Mtr Mary Trainor
Lift every voice and sing till earth and heaven ring…
Dear friend,
Ever have a day in which faith has waned? A day when you wake up cranky, friends disappoint, where you need a boost, and routines fail to brighten?
One of the many gifts my mother left me is this saying, “In all relationships there are thickenings and thinnings.” Times when everything clicks, times of distancing.
Lift Every Voice and Sing, that heart-swelling, spirit-rousing, legacy from African Americans, is part of available Episcopal hymnody*, and currently endorsed by the Episcopal Church to be named “national hymn.” (See story from this week’s Bell & Tower.)
Let our rejoicing rise high as the listening skies…
Its nomination as “national anthem”--even if the proposal fails--moves the song from its origins as celebration of freedom for black Americans--to an embrace of the universal struggles of humankind. My hope is that I never lose sight of the violence and horror that inspired it, while yet still be happy to sing its lilting tune. It is not (surprisingly to me) an expressly Christian song, yet it reminds me and inspires me as a Christian to keep moving forward, even on those days that seem lackluster and unpromising.
Stony the road we trod, bitter the chastening rod…
In the Gospel appointed for the Daily Office today, Jesus deals again with disciples who struggle with understanding his teachings, and what those teachings mean for them. Jesus’ message, his words about being betrayed and killed, then rising, all of this confuses these men who shortly before led ordinary lives among ordinary people. In their original context, they collaborated, competed, consulted, celebrated with the friends in their social networks.
After meeting Jesus they, like us, now live two lives--one as a citizen of the world, and one following the ways of Jesus. It’s a hard road to navigate, as I know all too well. So of course they chat about worldly things from time to time, such as who is the greatest disciple among them.
God of our weary years, God of our silent tears...
They, like us, may benefit from periodic reminders of our primary identity as children of God. It isn’t enough to simply hold that identity in our brains; it seems best when our heart and soul also are involved.
It might be that a national hymn, one that is rousing and spirit-filled, can renew our bodies and souls, and freshen our minds for living into the desires of God for each one of us. If that’s the case, I can think none better than Lift Every Voice and Sing.
Shadowed beneath Thy hand, may we forever stand. True to our God, true to our native land.
Mtr Mary
*Number 599, The Hymnal 1982