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STLT#138, These Things Shall Be
We now enter what we might call “The New Eden” section but which we actually call “In Time To Come” – this section is very aspirational, very “kingdom of heaven.” Which, I suppose, is needed, and helpful – goodness knows Dr. King’s “I have a dream” motivated people to reach for it, to believe in… Continue reading
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Dear Nerdist: An Open Letter of Thanks
An open letter to Chris Hardwick, founder of The Nerdist and host of The Nerdist Podcast (and @midnight and The Talking Dead and who knows what else because he’s doing so much as he follows his bliss): Dear Chris, I want to thank you for the impact The Nerdist Podcast has made on me. Like… Continue reading
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STLT#137, We Utter Our Cry
I’m not sure I have much to say on this one today, short of what I muttered as I finished singing, and as poured my coffee, and I walked up the stairs to the office, and as I opened up this page: “Hmmm. Well.. okay.” I hoped for more insight from Jacqui James – but all… Continue reading
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STLT#136, Where Gentle Tides Go Rolling By
I would bet I am not the only person who has looked at the bottom of the page of a hymn, seen words like “traditional Asian melody” and flipped past. Not because we don’t appreciate music from other cultures, but because the scales are sometimes unfamiliar and the intervals are tricky for unrehearsed singers. I… Continue reading
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STLT#135, How Happy Are They
It is hard to sing this hymn and not see an indictment of the character of the person who currently occupies the White House. The person this hymn describes is the person we want as our president – strong, self-reliant, truthful, not swayed by the attractions of fame, power, and wealth. And I think about… Continue reading
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STLT#134, Our World Is One World
Until recently this has seemed rather a cheery hymn – a warm, confirming, gentle reminder of the butterfly effect. Yay, our world is one world, we’re all connected, our optimism matters. Right now, this feels largely like a warning that the Osmond Brothers were wrong, and one bad apple CAN spoil the whole bunch. I’m… Continue reading
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STLT#133, One World
Dear readers, I’m afraid I will, for the first time in this practice, completely fail you. I am on the verge of illness and I don’t know this one at all – and my feeble attempts to plunk it out on my phone’s keyboard was futile. I may come back to this one when I… Continue reading
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STLT#132, Bright Those Jewels
Here’s another hymn I might have noticed if the title wasn’t just the first few words – and one I now plan to use. One of my regular readers, Kaye, has remarked more than once that using the first line rather than the actual (or at least more meaningful) title often leads us to ignore good hymns… Continue reading
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STLT#131, Love Will Guide Us
Depending on how it’s played, I either love this hymn or hate it. There’s no inbetween. Because if it’s played square, and especially if it’s played square and slow, it’s like a zombie – dead but still going. And when the music is zombielike, the lyrics become saccharine and bitter in the mouth. But when… Continue reading
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STLT#130, O Liberating Rose
Sometimes I know what I think about a hymn before I start singing, and let the experience of singing affirm or shift those thoughts. Sometimes I don’t know, and I let the experience of singing take me somewhere, and as a result some of my posts have been more theological, or musical, or silly, or… Continue reading
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links
Learn more about my ministry at The Art of Meaning
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