Range: Moderate
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STLT#321, Here in the Flesh
Let me start off by saying I feel significantly better today, with just a leftover fog from the meds and sleeping a lot. Phew – what a weird siege that was. Yet even a clearer head and lack of pain won’t help me today. Let me say for the record that I am glad we have… Continue reading
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STLT#320, The Pen Is Greater
I wish… I wish I felt better so I could really dig into this hymn. I wish I had looked ahead and scheduled a Hymn-by-Hymn conversation with Suzanne Fast about this hymn. I’ll just say that having had a conversation with Suzanne at General Assembly, I now understand how difficult this embracing our bodies without… Continue reading
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STLT#319, Ye Earthborn Children of a Star
I’m not sure if it’s the muscle relaxers and anti-viral meds I’m on because of a weird virus that hit me late last week, or Charlottesville, or something else, but I just can’t grok this hymn this morning. I don’t get the tune (by Dede Duson, commissioned for this hymnal), and while I intellectually understand… Continue reading
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STLT#318, We Would Be One
If this spiritual practice (and yes, I still consider it a spiritual practice first and foremost) has taught me anything, it’s taught me that we are an aspirational faith. Even those hymns which were once cutting edge and are now problematic show us the truth of our assertion that revelation is not sealed – as… Continue reading
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STLT#317, We Are Not Our Own
Before I dive into the hymn, a few words about Charlottesville, since my only pulpit today is this one: I am certain I don’t have anything to say that hasn’t been said more publicly and eloquently by colleagues, friends, and admired public figures. But I too must proclaim this as loudly as possible, because we… Continue reading
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STLT#316, Tradition Held Fast
The last thing I want to do is write a blog post about a song entitled “tradition held fast” on the morning after a spontaneous alt-right march encircled a church where friends and colleagues were praying in preparation for today’s hate-filled rally in Charlottesville. The march – complete with torches (but no hoods – hate is… 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#312, Here on the Paths of Every Day
Mitch Miller (remember him?) included this parody of “Stars and Stripes Forever” on one of his Sing Along with Mitch albums: Be kind to your web footed friends, For a duck may be somebody’s mother Be kind to your friends in the swamp Where the weather is very, very damp You may think that this… Continue reading
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STLT#311, Let It Be a Dance
The first rule of Let It Be a Dance is that it is a mostly-spoken-word folk song. The second rule of Let It Be a Dance is that it is a mostly-spoken-word folk song. The third rule of Let It Be a Dance is that it if you’re going to use it, it’s really only… Continue reading
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STLT#310, The Earth Is Home
I don’t think I’m awake enough yet. I’ve been puzzled by hymns before, but I’m not sure I’ve been baffled by them. I swear, I am sitting here, having actually tried to sing this and wondering what just happened and can I get those five minutes back, please. I know you’ve all come to expect… 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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