February 19, 2025
I’m sitting by our fireplace in early morning with my Bible and a coffee. As the fire crackles I’m listening to a playlist of sacred music on Spotify. A group of nuns are singing the beautiful Prayer of St.Patrick by Margaret Rizza: “Calm Me Lord as You Calmed the Storm”. The lyrics are powerful:
“Calm me Lord, as you calmed the storm
Still me, Lord, keep me from harm
Let all the tumult within me cease…
Lord enfold me in your peace.”
What a great prayer for us today. If ever the world and our hearts were in tumult it is now. So much seems to be out of control and many of us find ourselves praying “Lord, how long?” How long can this go on? How long can so many millions suffer war, displacement, famine, and sorrow on sorrow?
We need to know that the Lord is sovereign and in control. Nothing surprises him, and his compassions are “ new every morning”. And so I’ve prayed this morning as I do every morning, “thy will be done”. No, my head is not buried in the sand. Rather it is looking upwards.
We are poor small creatures, “born to trouble as the sparks fly upward”, but we’ve been made in our Creator’s image and He has breathed immortal life into us. We’re made for heaven and we pray that the hellish sorrows of our world will soon be healed and peace will prevail. Calm us Lord…
