When I say “Beethoven” I bet most of you think “da da da DUM” and the strikingly innovative opening to the Fifth Symphony. But for me, it’s this – Ode to Joy. I first waxed poetic about it on November 1st, noting the joy of the music and the lyrics by Henry Van Dyke. And …
I can’t write – I’m still giggling about the fact that every time I start singing this, even with lyrics in front of me, I start singing the English lyrics of A Mighty Fortress Is our God. And then getting mad when ‘in us its rivers flowing’ doesn’t rhyme with “on earth is not an …
So…. bear with me on this: today’s hymn is the Jan to yesterday’s Marcia. Everyone loves Wake Now My Senses. it’s a popular ordination hymn. It makes some of us cry. It is easy to sing and suits so many sermons. And there, on the bottom of the right hand page, tucked away so as you …
One of the joys of belonging to a congregation that’s just 20 years old is that the history is recent, and there are a lot of firsts to be part of. On May 27th of this year, there were a lot of firsts: I was co-ordained by the First Universalist Church of Southold, where I was …
I entered this morning’s hymn with trepidation; I’m familiar with it and I’ve sung it a few times, but I was a bit anxious about what is really a charming little melody, wondering whether it would be a problem the way the Austria tune can be. Between the Lines was no help really; James says …
The first time I remember knowing who Peter, Paul, and Mary were, I was about 8 and was watching my brother and his first wife singing the song “Lemon Tree.” Karen had long chestnut brown hair and a rich alto voice, and while I often associated her with another alto brunette named Karen – Karen …
I’m feeling at a bit of a loss this morning. On one hand, this is an important code song from the Underground Railroad, a warning to follow the river and keep an eye out for the friendly folk. As Walter Rhett at Black History 360 writes, “People think the song is about Moses and Exodus, …
Happy Two Hundredth Hymn-by-Hymn Post Day! Only 290 more to go. Gulp. That seems daunting, but then, holy cow, how are we 200 in already? Time does fly, friends, even through hard, dark days. Thanks to my regular, rather frequent, and occasional readers. And if you’re just discovering this today, welcome to my daily spiritual …
I’ve kind of been dreading this one, knowing the complexities inherent in both the lyrics and the tunes (and by the way, this is the first of only two times when you’ll see me cover two numbers at once – they are the same lyrics to different tunes, so it seems appropriate). But, if this practice …
What is it? What is it that sounds along the ages, that breathes from Buddha’s tree, that speaks new truth, that resounds from the eternal chime? Is it truth? Justice? Love? Spirit? Is it, as I first thought, Yes? Is it, in fact whatever it is we seek from the wisdom of humanity? What is …
I suspect most of us have flipped past this a thousand times. I suspect the combination of Hindi language, no translation, and fear of the unfamiliar keeps us away. And it’s too bad. Because not only is this a beautiful lyric, but it’s a beautiful and catchy melody. Take a listen: Isn’t that great? It’s …
The downside of this spiritual practice is that it demands attention even on days when attention is hard to give. And more often than not, it is demanding the exact kind of attention I want to hide from on that particular day. This song, written by Holly Near in the wake of the Harvey Milk …
A few short thoughts today. First, composer Joyce Poley is one of the sweetest people I have ever met and very much wrote this before we had an awareness of ableist language. But despite how sweet she is, she wrote one of the most annoying earworms we have. Sadly, it mostly gets played as an oom-pa-pa …
Today we get to the first of several pieces by Jim Scott, a prolific UU songwriter and performer. It’s interesting to me that while some of his songs are full on hymns (Gather the Spirit, The Oneness of Everything, etc.) we also get some short pieces that are the choruses of longer songs. That’s the …
Ear worm in three.. two… one…. As an American growing up in the 1970s, I learned this in elementary school, and I associated it with Vietnam War protests. This might even have been the first African American spiritual I learned, and I didn’t even know at the time it was one. In fact, I don’t …