Dear Reader:

Many of you recognize these lyrics from the musical Godspell. One of the reasons that I loved this song was that this stanza was repeated over and over in the song….getting louder or changing soloists…but the same refrain made it easy to remember the words.

Now, I realize just how powerful the lyrics truly are. The refrain was/is worth repeating over and over until it becomes embedded in our memories…day by day.

Day by Day

Day by Day

Oh Dear Lord

Three Things I Pray

To See Thee More Clearly

Love Thee More Dearly

Follow Thee More  Nearly

Day by Day

……………………………………

It wasn’t seeing the musical Godspell that imprinted this verse and tune in my memory…it was the person singing it.

I had gone to New Orleans for an educational conference in January one year and the weather was bitter…I remember being colder there than any other time or place in my life. I think the cold weather broke all kinds of records…the year was probably around 1976 or 77.

Roosevelt Way Exterior

A flyer of all the entertainment available during our stay had been left on my bed and one page announced the famous duo of *Billy Davis, Jr. and Marilyn McCoo performing at the Roosevelt/Fairmont hotel just blocks from where we were staying.  (*Husband and wife…Billy and Marilyn had both just left their group Five Dimension and started out on their own promotional tour.)

It was the most wonderful performance by this famous duo…and it was there that Marilyn McCoo ended the night with “Day by Day.” I have never forgotten it. Everyone in the audience began to sing with her and we all started holding hands with the table next to us. A memorable moment. Billy Davis, Jr. would walk around to each table with the microphone in his hand for everyone to sing one line of the song.

When we left the hotel there was a mixture of snow and sleet coming down (very unusual for New Orleans) and it was so beautiful watching it walking back to the hotel under the street lights. What a night!

When I went to look for this song with McCoo as soloist on u-tube I could only find it with the Fifth Dimension…still she is the lead singer and what a beautiful voice she had and still has.

Day by Day by the Fifth Dimension – YouTube

(* I birdwalk here…but if you just listened to Marilyn and Billy sing this song and watched old photos of the Fifth Dimension...is it just me or does Marilyn McCoo look remarkably like Julia Roberts?)

To tell you the truth…I didn’t just wake up from a dream about this song or that special night yesterday morning…it appeared in a different way. God is very creative with His GodWinks!

I was flipping through the on-going popular book of daily devotions –  Jesus Calling and found July 15. I decided to take a peek and see what would be “cooking” the next day…. now actually today.

“Do not worry about tomorrow! This is not a suggestion, but a command. I divided time into days and nights, so that you would have manageable portions of life to handle. My grace is sufficient for you, but its sufficiency is for only one day at a time. When you worry about the future, you heap day upon day of trouble onto your flimsy frame. You stagger under this heavy load, which I never intended you to carry.

Throw off this oppressive burden with one quick thrust of trust. Anxious thoughts meander about and crisscross in your brain, but trusting Me brings you directly into My Presence. As you thus affirm your faith, shackles of worry fall off instantly. Enjoy My Presence continually by trusting Me at all times.”

• This is a lesson that God knows I need drilled into my head ‘day by day’ and if a song can accomplish that…I am sure He is all for it. (Some of us are spiritual slow-learners…meaning me!)

 So until tomorrow….I think God would grin and  agree with Old Brer Rabbit’s take on this philosophy: “Don’t go lookin’ for trouble; it’ll find you soon enough.”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh