Nothing to Say

As far as connection to corporate worship at my church goes, this week would have been a week beyond compare to write about lyrics to traditional hymns. Each week, we sing a minimum of two songs, and it's rare for more than two of those two be older than about 1980. But this week, we have a full slate of songs your grandmother probably sang (depending on her denomination). 

 Many of these are very moving to me, and are songs I have wanted to include on this blog. "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty," for instance, has been a favorite since at least junior high school. It is one of the hymns of the month in our homeschool, and I remember thinking last fall when it came back in the rotation that the lyrics to that one song could provide enough fodder for reflection for several entries. 

 There is such great writing in so many of these songs, and great writing speaks for itself. What could I possibly add? And thus I will just repeat lines from one that was not part of my own heritage and thus has become new to me since I've been at this church: 

"Who like me Thy Praise should sing, 
O Almighty King? 
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord! God of hosts on high adored, 
Holy, Holy, Holy!" 

And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” 4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. 5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” Isaiah 6:3 

Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.” Revelation 4:8 

Hold Tight

A few years back, when my youngest child was kindergarten or first grade age, my children and I memorized Romans 12.  Verse 9 of that chapters says, "Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good."  He wasn't entirely sure what cling meant, so I explained it was to hold on really tight to something or someone.  He grabbed hold of me and asked if I that was what I meant.  I agreed that he was indeed clinging to me.  Thus, whenever we reviewed that chapter, when it got to that verse, he would hop up from his chair and come and grab on to me while saying, "Cling to what is good."

That image, being dear to me, is one of the things I thought of when I heard the lyrics to a song called "Cling to You."  This song is by a no-doubt up-and-coming songwriter named Allen Brantley, a former member of Acappella and member of my church.  Out of respect to the copyright of his yet-unpublished work, I won't include all the lyrics here. But read this short portion:

Take away my pain;
Blot out this guilty stain,
Lord, to You I cling.

I, amidst the darkness, still cling to You.

That memory of my little one grabbing tight around my neck while saying, "Hate what is evil; cling to what is good," remains vivid in my mind. And though I'm so easily beset by sin, though I may be feeling lost in the darkness, I can choose to demonstrate love. I can hate what is evil, and I can cling to the only Good for the protection and grace and mercy that I need.