Peace by Piece--Hymn #169

I'm gonna be honest: I've had a hard time feeling anything at church in recent months. It's not that I don't still believe--I do, very much so--or that God isn't speaking to me. But I've struggled to really prepare for church and be mentally and spiritually present while I'm there. I'm tired from a long week, I'm trying to keep my kids happy, and with a painful autoimmune disease, everything in life is harder than it should be.

But every time I sing this hymn, I feel something. It's one of my favorites, and we sang it in church today.

As now we take the sacrament,

Our thoughts are turned to thee,

Thou Son of God, who lived for us,

Then died on Calvary.

We contemplate thy lasting grace,

Thy boundless charity;

To us the gift of life was giv’n

For all eternity.

As now our minds review the past,

We know we must repent;

The way to thee is righteousness—

The way thy life was spent.

Forgiveness is a gift from thee

We seek with pure intent.

With hands now pledged to do thy work,

We take the sacrament.

As now we praise thy name with song,

The blessings of this day

Will linger in our thankful hearts,

And silently we pray

For courage to accept thy will,

To listen and obey.

We love thee, Lord; our hearts are full.

We’ll walk thy chosen way.

Music has the rare power to break through my pain, my fatigue, my lack of preparation, and remind me where to find myself again. I love this hymn especially; it was the obvious choice for my inspirational picture this week.

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