One of my favourite hymns is 'Dear Lord and Father of mankind'. I've always loved it, but I've loved it even more since I heard a radio programme which mentioned that it's the only hymn which specifically refers to stress and asks God to relieve that stress for us.
In this modern, fast-moving world, we all live stressful lives. We're living in turbulent times economically - many people are concerned for their jobs, are trying to balance the fact that their outgoings are increasing while their income is at best remaining the same, and are coping with increased workloads and greater demands from their employers if they are lucky enough to have kept their jobs.
Going through treatment for infertility, we have added stresses on us. There's a heavy physical and emotional toll, a financial cost, and the ever-present fear of failure and of what that means for our plans for the future. And since the mind and the body are so closely linked, we need more than ever to relax, let go of the stress and go with the flow as much as we can.
So what could be more perfect for us than to sing this prayer:
"Drop thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease.
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of thy peace,
The beauty of thy peace."
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It's a beautiful hymn - we thought about having it at our wedding but Jon thought the "forgive our foolish ways" wasn't particularly wedding-like! I think it's a lovely one to meditate on :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. I didn't know that, but it is comforting and particular applicable these days.
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