by Karen Bates–Olson
Grandma Edna was loving, kind, and good,
hard–working and as concerned for her family
as only the most dedicated, devoted parent
can be. But she was not particularly taken
up with the ways of faith. She rarely went
to church. And when she did, she was more
interested in the hats the women were
wearing than in the word for the day. To be
honest, I don’t know if my grandmother was
even baptized.
About eight years ago, when our oldest
daughter was five, Grandma fell ill and
slipped into a coma. She lay unresponsive in
her hospital bed. My mother nodded to me:
"Karen, why don’t you and Amy sing ‘Jesus
loves me’?" My response was distinctly
unpastoral. I said I couldn’t do it. I
wouldn’t be able to get through it. "Well,"
my mother asked, "will you do it for me?"
That was that. I pulled Amy up on my lap.
We sat up close to Grandma’s ear, close to
her heart. And we sang. I sang softly — but
Amy sang with all the exuberance of a lively
five-year–old. "Jesus loves me, this I know.
For the Bible tells me so. Little ones to
him belong. They are weak but he is strong.
Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so."
My grandma, for whom church had meant
nothing more than a place to display the hat
that would properly show her status in her
small town, sat straight up in bed. Straight
up in bed. Her eyes cleared. She listened.
The gospel had gotten through to her even in
her deep, deep sleep. Though she was dying,
she was brought to life, through the Spirit,
by the song of a child.
HEALING CONNECTION
The connection between songs, hymns, and
healing is deep and wide. It shows up
frequently in Scripture. With the women of
Israel, Miriam sang a song of triumphant
healing — a healing of victory after great
suffering — when they had passed through a
parted Red Sea where their pursuing enemies
drowned: "Sing to the LORD, for he has
triumphed gloriously; horse and rider he has
thrown into the sea" (Exodus 15:21). Saul,
struggling with depression or anxiety, bid
David play on his lyre, singing gentle songs
of quiet peace. The songs seemed to soothe
Saul’s soul, bringing healing to a ravaged
spirit (1 Samuel 16:14–23). Over and again,
the psalmist cries out to make a joyful
noise to the Lord, to serve the Lord with
gladness and come into his presence with
singing—to know the healing power of
remaining in faithful relationship with the
God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of
Jacob (Psalm 66; 81; 89; 92; 95; 96; 98;
100; 101; 108; 144; 147; 149).
The early church was bid to gather around
the word, and to sing "psalms, hymns, and
spiritual songs to God" (Colossians 3:16).
They were to continue to know the healing
power of their crucified and risen Lord
Jesus Christ through the songs they sang
together. And in the last book of the Bible,
Revelation, all kinds of references are made
to singing to the Lord, as if singing songs
of praise is a sign of the fulfillment of
the kingdom, where all health is restored
(Revelation 5:11–14; 7:9–12; 14:1–3;
15:3–4).
THE POWER OF MUSIC
Martin Luther certainly knew the power of
song for health. "Music," he said, "is the
best balm for a sad heart, for it restores
contentment and quickens and refreshes the
heart." A refreshed heart is sure to have
physical benefits; the emotional quickening
can be a healing in and of itself. Such
musicians as Bach and Handel breathe the
breath of well–being, the breath of faith
and love, into the music they have given to
the people of God. Listen to an inspired
soprano sing, "I know that my redeemer liveth" and there is health — the health of
hope, the health of peace, the health of
security in God’s gracious hand.
Look in any hymnal — Lutheran,
Presbyterian, Roman Catholic,
inter-denominational — and you will likely
find an entire section of songs on healing
and health. It is as natural to sing of the
need for healing before God as it is to give
God praise when health is vibrant. We take a
deep breath in song. As we sing we give that
breath — which in ill health can seem so
fragile — to the One we pray will make all
things new. That act alone is an act of
faith.
And over and over in Scripture, our Lord
says, it is faith that makes us well.
HYMNS FOR HEALING
In Lutheran Book of Worship, five hymns
are dedicated specifically to healing. One
stands out, powerfully arranged in word and
melody: "O Christ, the Healer, We Have Come"
(LBW 360).
Listen to the text. Breathe it in. If you
know the tune, hum along while you read.
O Christ the healer, we have come;
To pray for health, to plead for friends.
How can we fail to be restored
When reached by love that never ends?
From ev’ry ailment flesh endures
Our bodies clamor to be freed,
Yet in our hearts we would confess,
That wholeness is our greatest need.
(Fred
Pratt Green, b. 1903; © Hope Publishing Co.,
Carol Stream, IL)
The hymn gives health by providing hope.
It gives health by pointing toward what real
need is — wholeness — even more than healing of
the physical ailments from which we cry to
be released. It gives health more when it is
set to its hymn tune, a kind of wailing
desert cry that finally resolves and finds
peace. When we sing this song, we can wail.
We can plead. We can even sing our despair,
in the church, of all places! Before God, of
all beings!
With One Voice includes 10 songs
dedicated to healing — and, interestingly,
pairs healing with forgiveness. To sing of
God’s healing power — whether in praise for
receiving health or in supplication that
health might be restored — is to sing, in
part, of the power of forgiveness. To be
bound in unrepentant sin, whether before God
or one’s neighbor, is to live in brokenness
that affects the health of body, mind, and
soul.
Singing of our need for release from
bondage to sin actually frees us for greater
song. "Create in me a clean heart, O God,"
we pray with Psalm 51 in WOV 732, "and renew
a right spirit within me. Cast me not away
from your presence, and take not your Holy
Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of
your salvation, and uphold me with your free
Spirit."
Clean heart, right spirit, joy in
salvation, upheld in freedom — all of that
will help us breathe deeper, help us open up
our minds and mouths a little more, help us
be a little more aware of the person singing
beside us, help bring a little more clarity
to our tone as to our lives. The healing
that comes with forgiveness will create
beauty in the music we sing to celebrate the
gift; the release that comes in music will
allow us to find the gift of forgiveness,
the gift of healing, in experience.
A treasure among all the beautiful
healing and forgiveness hymns in With One
Voice is "Thy Holy Wings," WOV 741. If you
know the tune, hum it along while you read.
Thy holy wings, O Savior,
spread gently over me,
and let me rest securely
through good and ill in thee.
Oh, be my strength and portion,
my rock and hiding place,
and let my ev’ry moment
be lived within thy grace.
(© 1983 Gracia
Grindal)
This hymn gives us a picture of the
Christian life hidden gently in health under
the holy wings of the Savior, secure in
grace.
PEOPLE OF THE CROSS
We are not a people who believe that God
is with us when things are good, when health
is visible for all to see, but then question
the presence of God in the face of pain and
suffering.
As a colleague who struggles with cancer
said, "we are people of the cross." We
believe in Jesus Christ crucified, and in
Jesus Christ risen from the dead. God is as
present with us in our Good Fridays as in
our Easters. That’s something to sing about.
After the terrorists attacked us on
September 11, 2001, one congregation
gathered to share comfort and hope in prayer
and worship, as did many others. When the
congregation first came together, there was
silence. No one could speak. No one could
sing.
But not even that grief could keep the
people of God from reaching out to their God
in song. Not even that terror could keep the
faithful from using their voices to call
upon on God for hope and wholeness: "O God,
our help in ages past," a lone tenor sang,
"Our hope for years to come, Our shelter
from the stormy blast, And our eternal home"
(LBW 320). Voice by voice, stanza by stanza,
the congregation joined in, until by the
end, all were singing: "O God, our help in
ages past, Our hope for years to come...
"
Healing can be found in song — by finding
hope in song, release in song, and God’s
presence and promise in song.
Karen Bates-Olson is pastor of Lutheran
Church of the Master in Pasco, Wash. Karen
and her husband, Kevin, have two daughters,
Amy Carol, 13, and Katie Ann, 7.
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