Grace for all

In church today we sang that hymn Amazing Grace. It was written over two hundred years ago, but since it came on the pop music scene in the early seventies, it has become familiar and remained popular. Since I have been a nurse, it has became really special. Music therapy used to be a part of the treatment in psych facilities, and when it ended, I tried to keep it going in some way. Since I couldn’t sing well enough or play a guitar, I often brought in music that the patients could listen to and sing along with if they wanted. My patients have come from all walks of life and have experienced much trauma. Sometimes they have been the perpetrators of trauma to others. Invariably (a word I learned from my grandmother) no matter the people in the group, year after year, toward “closing time,” they always wanted to sing Amazing Grace. When the group started to prayerfully blend their voices, an almost palpable holiness came into the room. I thought of the bad things they had experienced that grace would cover, and I felt honored to be with them.