HOW CAN I SING TO THE LORD?

On a foreign land engulfed by sorrow oppression and slavery, the biblical poet of psalm 137 found it difficult to sing songs of praise. Similarly, when I looked around me and see what is going on in my country, the groans and cries I here, the blood and fire that I see, the anger and bitterness I perceive; even though I do wish to sing song of praise, ”my tongue clings to my praise”.

1. My soul oh God wishes to praise thee
    But when I look around and the suffering see
    It looses all the zealous fervor
    To sing to thee oh my Creator

2. Children have become helpless orphans
    Parents have lost their teen-age sons
    Wives have lost their handsome husbands-for
    They’ve been killed by soldiers and militants.

3. Blood flows around me like spiteful rivers
    Cries of pain jar right into my ears
    Dead human bodies stink on the way side
    People watch them and go on the other side.

4. The rich here sit on the banquets everyday
    The poor on the other hand eat only once a day
    The price of the food is as high as the mountain
    People watch them and go on the other side.

5. Thugs march out in vociferous demonstrations
    The citizens hide inside houses with trepidation
    Frauds have taken the reins of the nation
    The just person is but a matter of derision

6. Children suffer today without proper education
    Abels die in plenty by Cains’ assassinations
    A silky sweet flower lies crushed on the track
    The hearts of her parents and brother into pieces crack (*)

7. The good and the righteous suffer in life
    While evil doers thrive like hive
    Even the dog howls in the righteous with indignation
    And the heavens too hall the mighty with celebration

8. Can I fiddle ad strum when my house burn to consumption – or
    Rhyme and dance when my nation plunges into deterioration
    When will the poor and oppr3essed have favorable life situation
    Then will to thee a hymn of praise ring loud in unison

(*) these two line refer to my only daughter Rammya Florence Regis(11 years) who was run over, by the military vehicle of the Indian Armed Forced, while returning home after Sunday worship.