Hymns For Covid 19

We are living in such strange and weird times as we deal with Covid 19 all around the world. There are the obvious international, national and local contexts that we face and hear about in the news or in reports from our government leaders; there are statistics that are updated regularly that we watch for and analyze. Closest to home there is the context of our own lives amidst our own families, friends and neighbors. There are so many emotions that affect us in the isolation we are experiencing at such a time as this. Those emotions are real and we shouldn't underestimate how the impact our whole being.

Our faith becomes all the more important in such a time as this. All that God offers us through His Son Jesus, and through the empowering of the Holy Spirit is a resource that gives us strength, peace and healing in our spirits which are overtaxed and heavily burdened. God is with us in the midst of this moment. That is a gift to be treasured and especially now not to take for granted.

How do we remain aware and conscious of God's gift and blessing during such a time as this? We need to be intentional every day about opening ourselves up to noticing what God is up to. And to be sure, despite the horrific nature of what we're going through, God is up to something. And we will never be the same as we were before all this started. Our prayer needs to be asking God to help us take what is good about this experience and bring it into our longer term experience post Covid 19. We will all be better for it, even as we have encountered the moment of now with struggle, stress and distress.

These two hymns I wrote this week speak to the gift of our faith in such a time as this. And in the case of the second one, the Spirit's gift of patience when things seem to be unending.

“We Live In This a Crisis”
Tune: Aurella ("The Church's One Foundation')
Meter: 7.6.7.6 D

We live in this a crisis
Our health is compromised
Unsure of the prognosis
The love of God disguised
We trust in God’s real presence
Around us and within
Our faith does make a difference
New life in us begin.

It seems like such a desert
So parched and lonely too
We long to stay alert
For God to see us through
The path seems long and rugged
We stumble on the way
With God we’re not discouraged
We gather still to pray.

We trust in God’s abundance
God’s grace and wisdom too
To keep us in the balance
To seek what might be new
Our faith is such a blessing
To see us through these days
From all that is distressing
New life in us to raise.

So thanks and praise and blessing
To God who keeps us whole
Our God is always standing
His hand out to console
May we receive God’s promise
Of faith that is renewed
An awe inspired calmness
A glimpse of kingdom viewed.

Text: copyright, The Rev. Canon Mark Kinghan, 2020. Not to be reproduced or redistributed in any form without the express written permission of the author.

“Patience is a Way of Being”
Tune: Stuttgart ("Come Thou Long Expected Jesus")
Meter: 8787

Patience is a way of being
As the days move slowly on
Open eyes that in the seeing
Each new moment of the dawn.

Time unfolding oh so slowly
Leads us into the unknown
Watching, waiting for the holy
Loving wisdom to be shown.

Passing moments so uncertain
Lead to our anxiety
Each new day can be a burden
Compromised vitality.

By God’s grace and certain wisdom
Through the Spirit in our midst
Faithful promise of God’s kingdom
Healing presence to assist.

As we search for consolation
May we feel the hand of God
Recognize the new creation
And our spirits will be awed.

Text: copyright, The Rev. Canon Mark Kinghan, 2020. Not to be reproduced or redistributed in any form without the express written permission of the author.