Daily Devotionals
Monday, June 3, 2024 (Mary Ann)
A couple weeks ago, I drove a friend down to the City of Mayo in Rochester, Minn. (The size of this medical complex makes it seem like a city in itself.)
I had plenty of time to people-watch (one of my favorite things) while waiting for her to finish her appointments. Turns out I was in a perfect spot — the lower level atrium of the Gonda Building. So there I sat — for hours! — watching seemingly endless streams of people — people from all walks of life and likely from all parts of the world, with enough illnesses or conditions to fill an entire medical library. Then I realized what all these people had in common.
They were all looking for answers. For understanding. For healing. For hope.
There’s a grand piano in this huge atrium. I guess it’s there for anyone to play. One lady did; she even brought her own sheet music! She played hymn after old familiar hymn and I watched people slow down. Smile. Stop and watch. Many took out their phones and videoed. Some hummed or sang along. A group of strangers gathered around the piano and sang.
It was beautiful. Certainly not what I expected to find in a world-renowned clinic/hospital. Not in this cultural melting pot. And definitely not in this day and age.
But isn’t this exactly what you’d want to find here? Or anywhere, for that matter?
So we sang “How Great Thou Art” (ALL the verses, thank you very much!) and “Peace, Like a River” and more. Timeless truths that I pray resonated with some who maybe had never heard anything like this before.
I confess that at the time I didn’t know why I felt to write down what I was seeing or video the short clip of “Peace Like a River.” But maybe it was because that old hymn has something to say to us today. Here are some of those lines, featuring King James-sounding English:
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Though satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed his own blood for my soul.
And Lord, haste the day with the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll,
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
I just had to share this with you, dear Sisters, because we live in a sea of hurting people who need a Savior. Or maybe it’s you being whipped around by those sea billows. Maybe it’s you looking for answers. Understanding. Healing. Hope.
If that’s true, please, please reach out to Jesus! And if you want to pray with someone or just talk, you will always find open hearts and listening ears at Rachel’s Closet Cares.
Mary Ann Hanson
I had plenty of time to people-watch (one of my favorite things) while waiting for her to finish her appointments. Turns out I was in a perfect spot — the lower level atrium of the Gonda Building. So there I sat — for hours! — watching seemingly endless streams of people — people from all walks of life and likely from all parts of the world, with enough illnesses or conditions to fill an entire medical library. Then I realized what all these people had in common.
They were all looking for answers. For understanding. For healing. For hope.
There’s a grand piano in this huge atrium. I guess it’s there for anyone to play. One lady did; she even brought her own sheet music! She played hymn after old familiar hymn and I watched people slow down. Smile. Stop and watch. Many took out their phones and videoed. Some hummed or sang along. A group of strangers gathered around the piano and sang.
It was beautiful. Certainly not what I expected to find in a world-renowned clinic/hospital. Not in this cultural melting pot. And definitely not in this day and age.
But isn’t this exactly what you’d want to find here? Or anywhere, for that matter?
So we sang “How Great Thou Art” (ALL the verses, thank you very much!) and “Peace, Like a River” and more. Timeless truths that I pray resonated with some who maybe had never heard anything like this before.
I confess that at the time I didn’t know why I felt to write down what I was seeing or video the short clip of “Peace Like a River.” But maybe it was because that old hymn has something to say to us today. Here are some of those lines, featuring King James-sounding English:
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Though satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed his own blood for my soul.
And Lord, haste the day with the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll,
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
I just had to share this with you, dear Sisters, because we live in a sea of hurting people who need a Savior. Or maybe it’s you being whipped around by those sea billows. Maybe it’s you looking for answers. Understanding. Healing. Hope.
If that’s true, please, please reach out to Jesus! And if you want to pray with someone or just talk, you will always find open hearts and listening ears at Rachel’s Closet Cares.
Mary Ann Hanson
