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STLT#315, This Old World
Am I the only one who sees the first line of this song and thinks of “Man of Constant Sorrow” from O Brother, Where Are Thou? Really? It’s just me? Can’t be. Anyway… this is another one I have never sung, and likely never would have chosen because it’s got a title “This Old World” and is… Continue reading
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STLT#314, We Are Children of the Earth
I’ve been sitting here trying to troubleshoot a problem with the site in an attempt to avoid writing about today’s hymn. But I know I must, so here goes. I have problems with this hymn. Not because it’s set to an unfamiliar tune by noted Vietnamese composer Nguyễn Đức Toàn. (We also have from him… Continue reading
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STLT#313, O What a Piece of Work Are We
This hymn knocks me out. Frequent readers know I am a theist, with a sense of the Divine that is creator and creating. And what a creation we are! How wondrous is the human mind and its infinite capacity! That we are able to learn and explore and think new things, that we are adaptive… Continue reading
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STLT#312, Here on the Paths of Every Day
Mitch Miller (remember him?) included this parody of “Stars and Stripes Forever” on one of his Sing Along with Mitch albums: Be kind to your web footed friends, For a duck may be somebody’s mother Be kind to your friends in the swamp Where the weather is very, very damp You may think that this… Continue reading
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STLT#311, Let It Be a Dance
The first rule of Let It Be a Dance is that it is a mostly-spoken-word folk song. The second rule of Let It Be a Dance is that it is a mostly-spoken-word folk song. The third rule of Let It Be a Dance is that it if you’re going to use it, it’s really only… Continue reading
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STLT#310, The Earth Is Home
I don’t think I’m awake enough yet. I’ve been puzzled by hymns before, but I’m not sure I’ve been baffled by them. I swear, I am sitting here, having actually tried to sing this and wondering what just happened and can I get those five minutes back, please. I know you’ve all come to expect… Continue reading
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STLT#309, Earth Is Our Homeland
Now THIS is a humanist hymn I can get behind. What a glorious celebration of that creating, created, creative spark within each of us that is greater than the sum of us and that in the living evokes Mystery. Earth is our homeland: a song of stars, a grace wrought of the ages, an opal… Continue reading
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STLT#308, The Blessings of the Earth and Sky
One of the advantages of doing this practice is that I’m beginning to know more hymn tunes by name. I flipped to the page this morning, thought “I don’t know this one” and the looked to the bottom, saw the tune was Mach’s Mit Mir, Gott (which we last sang only last week in With Heart… Continue reading
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STLT#307, The Human Touch Can Light the Flame
Sometimes I sing a hymn and I think “it’s a fine hymn, but when would I ever use it?” (See the end for an important edit) It’s a fine hymn. Another solid lyric by our friend, English Unitarian minister John Andrew Storey – a song of welcome, for sure, and a song of community and connection. And… Continue reading
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STLT#306, Sing of Living, Sing of Dying
This was rather unexpected. I’ve never sung this one before – lyrics are by Thomas Mikelson, who wrote the magnificent lyrics to Wake Now My Senses and was my home congregation’s first interim minister. The tune is by another colleague, Fred Wooden, whose generosity means a few of his books (pictured) are now in my… Continue reading
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links
Learn more about my ministry at The Art of Meaning
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