This one is for you, @jessamynorchard... and everyone else that misses singing and playing hymns together on this day and any other day ...
I have been playing the piano in church for 25 years, with only two serious interruptions. I snapped an entire muscle back in 2017 and missed almost half the year.
The other interruption you can guess – it is going on right now.
COVID-19 has interrupted life in ways none of us ever imagined possible. Only people well over 100 years old can remember a time like this – the great flu pandemic of the turn of the 1920s compares (depending on who you ask, it started in either 1918 or as early as 1915, but things got bad and stayed bad after the end of World War I in 1918, right into 1920).
Church going in the United States of America is almost completely shut down - #quarantinelife does not and CANNOT responsibly include Sunday-go-to-meeting traditions.
However, that does not mean that those of us both naturally and spiritually gifted for service and called by the Lord are allowed to just sit around and wait for the buildings called churches to re-open. In the age of the Internet, and all its amazing tools, there is no reason why ministers of all types cannot continue to minister, and that includes people like me who are called to music ministry. To not do so would open us up to the charge of what servicemen and veterans call “dereliction of duty.” When your Commander is the Captain of the Hosts of the Lord, going AWOL is simply not an option.
So, pandemic and all, the Sunday morning preludes I have played for 20 years are resuming,right here on Hive!
“God Will Take Care of You” was written by Walter S. and Civilla D. Martin in 1904, out of an occasion when Mr. Martin had to trust in God to take care of his ill wife while he had to be away. He came home to find his wife recovering and with the poem that became this hymn in hand. Mr. Martin added the music, and this enduring hymn was born. I thought this would therefore be a good place to start in these troubled times, and I included beautiful photos of springtime to keep us all encouraged.
This recording is an instrumental, but if you don't know the lyrics by heart and still want to sing along, go on to the YouTube video – I have included the lyrics in the description there!
Enjoy, and be blessed!