Dr. Tom Pace, Dr. Tom Pace lll, Senior Pastor St. Lukes UMC, Sr Pastor St Lukes

Mumford and Sons have a song called After the Storm. It spoke to me as I listened to it today. Here is just a part…

And after the storm,
I run and run as the rains come
And I look up, I look up,
on my knees and out of luck, I look up….

And I took you by the hand
And we stood tall,
And remembered our own land,
What we lived for.

And there will come a time, you’ll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.

And now I cling to what I knew
I saw exactly what was true
But oh no more. That’s why I hold,
That’s why I hold with all I have.

The storm caused me to get on my knees, and look up. I hope you did as well. The sense of helplessness in the face of that which is completely out of our control causes us to look to that power and love far greater than ourselves.

The storm led me to reach out and take the hand of the people around me. We have responded not by crumbling, but by “standing tall,” together, remembering that re-building is what we live for. We have always been in this business of building… building spirits, families, God’s kingdom.

The storm forced me to cling to what I know, even when the world causes doubts to rise and my spirit to falter. I hold… hold on with all I have. 

One day, there will be no more storms, no more tears, no more heartbreak. We hold fast to that Christian hope. Maybe no flowers in our hair, but always grace in our hearts.