These days I have been singing “The Doxology” as I wash my hands.
I understand others may be singing “Happy Birthday” as they follow the current guidelines for cleanliness. However, I prefer “Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow,” the common doxology. I have been singing this song every week of my life for as long as I can remember. My family sometimes also sings it as a blessing before meals.
Doing this several times a day now is an awesome way to praise God!
I have also taken the time in the last few weeks to become more in tune with nature. On my daily walks I have heard the birds sing more loudly than ever. I have seen rocks and roots and roses that I never seemed to have noticed before. This unusual spring is allowing us all the opportunity to realign our focus.
This Easter we may not be able to raise our voices in praise as a congregation, but we can praise the risen Lord. As “The Doxology” instructs, we can show appreciation for our blessings. From a distance of six feet apart, all of us creatures on earth can praise His name wherever we are.
Like all the characters in Jill Roman Lord’s board book The Quiet Crazy Easter Day, every duck, every butterfly, every fish, every frog joins in to praise the King of Kings and celebrate His resurrection. The disciples shout while the peacock shows out! Locusts provide percussion as all God’s creatures join together in song.
In her interview on The Bible for Kids podcast, Jill Roman Lord describes her inspiration for this Easter celebration story. Based on several passages in Psalms, this book encourages young children to pray and praise and celebrate Christ. (You can listen to her full interview at https://waynation.com/podcast/jill-roman-lord-the-quiet-crazy-easter-day/.)
Another author celebrates the resurrection of life in a more symbolic way. In the story of “Gareth and Lynette,” one of Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s Idylls of the King, a young man takes on a pilgrimage (much like John Bunyan’s famous Christian) to prove himself worthy of becoming a knight. The road he travels is narrow and difficult. However, when he finally faces the “Death” knight, he discovers new life.
At the end of Gareth’s journey, Tennyson says, (like the characters in The Quiet Crazy Easter Day), “Everyone, with dance and revel and song, made merry over Death.”
And then the sun rose! AND THE SON ROSE!
This April let’s celebrate spring and this special Easter season with a renewed sense of hope. Let us go out in joy and be led forth in peace. With the mountains and the hills, let us burst into song. With the trees of the field, let us clap our hands (from Isaiah 55:12).
Alone or together we can give God the glory!
Let “The Doxology” be your song of the day, and take a moment to quietly reflect upon your blessings as you listen to this instrumental version.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xP0YJuHpkQ&w=560&h=315]
“All creatures of our God and King, lift up your voice with us and sing, Alleluia, Alleluia.” –St. Francis of Assisi
1 Peter 1:3; 2 Timothy 1:9; Psalm 66:4
