1 Stay with us through the night.
Stay with us through the pain.
Stay with us, blessed stranger
till the morning breaks again.
2 Stay with us through the night.
Stay with us through the grief.
Stay with us, blessed stranger
till the morning brings relief.
Voices United 182
I like Anne Lamott as a writer and have led study groups on her book Help Thanks Wow: The Three Essential Prayers. She has the ability to speak the truth about daily living and our Christian faith in ways which are fresh and off-kilter enough to make the reader nod and say, "yes".
This quote speaks to the spectres which can haunt us in those hours when we feel most alone and vulnerable and every problem, real and imagined, is magnifed.I want Jesus to be my heart's company. Lamott's words brought to mind the hymn Stay With Us through the Night, one of my favourites.
3 Stay with us through the night.
Stay with us through the dread.
Stay with us, blessed stranger
till the morning breaks new bread.
We don't have the opportunity to sing evening hymns very much on our denomination... I often use them as evening prayers.
ReplyDeleteSadly, true Judy. Those hymns became extinct musical dinosaursin the UCC as evening services disappeared.
ReplyDelete1 The day thou gavest, Lord, is ended;
the darkness falls at thy behest;
to thee our morning hymns ascended,
thy praise shall sanctify our rest.