Range: Moderate
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STJ#1068, Rising Green
This may be one of the most elegantly crafted songs in our hymnals. I mean no offense to other composers who read this, or to those songs that are also beloved. But there is something absolutely wondrous in this composition by Carolyn McDade. On its surface, the song is another earth based song of praise… Continue reading
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STJ#1066, O Brother Sun
Rejected intro paragraphs: This makes me think of Greg Greenway, Joe Jencks, and Pat Wictor – the members of the musical group Brother Sun. Except they’ve broken up now, and any memory I have of them has nothing to do with the song. It’s nice to have a song that’s good to call the directions with…except…wait…… Continue reading
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STJ#1065, Alabanza
From so much to say to little to say. (Which is, of course, the nature of spiritual practice.) This is a lovely tune, by Pablo Fernández Badillo, a Puerto Rican lay minister and federal judge who held various positions in the Puerto Rican government. Yet it is his time as a missionary that led to… Continue reading
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STJ#1064, Blue Boat Home
FREEBIRD! Let me explain (updated 1/22/2018): at General Assembly in Louisville in 2013, despite terrible cell reception, many attendees endeavored to live tweet the events as they unfolded. On Friday morning, we sang Blue Boat Home. Friend and colleague Hannah Roberts made a comment to her friend Meredith Lukow, who tweeted: … because like “Freebird” by… Continue reading
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STJ#1062, All Around the Child
So… I have thoughts. In no particular order: Jim Scott does like a long verse, doesn’t he? (No judgment, really, just noticing that his song make for long hymns.) It took three phrases to become a Jim Scott song, because he has a signature style – and then it’s very much a Jim Scott composition.… Continue reading
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STJ#1061, For So the Children Come
In this exciting episode: Jason Shelton did a great innovative thing and I just had to go and innovate it further. This may be one of my favorite liturgical pieces – a chorus by Jason Shelton to make new the stunning piece by Sophia Lyon Fahs that most of us use at Christmastime, often on… Continue reading
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STJ#1060, As We Sing of Hope and Joy
I am torn this morning between heartbreak and duty: my duty to myself to follow through on this spiritual practice and write something – anything – in response to the day’s singing; my heartbreak over yesterday’s death of one of my cats, a 15 year old black cat named Chelsea who was found dumpster diving… Continue reading
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STJ#1059, May Your Life Be As Song
For a long time I loved this one. I thought it was a great creative, artsy way to think about our lives. But when you sit down and really think about it – the initial metaphor, the remaining lyrics – yeah, not so much. Here are Jim Scott’s lyrics – the chorus of a longer song… Continue reading
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STJ#1058 Be Ours a Religion
I want to start with a word of gratitude for the STJ hymnal commission, who thought to include some short responses in this slim volume. It would have been easy to only include bigger songs and hymns, but they knew (probably because most of them were music directors themselves) that we needed fresh music to… Continue reading
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STJ#1057, Go Lifted Up
Lord, the days are hard. No sooner do we wrap our brains around one major news story than another one, or ten comes barreling down on us. What we need is something warm and loving and sweet. Sometimes it’s a sweet song that is just what the doctor ordered. And to be honest, there isn’t… Continue reading
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