Missing Music

"He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord." Psalm 40:3

It was a difficult sheet of music.
Laboriously she struggled -
Measure by measure.
Note by note.
Finally with ten-year-old exasperation
She pressed her fits into her cheeks:
"I know I'm playing the right notes
But I just don't hear the music."

Oh God, what a vivid portrait
Of our harassed and hectic lives;
We live in the right houses
Give to the right charities
And read the right books.
We sit in the right church pews
Speak to the right people
And smile the right smiles.
We buy the right clothes
And drive the right cars
And join the right clubs.
Yet, far too often
There's a mysterious emptiness -
A futility in the midst of activity.

The music is missing.
O God
You alone can create new songs
In the depths of our jangled hearts.
Take over.

Ruth Harms Calkin