Ever since my father passed away a little over a month ago, God will give me something–even if it is only a sliver of a scripture or a line from song–to hold on to for hope and healing. Poetry, the Psalms, and hymns have been my greatest source of encouragement. In many ways, these resources have been my prayers during a time in which I have no words to pray on my own.
Oddly enough (be it coincidence or divine timing), a couple of weeks ago I received a box of poetry from a resident at a retirement home in which I am chaplain. One poem in a book entitle Best Loved Unity Poems provided a wonderful and rich resource for me to lean on during my time of grieving.
It is by Bonnie Day, the title is “A Singing Stream”:
Still waters have leisure to ponder;
Still waters reflect the sky;
Like tranquil mirrors for cloudlets,
Placid and calm they lie.
But placid waters are voiceless;
Only the stream that flows
Over a rough and stony bed
Sings a song as it goes
So what though the channel I travel
Be narrow, rugged, and long,
If rocks, and roots, and rapids
Be met and passed in song?
Baptist Spirituality 