In a sermon at General Assembly, 2016, Rev Nancy McDonald Ladd lamented the “fake fights we waste our time on,” like “what color to paint the church bathroom.”  Elsewhere, there are people struggling against injustice.  We create our turf, plant our flag, insist that we do this thing according to these rules.  Others may have no turf, nor a flag to plant, nor even a single rule to protect them.

The truth is we all struggle, some more than others, but when we bind each other’s wounds, we grow stronger, and we heal.

From the crush of wealth and power something broken in us all
Waits the spirit’s silent hour pleading with a poignant call,
Bind all my wounds again.

Even now our hearts are wary of the friend we need so much.
When I see the pain you carry, shall I, with a gentle touch,
bind all your wounds again?

When our love for one another makes our burdens light to bear,
find the sister and the brother, hungry for the feast we share;
bind all their wounds again.

Ev’ry time our spirits languish terrified to draw too near,
May we know each other’s anguish and, with love that casts out fear,
Bind all our wounds again.

Composer Peter Cutts, and lyricist Kendyl Gibbons are responsible for this illuminating piece which the choir will sing Sunday the 13th under the direction of Sadie Sonntag.