This morning during my daily Zoom meditation with friends around the U.S., one friend was in tears over the events of the past 10 days. She spoke of sadness over how our diversity and cultures are being wiped out. The ensuing conversation reminded me of a hymn that always comes to mind in times of sadness, fear, and anxiety.
I'd been flipping through a new-to-me hymnal, Worship in Song: A Friends Hymnal (Friends General Conference) when I found a favorite, "How Can I Keep from Singing." First published in the New York Observer in 1868, titled "Always Rejoicing," it now appears in many denominational hymnals and variations are sung by popular musicians. The version with which I'm most familiar comes from Voices Together (MennoMedia.)
Its lyrics feel especially appropriate now as many of us feel such sadness and anger at the direction the administration is taking the U.S. The first two lines of the refrain play over and over in my head: "No storm can shake my inmost calm while to that Rock I’m clinging."
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 Love is lord of heav’n 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,
I know 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]
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