This year has really been so hard on us all. We have watched the news as cases grew out of hand. We watched as beloved “Mom and Pop” stores and restaurants closed their doors for the very last time. We have stood at windows and waved from porches, just to catch a glimpse of family.
On a more personal note, I have watched in my own family my brother battle back from the ravages of MS that kept him hospitalized for nearly two months last year – unable to walk or even hold his newborn son. His courage in the face of adversity speaks to the grace of the human spirit. Truly something to behold.
As we circle now out of the pandemic and return to “the new normal” (a term I detest by the way – after all what exactly is normal), I began quietly humming the hymn “City of God” to myself over and over again. I began to compose my own Covid version. Enjoy, and let us continue to keep hope in our hearts every day.
Hope in Our Hearts
(To the tune of City of God)
Awake from the darkness, awake from all fear;
A new day is dawning – let us dry all our tears.
We have survived great losses,
We have cleaned and we’ve zoomed.
We survived this pandemic, staying alone in our rooms.
Now we sing with hope in our hearts
As the world together rejoices
Praise the Lord who has carried us through
His Love, His footprints in sand
No smiling faces, only fabric we’d see.
Together but alone, thanks to the CDC.
We have weathered in silence, and waved from afar.
Praying and wishing upon our North star.
Let us sing with hope in our hearts
As the world together rejoices
Praise the Lord who has carried us through
His Love, His footprints in sand.
We were struck by the wonder and the power of love.
We all missed the small things, like the power of hugs.
Now we come back together, Now we know the Lord’s grace;
Let us begin anew now, as we stand in one space.
And we sing with hope in our hearts
As the world together rejoices
Praise the Lord who has carried us through
His Love, His footprints in sand.
(Andrea Griffith is a Payroll & Benefits Coordinator for the Diocese of Harrisburg. She frequently shares musings and inspirational quotes with her Diocesan co-workers, and offered her latest writing for publication in The Catholic Witness.)
By Andrea Griffith, Special to The Witness
