REFLECTIONS LECTIONS

Singing by Maressa Mortimer

Matthew 26:30

Do you like singing? Can you sing? I suppose most people can sing, but can you hold a tune? Years and years ago, I was in a children’s choir, and a little girl joined. She liked singing; the problem was, she was tone-deaf. She could only sing a very low, monotonous tone, like the low hum of the bagpipes. In the end, they had a quiet word with the mum, and the girl left the choir.

Singing together is special. Services are rounded off with a final hymn. And in Matthew 26, we read how Jesus set up what we now call The Lord’s Supper or Eucharist. At the end of that meal, they sang a hymn, which was one of the Psalms meant for the Passover meals, and then they went out to the Mount of Olives and Gethsemane. It was a final act, in a sense, where they were all together. A closing of the door on Jesus’ three years of ministry, and He now went out to His death.

Singing has many benefits, and singing together has even more. Somehow, I feel the summer is great for this, there is often music, street parties and that kind of thing. It’s also a wonderful time of the year to praise God for His many blessings. I wonder if the handiness of portable music players/car radios etc, has replaced our singing? I think of walking parties in the past, signing lustily along the dusty lanes. Now people walk with earphones in, and there is just the singing of birds. There were songs whilst working, washing, playing, hiking and rowing. It feels like a loss, doesn’t it? So, here’s a lovely summer challenge for you: Try and sing something lovely, something beautiful, something uplifting every day. And if your singing is like the little girl’s? No worries, I’m not asking you to join a choir. Yet!

Maressa Mortimer is Dutch but lives in the beautiful Cotswolds, England with her husband and four (adopted) children. She is a homeschool mum and a pastor’s wife,. She loves writing Christian fiction, as it’s a great way to explore faith in daily life. Her books are available from her website, www.vicarioushome.com, Amazon or local bookshops.