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Hymn By Hymn Extra: Singing For Our Lives

I have to begin by saying that I had a lot of amazing moments yesterday in my “Great Proctors Adventure.” Proctors in Schenectady is an incredible and creatively generous arts space that brings in national tours, features music, lectures, movies, comedy, and offers space to a variety of organizations. All while being one of the… Continue reading
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STLT#403, Spirit of Truth, of Life, of Power

Programming Note: Look for a short Hymn by Hymn Extra later today. Last night, I attended a concert, honoring 50 years of folk music at the Eighth Step in Schenectady, NY. The show was – if you’re into regional and national folk – rather a star-studded event: Reggie Harris, Annie and the Crackpots, Brother Sun,… Continue reading
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STLT#402, From You I Receive

I was about to write something quick about this quick little song, and then go on with my day. I was going to write something like “how sweet and familiar this is” and something else about how some congregations accept the offering by singing this. And then I was going to add a quick note about… Continue reading
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STLT#401, Kum ba Yah (Come by Here)

One of the blessings of my seminary experience was getting to know the remarkable singer and scholar Kim Harris; she was finishing her PhD while I was getting my MDiv. She became a friend and confidant, a mom when I was going through the worst of my heart troubles, a singing partner, and at least once formally, my… Continue reading
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STLT#400, Shalom Havareem

This morning I am grateful for Google’s proximate search capabilities. You see, I typed in the title of today’s hymn, a sweet traditional Jewish round, and it corrected me in that totally not shaming way Google has, by sending me results with ‘chaverim’ instead of the more phonetic ‘havayreem’. It also presented me with a… Continue reading
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STLT#399, Vine and Fig Tree

In my last year of seminary, I and five of my most creative friends co-created and produced a Broadway revue that told the story of the book of Exodus. We began our work with Biblical preparation led by Old Testament scholar David M. Carr: not just reading and exegeting the text but also examining the… Continue reading
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STLT#398, To See the World

Programming Note: I’ve added a lovely piece from Mary Grigolia about her song I Know This Rose Will Open, from an email exchange we had, about the origins and meaning of that song. After you read this, go to that entry and check it out! — There are days in this practice when the little… Continue reading
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STLT#397, Morning Has Come

I must begin with a shout out to my friends. Y’all are something … yesterday I confess that the lyrics don’t click for me, and you all make an effort to help me get it. You explain on Facebook, and you even email the composer herself to get her take on it (and to introduce… Continue reading
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STLT#396, I Know This Rose Will Open

Lovely Update Below! Things I don’t know: I don’t know composer and colleague Mary Grigolia, although I feel like I should. I don’t know when I learned this, but it was sometime between the Louisville General Assembly (summer 2013) and the Florida Chapter UUMA retreat (spring 2015). I don’t know why I never heard it or… Continue reading
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STLT#395, Sing and Rejoice

Friends, I am running out of things to say about these little rounds. This one – another song of unknown origin – is sweet and very pretty when fully sung. Which is a sentence I have typed before and I fear will type again. You see, the thing is – the rounds themselves are good… Continue reading
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links
Learn more about my ministry at The Art of Meaning
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