Mood: Joyful
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STLT#365, Praise God
Hey, now this one is interesting. Back in the 1920s, the humanist-theist battle was already taking shape, and much the same as now, worship becomes the battleground for such controversies. Charles Lyttle, minister and professor of church history at Meadville, wrote these lyrics for a doxology “as a bridge” between the two theological factions. Praise… Continue reading
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STLT#364, Alleluia, Alleluia
WHY DON’T I KNOW MORE OF THESE PIECES? This Alleluia, by Jacques Berthier, is just gorgeous. It is spirited. It encourages harmony – something we shouldn’t be surprised by, since Jacques wrote music for the Taize community. We have more of his work in Singing the Journey, which makes me very happy. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.… Continue reading
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STLT#363, Alleluia! Sang Stars
I have no idea why I have never heard nor sung this song. It seems a shame, because it is lovely. And I’m not sure what else to say. The music, by Patrick Rickey, is a lush, rolling piece in 12/8; it’s fairly easy to sing, but just tricky enough to keep you interested. And… Continue reading
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STLT#361, Enter, Rejoice, and Come In
It is said that into every hymnal a little cheesy, catchy, happy song must fall. This one’s ours, folks. And as far as cheesy, catchy, happy songs go, well, this one covers all the bases and then some. Because in the middle of some rather average invitations – “open your ears to the song” and… Continue reading
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STLT#338, I Seek the Spirit of a Child
Welcome to Pinocchio’s favorite hymn. I can’t deny making Diana wonder what this hymn practice as actually done to my sanity, because I am sitting next to her on the couch, drinking coffee and cackling manically as I ponder why we ever doubted that children might not be real, unless we are surrounded by Geppetto’s… Continue reading
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STLT#327, Joy, Thou Goddess
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… 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#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#305, De Colores
I am really struggling today to know what to say about this song. Partly, it’s because I didn’t look ahead enough to think about interviewing colleagues Julica Hermann DelaFuente or Marisol Caballero, both of whom might have more insight into the difficulties or joys of this Mexican folk tune appearing in our hymnal – perhaps… Continue reading
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links
Learn more about my ministry at The Art of Meaning
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