BE STILL, MY SOUL

                                                                                    At 6 am on January 12, 2011, 

the one year anniversary of the Western Hemisphere’s most devastating natural disaster in history, I was in one of the countless tent cities, Delmas 6, with Kendra Luna as she met with a few leaders of the displaced people there.  The sun was rising, but nothing could alleviate the bleakness of the place. I was fighting back tears, continuously trying to swallow down the huge lump in my throat…wondering how people get the courage just to wake up, let alone actually face life in these squalid, dangerous, humiliating circumstances--no privacy for even the most personal tasks. To my right a young woman, perhaps 20 years old, was facing a partially fallen block wall. Clothed only in panties, she was using a pitcher of water to bathe herself. I quickly averted my eyes, trying to help maintain a bit of privacy and distance in her broken, exposed world.

My heart ached. How could there be hope in this place? How did these people crawl out of such deprivation to face the world with courage? How do the pastors minister to these people? What can be said?  “My God, my God—why have you forsaken this place? Have you turned your eyes from these people? What can they do to go on?”

A moment of utter silence. A moment of bleak pain and heartache. Despair threatened to overwhelm. Then, 1500 voices wafted through the air to where I was. They were singing at the large Free Methodist Church, a few blocks away, to start the day. I don’t speak Creole, so I couldn’t understand the words. But I knew the song. It was a hymn I had learned in childhood, a song a had heard my own mother sing on many days as she cared for children, washed and hung laundry, and faced the various challenges of her day.  “Be still, my soul—the LORD is on thy side!”  My heart sang along. My soul was comforted and strengthened. I was reminded how every Christ follower in every culture, day, and time gets the courage to go on. We quiet our souls and let the Father speak to us.

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on your side.

                    Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;

                    leave to your God to order and provide;

                    in every change He faithful will remain.

                    Be still, my soul: your best, your heavenly friend

                    through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: your God will undertake

                    to guide the future, as He has the past.

                    Your hope, your confidence let nothing shake;

                    all now mysterious shall be bright at last.

                    Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know

                    the Christ who ruled them while he dwelt below.

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.