Dear Friends,
Don’t be ashamed of the words…. (Mark 8: 34-end)
sing a new song to the Lord! (Psalm 96)
We stood together and clapped as a nation so isn’t it time we stand again with our neighbours and join our voices in prayer…
We lit candles and put them in windows to show solidarity with each other and in support for the NHS staff, but can we now break our silence with a new song to the Lord?
The NHS have provided the best health service in the world since 1947, but it is being overwhelmed because it has neglected one important element. It has been dealing with mental health and physical health while marginalising spiritual health. It now seems that people are turning to the internet to find God, but we can make God visible on our doorsteps and in our windows again! Let’s not be ashamed to stand in our community and proclaim our trust in the Lord!
It is encouraging to know that people are turning to the computers and television to meet with God, but it is when faith jumps out of the screen and appears on the doorsteps that we will feel, see and hear the true healing power of our Lord. The food parcel that has appeared at the door from an anonymous donor has been an answer to prayer for some in recent months. The phone call that has broken a lonely silence has been like the voice of the Lord. The recovery from sickness for many has been like the hand of the Lord, but these experiences can reach out beyond the individuals to a whole community when we sing together a new song to the Lord.
The new song I want to sing — if only I could without frightening people away! — is an old favourite of mine by Diana Ross who suggested we “reach out and touch somebody’s hand and make this world a better place…!” So it isn’t a new song at all, but an old one with new words:
Reach out and touch somebody’s heart.
We can make this world a better place —
if we try.
If we take a little time from our busy days
we can give encouragement to someone whose feeling lost.
An I talking to stones when I ask you
to share a problem that’s not your own?
We can change things if we start praying.
Why don’t you reach out and touch somebody’s heart?
That neighbour at the door! Looking down!
Your feet could be in their shoes, so try showing a little love.
You’ll find it comes naturally and you can change things by praying…
Reach out and touch somebody’s heart.
We can make this world a better place —
If we try!
I might have shared it before but it’s time for praying to reach out and touch hearts in a way that can be seen (as we stand together), heard (as we sing together) and felt (as we heal together). The responsibility is not for individual preachers, leaders or worship leaders or even for a Church, but for a community or streets of people to stand at their doors and sing a new song to the Lord. The healing doesn’t happen with on-line medication that can be presented from a distance through praise and worship with a sermon, but through relationships of trust and respect as it once was between doctor and patient.
If anyone agrees with me let me know and we can start singing a new prayer to the Lord that everyone can see, hear and feel…. as we reach out and touch someone’s heart.