The Journey and the Journal

BE STILL MY SOUL

All my life, starting when I was 8 or 9, I think, the song "Be Still my Soul" has been a rich blessing...increasingly so. The words have zapped hope into my troubled spirit many times, and that being so, I have passed them along to others. When one of my daughters was bearing the excruciating pain of being tossed aside by a popular senior in college who had pursued her and given her reason to believe that the relationship was headed to the altar, I sat on the edge of the bed, my hymnbook in my hands, and read the words to her. The receptive heart soaked them up and thanked me.

On the first day of my attending my new church about seven months after Ken went home to be with the Lord, someone sang those words as the offertory. My body shook with sobs as the words and the salve of God poured over me. This morning our fine pianist and a group of instrumentalists played it before the service. It did its work once again. It is an amazing song.

The words are below. They need no embellishment...except to say, I really like the line that talks about the wind and the waves. :)

Be Still, My Soul

1. Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

2. Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below.

3. Be still, my soul: when dearest friends depart,
And all is darkened in the vale of tears,
Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart,
Who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears.
Be still, my soul: thy Jesus can repay
From His own fullness all He takes away.

4. Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord.
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

5. Be still, my soul: begin the song of praise
On earth, believing, to thy Lord on high;
Acknowledge Him in all thy works and ways,
So shall He view thee with a well-pleased eye.
Be still, my soul: the Sun of life divine
Through passing clouds shall but more brightly shine.

Words: Katharina A. von Schlegel
Music:  Jean Sibelius