I confess I’m struggling with what I’m writing at the moment, so here’s one I wrote previously – for the 5th Anniversary concert of Godalming Community Gospel Choir in 2016. I miss the singing and the choir friends!
What is my story? The reason that I sing?
I sing because the beauty of this world, the love and kindness I experience and see around me, the joy of living, calls forth a celebration that can only be expressed in song.
This is my story, it is the reason that I sing.
I sing because the brokenness I see, the agony of disease, fears and anxiety that cripples those I love, the gruelling cruelty of which we know, calls forth a cry, a lament, that only music can express.
This is my story, it is the reason that I sing.
I sing to the One who uniquely holds together the joy and the sorrow, who is the source of all life and love, and yet who only holds the restoration of the brokenness and the healing for the pain. And I sing to him from the heart, for I have known a despair that only His everlasting arms could hold and been restored to a fuller life by His divine Grace.
This is my story, it is the Gospel that I sing.
I sing because the words we sing are the truths on which I base my being, and each time I sing them, I hear them afresh and engrave them ever deeper on my heart.
This is my story, it is the Gospel that I sing.
And through the choir my story joins that of others – all experiencing the same truth in different ways. And as we blend our stories and our friendships we reflect the truth that we were all made to live for more than ourselves – to lift our voices, as our lives, as part of a greater whole.
This is our story, it is the reason that we sing.
And as we sing we become part of the story of those who listen. Our hope is that through the music of joy and sorrow, of struggle and triumph, that hearts may be touched by a glimpse of joy, a sense of peace, something that lifts the soul and gives new strength to carry on.
This is our story, it is the reason we must sing.
Grain of Sand 