Hymn #592 in Celebrating Grace Hymnal — “How Can I Keep from Singing”
[pullquote_center width=”80%”]My life goes on in endless song; above earth’s lamentation,
I hear the sweet, though far-off hymn that hails the new creation.
Through all the tumult and the strife, I hear the music ringing;
It finds an echo in my soul — how can I keep from singing?[/pullquote_center]
It is a not uncommon expression that ‘life is a song.’ I would add to that sentiment that life is a song of multiple movements or verses, encompassing every emotion, every high and low, every dynamic of life. As someone who has listened to and made all sorts of music over my life, I know that all music is not calm, or serene, or even pretty. Some music is discordant, mournful, frightening; some is challenging, puzzling, even threatening. And the music of our lives is unending, a life-long soundtrack for our heights and depths.
There is something, though — something about the song sung to us by Love. This song not only accompanies our life’s turns and straightaways, but inspires us to sing the song ourselves. When the song of our souls rings out from God, its Source, it echoes around the empty places in our lives, sounding out a response all on its own. Not by our own merit, we cannot keep from singing. Rather, because we were made for it, we echo back the song of Love sung endlessly through our lives.
We cannot keep from singing.