Little Songs

Marcia Lee Laycock writes from central Alberta Canada where she is a pastor's wife and mother of three adult daughters. She was the winner of The Best New Canadian Christian Author Award for her novel, One Smooth Stone and also has two devotional books in print. Her work has been endorsed by Sigmund Brouwer, Janette Oke, Phil Callaway and Mark Buchanan. The sequel to One Smooth Stone will be released in 2011. Visit her website

A friend e-mailed the other day and sent this -"Walking with care, snow barely covering the patches of ice, I begin to recall a canticle or a psalm -- I can't remember which -- and my body keeps time: Cold and chill, bless the Lord; Frost and chill, bless the Lord; Ice and snow, bless the Lord.” (from Dakota, A Spiritual Geography by Kathleen Norris).

In response, because of some things happening in our world lately, I sent this: “Weak and strong, bless the Lord.” Then my friend challenged others on the list to send a canticle and they joined in:

“As my husband cuts a hole in our ceiling to find the origin of a leak, while I sit staring at the computer screen trying to find the beginning words ... Those who tear down, and those who build up, bless the Lord.”

“As my husband looks for work and I clean uncharted corners of the house...Those who seek, and those who find, bless the Lord.”

Then someone sent the definition of the word canticle. It comes from the Latin canticulum, little song (cantus, song + -iculum, a diminutive suffix). A little song of praise.

I began thinking how it would affect the perspective of my day, if it began with a canticle and even continued with canticles all day long. Imagine what the day would be like if we were deliberately looking for reasons to bless God. It is a state that can bring us out of the deepest depression and give us joy. It is a state that lifts us from drudgery into satisfying contentment, from malaise into excitement. In short, these little songs of praise can make us come alive.

This can be applied to any aspect of daily life. Is your work situation stressful? Those who lead and those who follow, bless the Lord. Are your toddlers driving you crazy? Children and infants, bless the Lord. Are your chores on the farm feeling like drudgery? Animals and their care-givers bless the Lord. Are you suffering from writers’ block? All storytellers and scribes bless the Lord.

In Romans 8:22 & 23, the apostle Paul wrote: “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”

We are still waiting for the completion of that process but, because of what Jesus did on the cross, we have been adopted, we are children of God. Our bodies will be redeemed, made like Jesus himself. All our days should sing with praise. All men and women, bless the Lord!

Try it. Sing a little song to God today. You might find it makes navigating life a whole lot easier.