Family Hymn Sing

Here is another of the Getty Family Hymn Sings, this one with the added pleasure of Sandra McCracken and Tim Nicholson. It is a simple porch singalong, not a concert, though the musicians have certainly performed in front of large audiences.

Getty Hymn Sing

The comments below the video are almost as enjoyable as the music. People from all over the world are blessed and encouraged by these sings.

It is fun to see and hear three of the Getty little girls join in, though one of them gets past her bedtime...

Someone does persuade her off-camera eventually. Maybe they will move the rocking chair before the next porch sing. 

Joy in the Journey

There is a joy in the journey.

There’s a light we can love on the way.

There is a wonder and wildness to life,

And freedom for those who obey.

All those who seek it shall find it;

A pardon for all who believe,

Hope for the hopeless and sight for the blind.

To all who’ve been born of the Spirit,

And who share incarnation with Him,

Who belong to eternity, stranded in time, 

And weary of struggling with sin.

Forget not the hope that’s before you, 

And never stop counting the cost,

Remember the hopelessness when you were lost?

Joy in the Journey - Michael Card

Wonderful poet, deep-thinking theologian, and gifted musician. All those terms describe Michael Card. The link above is to a live performance with just Michael, the piano, and a cellist. So beautiful! 

I remember sweeping a house in Decatur while waltzing to this music, truly feeling “a wonder and wildness to life.” Our little church plant met in that house, and we were preparing for a wedding. It was around 1989, and the song was new to me then. Different phrases have been more meaningful at different seasons. Sometimes “who belong to eternity, stranded in time, and weary of struggling with sin” resonates the most. (“That’s right, I don’t quite belong here...”) Other times I need to be reminded to press on - “Forget not the hope that’s before you.” It is all a journey, and there is always joy in some measure.

My Shepherd Will Supply My Need

My Shepherd Will Supply My Need - Thompson

Click the link above to enjoy one of the loveliest choral arrangements ever. The Washington Cathedral Choir does a wonderful job with it, though no one could match Ross Magoulas conducting the Berry Singers back in the day. Magoo (our nickname for him) would vary the tempo of the verses in a way that gave the song more energy.

Mack Wilberg has a lush, beautiful arrangement of the same words and basic tune. Enjoy this performance by the Baylor A Cappella Choir conducted by my conducting mentor, Alan Raines.

My Shepherd Will Supply My Need - Wilberg

No one conducts singers better than Alan Raines at his best. We sang this song at a tour through Finland, Estonia, and Russia just as I completed my Master’s in Choral Conducting at Georgia State University in 2004. Dr. Raines asked me to play flute while Katie Baughman played the violin. Mostly due to my lack of technique as a flutist, as well as having an instrument in need of an overhaul, I felt the flute was too shrill and pitchy to work well with the violin. I ended up playing the Yamaha recorder that I always kept in my flute case. It just worked better.

Katie Baughman has gone on to earn a PhD in voice and is now a cantor at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception as well as having done a stint in the Army as one of the Singing Sergeants. Well done, Katie!

My trip down memory lane with this song was actually a distraction. Music can be that way sometimes. The text came to mind as I was out walking today. These are sobering, sad times. No choirs are singing, much less performing international tours. Parents of school-aged children are being asked to make decisions based on the shifting sand of scientific recommendations. Our politics have gotten so toxic that the average person is rightfully suspicious of anything that comes out of the mouth of an elected official.

I started Life Without Lack by Dallas Willard right about the time the pandemic struck the US. I’m going slowly, savoring every sentence. It is a study of the 23rd Psalm, which the above songs are based on. What do we mean when we say “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want?” It means that in God we have everything we need; we can truly live a life without lack. We don’t need assurances about how and when things will be more normal, he is our shepherd. He’s got it. We are already part of his flock, his kingdom, and that will not be shaken, even by death.

I need to spend more time in that book.

Home

We are nearing the end of a 14 day quarantine after being exposed to Covid. Sunday is a little too close for me to sit inside a room with other folks. The sanctuary is capacious, but I want to be a few days past the minimum to safely be with others.

I’ll miss hearing our friend Michael Boyd sing special music “I Need Thee Every Hour.” I don’t have a recording of him singing, but I did write about the song a few weeks ago. You can read background and listen to some recordings Here.

Psalm 13

Psalm 13 is the text of my pastor’s sermon this week.

In searching for a song that would go with that text, I came across this gem.

Psalm 13 - Alisa Turner

I had never heard of Alisa Turner. She has had many opportunities to lament in her life - the loss of her father at a young age, a debilitating illness, and the tragic loss of a baby who lived little more than an hour after his birth.

Alisa reveals her psalmist‘s heart as quoted in “The Heartbreaking, Hopeful Story of Alisa Turner”

“I think the Lord created me this way, drawn in by the emotion that comes with music,” she says. “When I sit down at the piano, He always uses it to draw me back, to awaken the dreamer, and I always leave different than when I came. I leave different knowing He sees me, He is with me, He is my hope.”


If all goes as planned, a little group of us will gather at Sardis UMC in the Chastain Park neighborhood of Atlanta on Sunday, June 28, for the first in-person worship service in almost four months.

We will sit outside, and instead of leading singing I’ll use my trusty iPhone to play music. Three of the four songs are ones I picked that  blessed and encouraged me as I blogged about music during the fifty days of Easter. You can find out more about them by checking on the links below.

O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing

Jesus Paid It All

Way Maker

Silence

Much of great music is silence - knowing when to rest.

Many scriptures are instructions to be quiet, to “be still and know that I am God,” yet we tend to rush past them.

Some years ago I found myself drawn more and more to Christian traditions of quiet and listening and began to take steps to slow life down a bit. It has been an uneven process. 

Ken and I are taking an Emotionally Healthy Spirituality course with a couple of old friends. Taking intentional time to listen to God is part of the course. Watching this video is a suggested part.

https://youtu.be/e5_vOr6mPCA

I loved it. It was such a relief to not have to listen to a sound track while watching a video! Christians have a bad habit of using sentimental chord progressions to manipulate emotions. There, I said it. It is kinder to say that the music sets a mood, but chord progressions - the order of the chords - can evoke a response in many people.  Play certain chords with a particular backbeat and watch a room full of people raise their hands. Play another set of chords and watch them bow their heads. Play music under the pastor giving an invitation to ...give it emotional emphasis? (I’ve never understood that one, but it is the constant habit in some churches.)

Music is a very effective way to move a service along. I say with complete sincerity that almost anyone in the church can step in and do my job of song leading on Sunday morning, many people can preach a sermon if the pastor needs to be out, but it is a complicated thing to replace our pianist/organist. The music cues the congregation to stand, sit, return from the congregational greeting, open their wallets at offertory...and we don’t have nearly as music-driven a service as many churches. A smooth wedding ceremony is usually due to musicians paying attention to the flow of the service and pastors paying attention to the musicians. 

But I digress. Silence is a wonderful thing, if you can find it. It is worth seeking out.

Pentecost!

We made it!

Fifty days of Easter, not quite fifty songs unless we count Holy Week.

We cap off this liturgical journey with a hymn more suited to Ascension Day than Pentecost, but it leaves us with a joyous picture of the Lamb upon his throne, suffering over, victory complete.

Crown Him With Many Crowns - Norton Hall Band

Crown Him With Many Crowns - Westminster Abbey

The first selection is performed by a joyous group of young people associated with Southern Seminary, the second is from a Commonwealth Day service in 2017.

The body of Christ is truly the most diverse, beautiful community in the world. You don’t have to look hard to see it, it cannot help being what it is.

My exercise in (almost) daily blogging is complete for now, but I’ve enjoyed it, learned from it, and will now switch over to blogging on an occasional basis. Thanks for reading and listening!