Mood: Strong/Resilient
-
STLT#160, Far Too Long, by Fear Divided
It’s non sequitur day here on the Far Fringe – I have several utterly unrelated thoughts, so I’m just going to write them and let you make up the transitions in your head. I would love to know exactly what English pronunciations were like in previous centuries that allowed ‘sword’ to be rhymed with ‘word’… Continue reading
-
STLT#157, Step by Step the Longest March
If it seemed like I phoned it in a bit the last few days, well, you’re not wrong. The truth is, I could blame it on being sick, but mostly I blame it on my personal fears that I wouldn’t treat the freedom songs from the African American spirituals tradition well – and in fact… Continue reading
-
STLT#156, Oh, Freedom
When I started this practice, I intended to talk about what was on my mind, what the song brought up for me. As it has evolved, I have incorporated a lot of history, literary criticism, and musicology, along with my thoughts and feelings. My thought today is that this song, thought to be a response to… Continue reading
-
STLT#154, No More Auction Block for Me
Today’s post will be very short, as I have succumbed finally to the respiratory crud going around. But I do have a thing or two to say about this song, which I could not sing, physically or emotionally. First, I am glad we have a chance to see some of the less cheerful, less hopeful… Continue reading
-
STLT#149, Lift Every Voice and Sing
I once almost made a mistake with this hymn. It was spring 2011, and a small committee of Unitarian Universalists from four NY Capital Region congregations were planning our third joint service. We had moved to a new venue, which features an historic tracker organ, and we decided to do a hymn sing before the… Continue reading
-
STLT#145, As Tranquil Streams
The Matriarch hates this hymn. Every time I sing this hymn, I think of the Matriarch of the congregation I serve, a woman who is a seventh generation Universalist, whose family has served the congregation I now serve in lay and ministerial positions for nearly the entire life of the church. In fact, the Matriarch… Continue reading
-
STLT#140, Hail the Glorious Golden City
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO. Holy cow this is a terrible hymn. Technically, it’s not terrible – the tune is a favorite – Hyfrodol, made fresh by Peter Mayer in 1064, Blue Boat Home (which will get its day next January). And the lyrics in terms of rhyme and meter are just fine.… Continue reading
-
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
-
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
-
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
Support this site
I am an entrepreneurial minister, which means I am a freelancer, and every part of my income comes from the work I do. The Hymn by Hymn Project was and is a labor of love, but I now am incurring increasing costs for hosting the site.
If everyone who visited gave just $5, those costs would be covered in a single week.
Whether you give once or monthly, your generosity will keep Hymn by Hymn free and available to to the tens of thousands of people who benefit from it.
Please support the project!
links
Learn more about my ministry at The Art of Meaning
Read my thoughts about congregational life at Hold My Chalice
You must be logged in to post a comment.