Tru here.
This morning I awoke hearing a melody in my head. Like the last time I woke to this tune, almost 10 years ago in late 2007, could not remember any words that went with the melody I was hearing.

Last time I heard this song as a wake-up melody, I sang Mom the tune that woke me. Someone in the room with her recognized that I was humming “Be Still My Soul”. They sang the lyrics for me.

1. Be still, my soul; the Lord is on thy side;
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul; thy best, thy heavenly, Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

2. Be still, my soul; thy God doth undertake
To guide the future as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence, let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul; the waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.

4. Be still, my soul; the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul; when change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

by Catharina von Schlegel, 1697-? and Translated by Jane Borthwick, 1813-1897

Wake-Up Songs:

My first wake up song was very early; 4am on April 2, 2006. I thanked God for adding a song to his wonderful alarm clock for prayer time. Two days later, I was awoken even earlier (3am) by hearing a different song. It would not have surprised me that much if it was a song recently heard. A song is always running thru my head; usually whatever song I heard last. If I do not have focus on something then I am humming it. (Got in trouble from plenty of teachers and employers due to that personality glitch.) So maybe I have just started triggering music at odd times. But my wake up song was almost always something I had not heard for years; and usually either a hymn or a love song. My default song is “Who will buy this wonderful morning (from the musical “Oliver”) and it is really odd to hear a song in my brain when I have not heard the song from outside my brain first.

During that year (2006-2007) I woke very early morning at least every other day, with a song playing in my head. I would quietly get out of bed, trying not to wake my husband, figure out what song I was hearing, and write as much as I remembered of the lyrics. Almost always they were either an answer to a question I had asked in prayer, or they prepared for the near future.

But within a few months, many of the songs sounded like I had some very negative changes coming up. I started getting scared … and I mean it got to where it REALLY scared me. June 13th I heard ” Blue Shadows on the Trail”, which I had not heard since childhood. Then June 14th I had “Empty Saddles in the old corral”. I spoke to my Pastor, because with my past experience of dreams and premonitions that came true, this was really scaring me.

“How do I tell what is a message from God, and what is from my subconscious mind? Looking back, it APPEARS that God has “spoken” through dreams, feelings, and words (as well as, of course, scripture). I had thought my wake-up songs were from Him, but are they really? ”

Pastor said he did not have much experience with things like this that really came to pass, but sent me to a couple other folk. Also he reassured me that, with my increasing dis-Abilities, he did not really think these songs forecasting hardship and change meant terrible things for my loved ones, but was possibly just saying to prepare for more intensively difficult times for myself. “Empty saddles includes not only those who are dead — but simply those who are no longer able to ride.”

One of my most emotional wake up songs was 5:30 on June 22, 2006, when I woke to the phrase: “Love me; that’s all I ask of you” from Phantom of the Opera. Most of the songs gave instructions to love, rest, or count blessings, but an amazing amount of songs had the instructions to “SING !!!” The others spoke to preparing for hardship.

We now theorize I had my first tiny stroke February 1999. I had become both cognitively and physically dis-Abled by the year 2000, but it all began in 1976, and even tho I spent months with some of the top specialists, doctors were never able to figure out the root of my many problems. I began using a wheelchair during the year 2000, and my dis-Abilities were still increasing in 2006.

Wake up songs continued thru 2006 and into 2007.

During 2007, we figured out it was a combination of several tick-borne diseases, including both Lyme and Babesia. I began an intensive treatment regime which resulted in my writing that I couldn’t eat, sleep, or do anything except huddle, shaking, in a fetal position on the couch.

At 1:15am on Sept 22, 2007, my wake up was “… because I love you, just the way you look tonight”. I wrote in my journal, “what a forgotten, wonderful song.”

I quit writing down the songs on Sept 24, 2007. “If these are from G-d, then why does no one else get wake-up songs?” I was seriously questioning source of the songs, and that phase of my life trickled to a close. Now I get a wake-up song once in a while, but not often.

It has been months, or maybe even a year since I have had a wake-up song, and with my dementia symptoms “Be Still My Soul” is oh so very apropos, especially on my second day of being unsupervised and my dementia symptoms reflect an increase from stress. (I was too sick to go with husband to go for several days of visiting my adult children, and picking up various purchases that had been ordered for pick-up along the driving route.)

I would still love confirmation, but highly suspect these songs are Creator giving me an early-morning hug … and this morning I needed one (( smile )). Some people get that affirmative hug from an absolutely unique albino bird visiting their back yard, or other unique experiences that “speak” to their particular soul. Mine is a wake-up song (( smile )).

Creator values me, and considers me important in the whole scheme of things.

… Just like YOU are, my friend.

Video Link: https://youtu.be/duGBIPEusks

* Admin issues: SHARE dementia awareness thru buttons below. Feel free to leave your thoughts in the form of comments, but please filter your comments with truthful loving kindness to all concerned. If interested in receiving notice of future blog postings, subscriptions are available through a “follow” button in the upper left corner (MS Explorer) or lower right (Safari, Mozilla Firefox and Chrome). If there is an advertisement below, I have no control over what is shown. My own full legal name is Truthful Loving Kindness. My current diagnosis is Mild Cognitive Impairment, but my neurologist said I am in a unique position for helping because I have “one foot in each door”. Copyright 2017-01/07. Search terms: be still my soul, dementia, music, spirituality, wake-up.    i need to remember that this entry copyright is now impacted by inclusion in book “Dementia-Friendly Worship”, and Jessica Kingsley Publishers now have some influence in usage of text (not picture).

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