by Douglas J. Lanzo
Copyright 2024
First published in Clean Fiction Magazine (Winter Issue, 2024-2025)
An unexpected blessing
touched us all at Church today
during the call for praises
to share before we prayed.
Gently into microphone
a young woman sang a hymn
that ebbed and flowed with meaning,
filling our hearts to the brim:
soulful notes from Africa
sung with heartfelt words of thanks,
welling from a riverbank,
overflowing in our ranks.
Members who did know the words
softly hummed, then sang the verse,
drawn to its simplicity,
sung by worshipers diverse.
The beauty of her tribute,
thanked God for the love displayed,
by congregants beside her…
who had helped her sense God’s way. From organist to pastor –
transfixed by the song of praise –
we heard the voice of angels
and felt power of Christ raised.