Rich Mullins, the singer/songwriter, used to say that the most reiterated command in the whole Bible is “sing.” I sure hope he was right, although I’ve never verified this claim.
Some Sabbaths (but not enough), I take time to sing. A talented musician named Kathy Kanewske has written three communion masses. She wrote first of those, “Covenant of the King,” in 1979. We used to sing it at the 5 p.m. “folk mass” at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Austin, Texas. I still know it by heart.
I’ve sung through this service at other times, too. Once was back in 1993, when my husband and I took a Christmas trip to snowy North Carolina. We got lost on the Appalachian Trail, and I truly thought we were going to die, so I sang the whole thing. It totally freaked out my dear husband, John-the-Baptist, who had never heard praise songs in a minor key.
I sang that same service to my mother the day before she died. She was unresponsive, but I knew that somewhere inside that almost-lifeless body she would recognize Kathy’s music. She needed something familiar to help usher her into the Kingdom. Later, my dad put on music from Ashley Cleveland. You could say we had the same idea.
So on your worship day, consider just singing. Sometimes I worship with Christmas carols in February. I just heard a rendition of “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” on Pandora’s George Winston Radio. Or if you really want to get blessed, put on a little Rich.
We who come beneath His mercies
will be compelled to sing
from “Such A Thing As Glory”
P.S. Happy 97th Birthday, Nannie!!!
