Be Still, My Soul

You may know that my favorite hymn is "Be Still, My Soul." The peace that song brings is so powerful. Psalm 46:10, "Be still and know that I am God", was twice quoted in General Conference last week. Here are the lyrics to "Be Still, My Soul" and a video of an amazing boy's choir (Libera) performing the hymn.

Be still, my soul: The Lord is on thy side; With patience bear thy cross of grief or pain. Leave to thy God to order and provide; In ev'ry change He faithful will remain. Be still, my soul: Thy best, thy heav'nly Friend Thru thorny ways leads to a joyful end.
Be still, my soul: Thy God doth undertake To guide the future as He has the past. Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake; All now mysterious shall be bright at last. Be still, my soul: The waves and winds still know His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.
Be still, my soul: The hour is hast'ning on When we shall be forever with the Lord, When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone, Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored. Be still, my soul: When change and tears are past, All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

I have a Pandora music station dedicated to "Sunday music", and through it came across an instrumental rendition of "Be Still, My Soul" by one Chris Rice on his album "The Living Room Sessions". I highly recommend looking it up if you like the hymn. Though the piece was instrumental, there were lyrics, different ones that the traditional words in the LDS hymnal. I would like to share them here. They clearly have a non-denominational or born again Christian perspective which provides a different perspective than we might normally have.

How far are you? How close am I? I know your words are true and I don't feel them inside. Still I believe you'll never leave, So, where are You now?
You're all I have, You're all I know, Your breath is breathing in my soul. Still I am gasping, aching, asking, Where are You now?
'Cause I just wanna be with You. I just want this waiting to be over. I just want to be with You, And it helps to know the day is getting closer.
Every minute takes an hour, Every inch feels like a mile 'Til I won't have to imagine And I finally get to see You smile.
My journey's here but my heart is there, So I dream and wait and keep the faith While You prepare our destiny, 'til You come back for me. Oh, please make it soon.
I just wanna be with You. I just want this waiting to be over. I just want to be with You, And it helps to know the day is getting closer.
Every minute takes an hour, Every inch feels like a mile 'Til I won't have to imagine And I finally get to see You.
Every minute takes an hour, Every inch feels like a mile 'Til I won't have to imagine And I finally get to see You smile.

I just found those lyrics interesting. I feel as though the singer is struggling with his testimony, just as the person singing the traditional words is, and pleads with the Lord to be there for him. However, this perspective demonstrates a greater sense of aloneness, while in the traditional one it is as though the individual is consoling himself with the knowledge that God is with him. In that sense it is as though there is a great distance between the individual and the Lord. I do not believe that is the case; I believe the Lord is with us always, so long as we live worthy of His presence. I prefer the original lyrics because they demonstrate the closeness of the Lord to us. Yet this different perspective also draws more attention to the fact that each of us will be able to see our Father in Heaven once again, and the singer looks forward with eager anticipation for that day, not only when he will see His Lord again but when he will see Him smile. I think that will be one of the greatest sights to look forward to: a smile upon the faces of our Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ. I just wanted to post those lyrics here mainly for that reason: that we can remember how absolutely wonderful it will be to see Him again, and to see Him smile. I, for one, am very excited to see Him again. =) I hope for the strength to live worthy now so that I can live with Him eternally.