Singing Through Challenging and Evil Days

The month of October has been a whirlwind. Here are just a few things that have happened (in no particular order): two trips to Texas; a new roof; new brakes for the car; a dryer that decided to quit; three trips to the veterinarian before Thunder was diagnosed with Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency; my brother beginning treatment for melanoma of the eye; performances with The Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus; and a 24-hour round trip to Indianapolis. And as if all that weren’t enough, last night after rehearsal I came home to find water running out from under the kitchen sink.

When it rains, it really does pour sometimes, doesn’t it?

I don’t share all of that to complain—far from it. Life just seems to have a way of piling things on now and then. At a certain point, it almost starts to feel like a divine comedy of errors.

And of course, while we each navigate the personal storms and surprises of our own lives—often holding far more than others realize—the wider world feels heavy too. The federal government remains shut down; the ceasefire between Gaza and Israel feels fragile; voting rights are under threat; and at times, the work of God in the world can seem delayed or even denied.

In moments like these, I often return to one of my favorite passages from the letter to the Ephesians. The author writes:

“Be careful, then, how you live—not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil… Be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to one another, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

What I love most about this passage is its call to sing to one another. Not just to God, but to and for each other—songs that remind us who we are and whose we are, even when the days feel evil.

This weekend, The Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus will perform Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Its final movement, the “Ode to Joy,” sets to music the words of the poet Friedrich Schiller:

“You millions, I embrace you.
This kiss is for all the world!
Friends, above the starry canopy
There must dwell a loving Creator.”

It is, at its heart, a hymn to joy—a bold declaration of hope and unity in the face of all that threatens to undo us. Singing an Ode to Joy is one way of keeping our nerve when the world feels unsteady, when we seem to meet ourselves coming and going, when, as Ephesians puts it, “the days are evil.”

So, on Sunday, as we conclude worship, we’ll join that same eternal song—different words, but still a hymn to joy. The very tune Beethoven wrote continues to give voice to the deep truth that even now, above and within it all, God dwells—and we are not alone.

Singing for joy with you,