Hymns in the supermarket queue

HYMNS IN THE SUPERMARKET QUEUE

I have always been so grateful for the Christian Science Hymnal, and for the comfort and healing which I have experienced over many years when companioning with our much-loved hymns.

Recently, I have had even more reason to be grateful for my words-only hymnal, which I keep in the car and is ever at hand to lift thought when I’m out and about. During this lock down period, I need to venture out to our local supermarket once a week for provisions, and over the weeks I have found that the best time to join the queue is early in the morning, well before the store opens. Wrapped up warmly to keep out the cold and standing quietly in the queue, time seems to drag...sometimes I think my watch must have stopped!

This week, as I left the car with my shopping bags to join the supermarket queue, an angel message dropped quietly into thought: “Take your hymnal with you!” I grabbed the little book, and spent the long wait before opening time just drinking in the healing truths from my favourite hymns! When things were quiet outside the store, I just read the words to myself, but when people began chatting nearby I would hum or sing the hymns under my breath. Focusing on the truth in this way, I found the time just flew by, and before I knew it, the doors opened and I was off down the aisles with my trolley! So now when I head off to the shops, I remember to take three items with me...my shopping list, carrier bags, and my hymnal!

The Preface to the new Christian Science Hymnal opens with these words: “In Colossians we read, ‘Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord’. The enduring power of hymns to inspire, teach, praise and heal truly has ancient origins”. And Mary Baker Eddy writes, “Whatever inspires with wisdom, Truth, or Love – be it song, sermon, or Science – blesses the human family with crumbs of comfort from Christ’s table, feeding the hungry and giving living waters to the thirsty”.


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