Some of us are not musical. Maybe we can’t hold a tune. Maybe we can’t play an instrument. Maybe we just don’t enjoy listening to music. But Bonhoeffer pointed out that singing in the community of God is not about being musical. It is a spiritual practice. Singing is something that draws us closer to God.

This is a challenge these days when we cannot worship in God’s house together as a community, and even the idea of public singing is discouraged because of how it can spread dangerous germs. Some of us struggle to sing at home without voices around us to drown out our own. But Bonhoeffer considered singing to be a spiritual discipline, something we need to do as Christians.

So as challenging as it might be for some of us, God calls us to lift up our voices in praise. While we cannot do it together at church, we can sing in our homes (our living rooms, kitchens and bathrooms!), in nature, or in our cars. Today, sing!

Read: Psalm 96
Sing: Promises by Maverick City
Pray: A Prayer of Saint Ignatius of Loyola

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,
my memory, my understanding,
and my entire will,
All I have and call my own.
You have given all to me.
To you, Lord, I return it.
Everything is yours; do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace,
that is enough for me. Amen.​
This week’s devotions are adapted from the book, Life Together  by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Harper, San Francisco. 1954.