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With faith in God there is always reason to sing
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By Mary Regina Morrell
Catholic Online
"Through all the tumult and the strife, I hear that music ringing; It sounds and echoes in my soul; How can I keep from singing?" Shaker Hymn
Several years ago while visiting Ocracoke Island, one of the barrier islands of the Outer Banks in North Carolina, I visited an old graveyard that dated back to the time of the Civil War. The headstones were lined up in tight rows, almost touching one another.
What caught my eye were the stones in the front row, obviously all from the same family. Several children from the large family had died just days apart from each other and several more within a year or two. If I remember correctly, the mother lived to see the death of all her children and her husband.
As a mother myself I wondered how this woman could survive such an ordeal. I stood for a long time in front of all those graves and prayed for that family which so long ago suffered such terrible losses. I'm not ashamed to say I cried, as well.
There are many obstacles in life that can knock us off our feet, but none seems to have the power to undo us as the death of someone we love. It is then that the substance of our hearts and souls become visible as we become most vulnerable. Often we succumb to anger, despair and loneliness, unable to find any peace or consolation, even in the God we thought we knew.
To endure multiple deaths close together, then, could easily be more than the fragile human spirit could handle.
And so, today, I was moved to learn that my friend, Mary Beth, whose husband died suddenly three weeks ago, would be singing the Ave Maria at her mom's funeral Mass tomorrow. Moved, but not surprised. Her powerful love of her family and her devoted care of two ailing parents could only be fed from a deep spring of love for God.
You see, I believe Mary Beth and the mom from Ocracoke share a similar substance of soul - an attachment to God that is woven so tightly into the fabric of their lives that nothing could keep them from gathering strength in the arms of their Father and moving forward in faith. For Mary Beth, that means, also, that nothing can keep her from singing.
From this point on, for me, the image of her singing for her mom will serve to bring my favorite hymn to life before my eyes; the traditional shaker hymn, "How Can I Keep From Singing." The refrain will always remind me of the power of her faith, her belief that death is not visited upon us by God but, rather, that God walks with us in our Garden of Gethsemene: "No storm can shake my inmost calm, while to that rock I'm clinging. Since love is Lord of heaven and earth, How can I keep from singing?"
I would pray that the final verse will soon be God's gift and a grace for both her and her son: "I lift my eyes, the clouds grow thin, I see the blue above it. And day by day this pathway clears, since first I learned to love it. The peace from love makes fresh my heart, a song of hope is ringing. All things are mine, since truth I've found. How can I keep from singing?"
*Dedicated with love to Mary Beth Wieciek, my "alto buddy," and her family.
Contact
Diocese of Metuchen
http://www.diometuchen.org
NJ, US
Mary Regina Morrell - Associate Director, Office of Religious Educationp, 732 562.1990
mmorrell@diometuchen.org
Keywords
singing, shaker, faith, death
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