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STLT#119, Once to Every Soul and Nation
From the “I never really understood it until now” department comes this hymn. Wow. This is a familiar hymn to me, with its rolling triplets and pulsing, pushing melody. The tune sits for me in the same category as “Do You Hear the People Sing” from Les Miz – strong, defiant, meant to rouse and… Continue reading
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STLT#118, This Little Light of Mine
This is traditionally a cheery piece – one of the few songs Unitarian Universalists feel comfortable clapping to. Everybody knows it and harmonizes to it and it feels sweet and simple and fun. This morning, after a Saturday full of the unreasonable ban against some of our Muslim neighbors – which, despite a stay from… Continue reading
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STLT#117, O Light of Life
This is a beautiful prayer. A needed prayer. An elegant prayer. And I am sure, in the right hands, a beautiful and elegant tune. I am not sure if it’s unfamiliarity that keeps me from accessing the melody, or just sustained high notes before coffee, but the tune doesn’t work for me in this moment.… Continue reading
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STLT#116, I’m On My Way
I don’t know where to begin with this one – while it is a joyful song of determination to sing, there are so many layers of complexity, and as a middle-aged white woman, I feel uncomfortable making any assumptions or proclamations about the things that make me go “hmm” here. So I’ll pose some questions and… Continue reading
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STLT#115, God of Grace and God of Glory
Thank all that is holy for this practice. When the world is on fire and every day is another tanker truck of kerosene, it’s easy to get lost in the flames and forget ourselves, our joys, our pleasures, our soul. The fire is meant to burn our souls away – and so practices like this… Continue reading
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STLT#114, Forward through the Ages
Blech. Seriously – it was like I had bit into a sour lemon or sipped some turned milk when I sang this. I honestly don’t know when I’ve ever had such a reaction to a song as I have sung; I’ve had lots of “um…what” and “dang, I cannot get this” moments, particularly the first… Continue reading
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STLT#113, Where Is Our Holy Church?
If ever there was a time to remind ourselves where our holy church is, it’s now. And this is just the right hymn to show us – if we allow it to. Sure, some might find the tune old and stodgy – it is, after all, an old stodgy hymn from the 1551 English psalter,… Continue reading
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STLT#112, Do You Hear?
It is two days after the incredible Women’s March – one day after many ministers, including me, took to the pulpit to talk about our faith’s all to resist and rejoice, to do what’s next. And what is so very clear is that the people at and supporting the Women’s March, and the folks sitting in the… Continue reading
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STLT#111, Life of Ages
Apologies for the delay, gentle readers – I needed to write the rest of my sermon to include reflections from the Women’s March. But it’s in that spirit that I approach today’s hymn. The tune (Vienna) for me, is neither here nor there. But these lyrics, by Samuel Johnson (a contemporary of the Longfellow brothers) are right… Continue reading
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STLT#110, Come, Children of Tomorrow
Another one of those “hymns that make you go ‘huh’.” I read the first two lines and thought “yes! A fight song! And then I read on…and found myself disappointed. You see, as soon as I hit publish, I’ll be heading out to NYC for the Women’s March, where New Yorkers will march in solidarity… Continue reading
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links
Learn more about my ministry at The Art of Meaning
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