My spiritual heritage included the weekly hymn by P. P. Bliss which continues to come to mind:
Sing them over again to me, Wonderful words of Life. Let me more of their beauty see, Wonderful words of Life. Words of Life and Beauty Teach me faith and duty: Beautiful words, wonderful words, Wonderful words of Life.
The mystery of the voice and its potent transformative sounds may be experienced int he wonderful words of life, the tuning and vibration of the sacred breath, and the roaring silence of internal thought.
Where fear and doubt imprison, faith and love liberate;
Where fear and doubt paralyze, faith and love empower;
Where fear and doubt dishearten, faith and love encourage;
Where fear and doubt sicken, faith and love heal; and,
Where fear and doubt make useless, faith and love create new life.
My life has been perhaps harder than the normal, but I have learned to endure what cannot be altered, with only my own inner strength to sustain me. During disastrous times, the inner voice was always there to comfort me, even if it did not always speak to me in so many words. Faith, though, has always played a great part in my life; faith and inner certainty. Endurance, coupled with love and faith have been the keynotes of my life, and through them I have been blessed beyond all measure.
Do not shun the darkness of the night. Learn to love it, learn to feel it. For in the darkness of night you will hear the silent music, music that runs through all eternity, and through us, as though we were not there. It is the harmony, the rhythm of all things. It is preludes, fandangos, great symphonies of joy, all things that are in harmony. One of the strongest of all is our heartbeat, which keeps us upon this earth, and the prayers throughout the world. So in your darkness, listen quietly, for it comes at such times: the silent music of the night ... the silent music of life.
