“My Life Flows On in Endless Song” (ELW 763)
Devotion
My life flows on in endless song;
above earth's lamentation,
I catch the sweet, though far-off hymn
that hails a new creation.
Refrain
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?
Through all the tumult and the strife,
I hear that music ringing.
It finds an echo in my soul.
How can I keep from singing? Refrain
What though my joys and comforts die?
The Lord my Savior liveth.
What though the darkness gather round?
Songs in the night he giveth. Refrain
The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart,
a fountain ever springing!
All things are mine since I am his!
How can I keep from singing? Refrain
"How can I keep from singing?" Summer is filled with these moments. I roll the windows down in my car and my radio station catches the beat of the truck waiting next to me. Block parties and street dances have people gathered into one song, shouting and dancing together.
This summer thousands of kids will attend Vacation Bible School or Bible Camp. They'll have songs of faith poured into their hearts. They'll learn hand motions and jump up and down. They'll listen to the first line called out and they'll repeat it back. Even the little ones will hum the tunes on their way home, remembering what it felt like to be swept up in a new song—the contagious joy and the wild energy of singing in chorus.
Prayer
God of creation, thank you for the gift of music. Meet us in the songs of this summer, gathering us into sweet harmonies and writing faith on our hearts, through Jesus Christ our melody. Amen.