For most of us, our birth was hailed with exclamations of joy. For most of us, our death will be mourned. For all of us, in between those boundaries lies a span which we walk moment by moment, now lit with rays of joy, now enshrouded in shades of mourning. What does it all mean, this brief journey between birth and death, this “inch or two of time”? We will make no sense of it at all if we do not pause to reckon with the “Maker of our mortal frame.” Without some understanding of Him, we are indeed “but dust and foolish vanity in all our flower and prime.” Hearing and heeding Him, we catch whispers of hope in a troubled world. May these songs grant you keener sight and deeper insight, and enable you to give thanks to the Lord who is our help and our shield. May they be for you a hope and a healing. May the God who guided Israel on their great salvation journey guide your feet and be with you on that same great journey.