As many of you know, 8 weeks ago, I took a mean tumble, dislocating my shoulder, fracturing my arm, and tearing my rotator cuff.

I experienced an epiphany inside the MRI tube. A kind nurse gave me earphones. Suddenly, the most beautiful music I had ever heard streamed through my ears and filled my every cell. My whole body relaxed. My anxiousness about the test and ensuing results disappeared. I surrendered to the music. The nurse positioned my hurt left shoulder, tightened a safety strap around my legs and torso and then pushed me back into the dark, narrow tube. The music never stopped.

The jarring noise of the MRI machine sometimes overpowered the lovely notes, but I had an intuition (a peace) knowing it was still playing underneath it all even if I could not hear it. Every time the loud, hammering (bang, bang, bang) noise of the machine would stop, and I could hear the music again, clear and sublime, I smiled.

Sometimes, life’s circumstances, especially the hard ones, appear to drown out the “music.” We might even start to believe that we will never hear it again. But it’s always there. God is among us. God loves us. God promises our future is secure.

Whatever happens, however loud, challenging and heart-breaking our lives, or the distance we may feel from God, God is always with us. The promise of Easter still holds true. The music never ceases.

On earth and in heaven, you are held by the Everlasting Arms. In the words of Julian of Norwich, “All will be well. All will be well. All will be more than well.”

Live in Hope!