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It is Well with my Soul

For our Sunday musical reflection this week, we will be highlighting a favorite hymn of so many, “It is Well with my Soul.”  As we go through dark times in our lives, for many this hymn brings them calm and hope.  Today we share two beautiful versions of the song, one with voice and one with piano.

 

In 2009 Vicki Carter reached out to a close group of women friends asking they send the name of their favorite hymn. They did. I created a cd of my playing those hymns and each woman received the cd as a Christmas gift. Attached is my version of It is Well With My Soul on piano.

Here are the lyrics….

 

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say
It is well, it is well, with my soul

It is well
With my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul

It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, o my soul

It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul

It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul

Shared by Vicki Carter

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Hope

 

Hope Sun 1

I barely can sense it’s shiver of awakening.

But.

I stop in stillness,

Searching for the shimmer.

In a drawn down lip-line,

In a shallow breath,

In a tear-drop caught in its passage.

My consciousness whispers that it’s there.

My footsteps inch toward it.

It must be!

Because.

I hope for it.

By Susan Ceely Phillips

Hope Sun 2

 

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Rain

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I have always envied my friends who love to live in rainy places.  There’s the friend who said, “I Iove to fall asleep to the sound of rain drops falling on my window sill.”  I didn’t understand it then, and I still don’t understand it now.

I think I have always suffered from Seasonal Affective Disorder.  The dreary days affect me.  Rain and fog make me want to stay inside under the covers, waiting for the sun to reappear and draw me out of my bed like metal pulled up by a magnet.  The sun is my magnet and I am pulled up by it.

But this year, this Lent, I have made the decision to approach rain differently.  Rather than focus on the wet sogginess of it, I am going to focus on the life force water is, and how important rain is for replenishing this dry earth.  I am going to be my own internal magnet and pull myself up and out into the pouring drops cascading from the heavens or gently falling around me.

I am going to reach out my hand and feel the wetness, lift my face and let the drops fall on it without being concerned about makeup or mascara.  I am going to let the drops fall on my hair with abandon.  I am going to open my hands and heart and transform my ideas about rain, asking God to help me.

Why?  Because Lent is about transformation; it is about turning back or turning around altogether.  It’s about turning.  Lent is about change.

This Lenten season we are living through a time that no one would have expected.  Even in our current situation, what change or turning is God moving you toward this Lenten season?  How might you open your hand to a whole new attitude or idea or behavior or perspective on something that might seem so “fixed” within you?  Nothing is too fixed for God.  Nothing is too concretized for the Holy Spirit to enter in and initiate a great turning within and without.

Blessings on your journey of transformation and turning.  And may you stay safe in these difficult times.

Shared by Reverend Elise Brown

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Hope in Uncertain Times…

As I listened to the Dr. Bos sermon this Sunday from my living room couch, I thought how befitting the theme was during this trying time: “Hope in Uncertain Times”.  He quoted Isaiah 41:10:

“Fear not, for I am with you,
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.” (RSV)

As Christians, we are comforted by the fact that we have a place to go for any and all crises, including a health issue like the one we are presently battling with. That place is described in the word of God, which reminds us where to put our hope. This is a good time to remind ourselves that our hope is not in what we save or even in our physical health. Neither our financial status nor our current health status provides the source of our identity.   Psalm 20:7 reminds us thus:

 “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God”.

Or, we might say,

 “Some trust in our financial portfolio and some in our health status, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”

 We are also comforted by Psalm 27:1

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?

Shared by Agatha Pratt

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Amen Grammie…and thank you for joining us this year!

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For the last lenten blog post for Marble Women’s Ministry this year, I wanted to share a cute story and to honor my Mom too, who played a large role in finding some of the special poets and other contributors for this year’s blog.  And a few times, she had to listen to me when I was overwhelmed a bit.

The picture above is of my Mom, Lynn Doll and her twin granddaughters, Catherine and Chandler (I mentioned them in the “Magical Thinking” post earlier).  We were on vacation together in Bermuda.  All smiles for sure.

You see, my Mom puts her heart and soul into everything she does, but her prayers before a holiday meal, well these are particularly special to me.   She prepares for this important moment and does not forget anyone who needs prayers, our late family members, and all around the table.  I am still not sure how she can go from preparing the meal a few seconds before, to sharing a carefully prepared prayer that is so thoughtful and most of the time leaves me a bit teary.

Well you see there was this one Easter.  Chandler who was 5-years-old at the time was sitting in front of a plateful of food and she was ready to get started.  To her, my Mom’s prayer had gone on a bit too long.  Chandler interrupted the prayer by saying in a stern and definitive voice, “Amen Grammie!”  Then my whole family erupted into boisterous laughter, as a child can say the darndest things! And the prayer was finished that year. My Mom had to throw in the towel.

Honestly, it is a moment that my family will treasure forever.  “Amen Grammie!”  Well it gets said at every holiday meal now.

Now to all of the followers of this blog….

Thank you for joining our Marble Women’s Ministry Blog for Lent this year, a growing community from around the US and world who join us each day.  Praying with a Camera this year was an idea that I had and I so enjoyed looking at the pictures and the stories behind them.  We had another focus, honoring the poetry of women to guide us on our lenten journey.  Our team hopes that the daily blog gave you an opportunity to add something positive to your lenten journey and also helped you to focus more on what is important in this life that you are leading.

We had many contributors who have been a part of our blog for many years.  But these year, our circle expanded and many new contributors felt moved to share their pictures, poems, and stories.   Thank you all for putting your heart out there for all of the readers!

And finally…  If you are local to NYC, our Women’s Ministry is sponsoring a 4-part program: Bold Authenticity: Answering the Call to Greatness with Greta Muller starting on April 29th.  Click here to find more information and to sign-up.

We wish you a blessed year and we will be back at the start of the Advent Season.

Marcie Doll and the Marble Women’s Ministry Team

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Light Always Breaks Through

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If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light around me become night,”
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

Psalm 139: 11&12

Today is Good Friday, the day on which we remember the crucifixion of Christ. Though it is a day filled with sorrow, it reminds us that even when it seems that death and defeat will be the last words, the light of God will break through. With God, light always overcomes darkness. With the light and love of God, we can overcome the darkness in our lives.

Dr. Michael Bos
Senior Minister, Marble Collegiate Church

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Rivers and Spirituality

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Sunset on the Missouri River in Sioux City, Iowa on October 31, 2018 from my hotel room…it was a sunset that I wrote about in my journal.  The colors seemed to get better and more vibrant with each passing moment, leaving me in awe of a colorful sky.   While I am in the state of Iowa, across the river is Nebraska and a few miles upstream is South Dakota.

This area and all of the surrounding states have struggled with some of the worst flooding in a century this year.  Even now, the river continues to be just below the flood stage and this past week saw another big winter storm with a great deal of snow that caused havoc for recovery efforts.  I continue to include these areas and the people who are affected in my prayers everyday.

How can water be such a life-giver at one time, but be a life stealer in another?

Water is life.  We need water to survive and so does every living thing.  Water flows in a river calmly like this picture of the Missouri River and can be used in a bath tub to help a person unwind from a day filled with stress.  A river can also have rapids and provide great beauty as it runs through a waterfall.  It still provides a method of  transportation for goods to be shared with those downstream on great rivers like the Mississippi.  A river can be sacred, like the Ganges and gets used in spiritual practices like washing of feet and hands.  And as it has done this year, a river can flood and cause loss of life for farm animals and people.

On this Sunday that commences Holy Week, I wanted to share several very different styles of songs on the spirituality of  a river.  In each of these songs, the music shares a hope when all seemed lost.  That is something I will take with me into Holy Week and I hope you do too.  Hope in our darkest times…

The River sung by Garth Brooks

“Too many times we stand aside
And let the waters slip away
‘Til what we put off ’til tomorrow
Has now become today
So don’t you sit upon the shoreline
And say you’re satisfied
Choose to chance the rapids
And dare to dance the tide.”

River sung by Josh Groban

“I walk down to the river
Where the troubles, they can’t find me
Let the waters there remind me
The sun will be there when we wake
I walk down to the river
Though I might not understand it
It’s not always as we planned it
But we grow stronger when we break
So I walk down to the river…”

Down by the Riverside sung by Playing for Change

Ol’ Man River sung by Paul Robeson

Shared by Marcie Doll

If you would like to lend a hand or make a donation to the continued disaster in the Midwest, PBS Newshour shared the following resources:  Organizations that need our help and provide flood relief services.  And please continue to pray for all of our brothers and sisters in the Midwest.