A Hymn for Political Turmoil

These politically tumultuous times we're living in remind me of a hymn quote I have hanging here in my office:

How can I keep from singing?

I wrote it on a blackboard — in chalk with fancy letters — when we lived in Georgia and I've kept it on the board since.

It moved with me here to Iowa in December 2020 and although slightly smudged, remains readable.

Each time I've thought of erasing it (which, admittedly, isn't often), it just seems too perfect for the moment.

The words to this hymn were altered during the folksong revival of the 1960s (Christian references removed) but the original stands strong and when I feel my faith is wavering, it helps me stand strong, too.

It goes like this:

My life flows on in endless song;
Above earth's lamentation,
I catch the sweet though far-off hymn
That hails a new creation.
Through all the tumult and the strife
I hear the music ringing:
It finds an echo in my soul;
How can I keep from singing?

What though my joys and comforts die,
The Lord my Saviour liveth;
What though the darkness gather round,
Songs in the night He giveth!
No storm can shake my inmost calm
While to that refuge clinging;
Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth,
How can I keep from singing?

I lift my eyes, the cloud grows thin:
I see the blue above it;
And day by day this pathway smooths,
Since first I learned to love it.
The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart,
A fountain ever springing:
All things are mine, since I am His;
How can I keep from singing?

 — Anonymous, 1869