I hope that we can all rally together in this unprecedented time and support one another, letting songs of peace echo through our hearts and finding new ways to act as the body of Christ.
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