Range: High
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STLT#199, Precious Lord, Take My Hand
I’ve been to church this mornin’. Not literally, of course, and yet… When I was in seminary, I joined the gospel choir – I was tentative at first, not only because I am white but because I am not a Christian. But I was assured that this gospel choir was indeed open to all, and… Continue reading
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STLT#195, Let Us Wander Where We Will
I like it when I have eureka moments with hymns I have never sung – those moments when I wonder “where has this song been all my life” or at the very least “wow, did I need this lyric this morning.” I am sorry to say there was no eureka today. Maybe a moment of… Continue reading
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STLT#182, O, the Beauty in a Life
I was expecting this to be a difficult song to learn – enough times, that “Irregular” at the bottom of the page signals complex rhythms and intervals. Yet once I got into it, and I felt the 9/8 rhythm (which is really a glorious 3/4), the song suddenly felt familiar, in a way that makes… Continue reading
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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
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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#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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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#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#103, For All the Saints
File this under Hymns that Make You Go ‘Huh.’ Sometimes these things begin with the ‘huh’, sometimes they begin on a joyful note and then somehow turn. I opened the hymnal and smiled because I love this one. As regular readers know, I love hymn tunes by Ralph Vaughan Williams, and this one is particularly… Continue reading
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STLT#96, I Cannot Think of Them as Dead
I fell asleep last night thinking about the questions about end of life stuff that my sister raised about one of my cats, who is about to have major surgery to remove a malignant tumor (Shea is with her, five hours away, so I won’t be there the day of surgery if things go awry). In… Continue reading
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links
Learn more about my ministry at The Art of Meaning
Read my thoughts about congregational life at Hold My Chalice
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