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This week's Song for Sunday is a hymn that takes as back to the original meaning of Thanksgiving, back to before the pilgrims, to the idea of giving thanks for the harvest. In England, they called it "Harvest Home." It was a civic, not a religious holiday, though many took the time to acknowledge God as provider.
We tend to focus on the pilgrim's and think of theirs as the "first" thanksgiving, but many cultures have harvest celebrations. It's even in the Bible. Our American holiday has become a reminder of our shameful historical and current treatment of Native Americans who, like all of us, deserve justice, consideration, and respect. And perhaps it should be. There is work to be done there.
But that also shouldn't take away from thanking and acknowledging God. Or simply being grateful that we have enough.
This song by Plumb is a reminder that faith and Christian life isn't all happiness and light. There are struggles, failures and difficulties. We all get sunshine, we all get rain. Faith doesn't protect us from the bad stuff. It was never meant to.
I cam across this song last week in the midst of a spiritual struggle. It helped a lot. I hope it can be of help to others.
We sang this hymn in church this morning. It was written by Mary Susanne Edgar as a Sunday School Hymn, but is now very suitable for adult worship. The link I am posting to involves a Children's Choir, however.
The verse that struck me was:
Like the arching of the heavens lift my thoughts above, turn my dreams to noble action: ministries of love.
Time to stop procrastinating on some things, I guess.
Anyway, enjoy a moment of worship with this beautiful song and have a blessed Sunday.
I had been participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge and trying to revitalize this blog with a temporary theme of "Beginnings". Then a perfect storm of responsibilities, family needs and the like hit and this project took a back seat. But now I am trying to be back.
I heard this hymn for the first time yesterday at a funeral. It had been chosen by the deceased for use at her memorial service. It touched me. It also fits where I am now, so it becomes today's Song for Sunday. May it inspire you!
We sang a version of this song in worship this morning, and it resonated. I sang it a lot with Bible study groups in college, so memory plays a part. Also, it seems like a good reminder.
So, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus - an updated version --becomes today's Song for Sunday. May it be an encouragement to you.
What songs are resonating with you?
What songs help you worship?
I am participating on the October 2017 Ultimate Blog Challenge. A blog post every day in October. #blogboost
It feels like Fall!! Even though the official start of autumn was nine days ago, it's felt more like summer here in my little corner of New England. Until yesterday. Now we have refreshingly cool temperatures in the day and need blankets at night to be comfortable. Soon the leaves will be brilliant colors. The season inspired today's Song for Sunday. So, in honor of Fall -- Autumn, from Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Enjoy!
Today is also a beginning, as I am embarking on the October 2017 Ultimate Blog Challenge. A blog post every day in October. #blogboost
I always thought of this as a nostalgic song. It sort of is, but I guess my knowledge of the lyrics didn't go beyond the chorus.I always thought of it as a happy song.
Yesterday, I heard this played by a band at an Out of the Darkness Rally/Fundraiser to prevent suicide. The lyrics really are sad. I did some research, and learned that Terry Jacks actually wrote this about a friend dying of cancer and saying good-bye to a friend, his father, and his daughter. However, it was based on a French song, le Moribund, which was basically a suicide note, though not from the author, rather from a charchter.
The French song:
Jacques Brels version .. le Moriband.. the original of Seasons in the Sun Translated from French into English
Good-bye, my wife, I loved you well
Good-bye, my wife, I loved you well, you know,
But I'm taking the train for the Good Lord,
I'm taking the train before yours
But you take whatever train you can;
Goodbye, my wife, I'm going to die,
It's hard to die in springtime, you know,
But I'm leaving for the flowers with my eyes closed, my wife,
Because I closed them so often,
I know you will take care of my soul.
Even though Seasons in the Sun is not about suicide, it has a tone that fits with suicide prevention. A few facts a gathered from my brief stop at the rally.
90% of people who commit suicide have a diagnosable and treatable mental illness at the time of their death. Five to 10% of suicides take place in mental hospitals.
First responders have a suicide rate four times that of the general population, but there is no funding for programs to help
Older adults have the highest suicide rates, more than 50% higher than young people
Good mental health care would be the best suicide prevention. Something to work for.
Here's today's Song for Sunday. May it lead you to prayer for the suicidal and the dying.
I heard this old Bob Dylan song while listening to a local jazz band on the steps of our library. Summer jazz on the library plaza is a great feature of my town.
It's message is a good one.
Who am I serving? A good thing to keep a check on.
Do I really want it to be God? Attitude plays a big role in service (and worship!)
How can I serve God best? Examining my life and working to improve.
But it is also a good song. So be inspired by it or just enjoy it.
Today's Song for Sunday is just for fun. I am posting it because it's Billy Joel.
The other day, Billy Joel was local and I didn't get to go. A friend had two extra tickets for sale, but I didn't bite at his post -- figured it would be too expensive and I wouldn't have anyone to go with me. Maybe I should have gone for it anyway. I've never been to a live Billy Joel concert.
Also -- and this has only to do with the title. My goddaughter started college (more beginnings) and moved out of her house yesterday. My son's turn will be coming soon. *sigh*
Song for Sunday is back!! And I'm going with Billy Joel, cause I just love his music. You know the lyrics to a few of his songs are a bit iffy, but he's got some others that are just amazing. Not quite sure where this one falls.
The song is sung by Billy, probably in character. He sings as a "downtown man" or "backstreet boy" going for an "uptown girl." A snippet:
I'm gonna try for an uptown girlShe's been living in her white bread worldAs long as anyone with hot blood canAnd now she's looking for a downtown manThat's what I am
As I listen to this song, I think of a brash man, driving a motorcycle, in a leather jacket. He's loud, he drinks too much, he might do drugs. A bad boy.
Going for a pretty, well dressed rich girl. A girl who's been good, but wants to sow wild oats, maybe get at her parents.
I suppose I am partially influenced by a novel I have been reading in which a boy form a "trashy trailer park" falls for a girl from the other side of the tracks after they reconnect at meetings for recovering addicts. She uses him to get at her rich father. Eventually the boy discovers she is not really interested and kills her, goes to prison, meets Christ, get executed, yada, yada.
But what makes me think a backstreet boy is "bad" and an uptown girl is "good"? Good and bad folks live on both sides of the tracks, right? I mean, it's silly to think otherwise. But many of us do. Inherent bias, reinforced by years of media images and social conditioning.
I am reading the book Waking Up White and attended a workshop by the author, Debby Irving. These resources have helped me begin to see more deeply into my own biases and the way they were formed.
So, I see Billy Joel's song Uptown Girl in a new light. Still enjoy the music though. Here's a link for you?
This second Sunday in Advent, according to my church’s liturgy for the advent wreath, is the Sunday of Peace.
In our world right now, peace is hard to find. There is war. There are people slinging names at each other across political divides, there are people doing violence to others because they are different.
Part of the Christmas message, though, is peace. A peace granted by God to all of us because His favor rests on us. Simple as that.
An ultimate peace will be found when Christ returns and His Kingdom is fully realized. May it be soon.
In the meantime, let us wish each other peace. Not just in words, but in action. Not just to fellow Christians but to everyone.
That’s why I Wish You Peace by the Eagles is today’s Song for Sunday, Here;s a link for you to enjoy.
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.
O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life. It's a translation, so some versions are a bit different.
On this fifteenth anniversary of a national tragedy -- an attack on the nation-- how can we promote peace? How can we be channels of God's love and mercy?
The prayer offers thoughts on this for big national situations, small personal ones, and all in between.
Let us make it our prayer.
I danced to this with my young cousin in church today. We choreographed it ourselves, and danced it as a worship offering --"special music."
It's today's Song for Sunday, because these lyrics caught my attention.
Bring your brokenness and I'll bring mine 'Cause love can heal what hurt divides and mercy's waiting on the other side, If we're honest.....if we're honest.
They seem apropos to a few situations I'm involved in just now.
So early last week, especially during the full moon, a line kept coming to my mind: "The moon shines full at His command and all the stars obey." I knew it was from a hymn, but didn't recall which one or any other of the lyrics.
Today at worship we sang Isaac Watts hymn. "I Sing the Mighty Power of God" and the line was there. So that hymn became today's Song for Sunday. It is a wonderful hymn, reminding us of God's sovereignty.
I had a hard time with deciding what song to use for today's post.
It's been a week since the horrible attack at Pulse in Orlando and I haven't written a thing about that here. Not that it hasn't been in my prayers and on my mind! It has. It's just... what do you say? There are really are no words that would give comfort. And repeating what's been said after each incident begins to sound hollow.
It's Father's Day. My father has been in Heaven since 1995 and I would like to make a fitting tribute to him. He was a man of compassion who was always willing to lend a hand. A nod, too, to my husband, who loves our son dearly.
Then a young friend from CYC posted this on Facebook:
Happy Father's Day to the only ONE who will never leave me or forsake me!A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, Is God in His holy habitation. God makes a home for the lonely; He leads out the prisoners into prosperity, Only the rebellious dwell in a parched land.” Psalms 68:5-6
A reminder that God is Father.
Putting it altogether and mulling it over, I found myself recalling this old song. I first encountered at a high school revue, when a friend sang it. It was a real favorite, and a prayer of mine, for a few years.
Now, I share it with you. Praying that God will let us "find the good in things, when no good can be found" and will "find the source of help when no help is around." It seems like that good and helo are far away when there is --yet another -- mass shooting.
Also, that I will have my father's eyes. And my Father's eyes. Thankfully, they aren't too much different.
I am planning an escape room for my youth group tonight.
Also, my family is planning to watch "The Great Escape"
So, I thought a song with an escape theme would be good for Today's Song for Sunday.
This Enrique Iglesias song has lyrics that remind me that we can't escape God's love, no matter what we do or how we try to hide. I don't know if Mr. Iglesias meant it that way, in fact I am thinking not, but that's where I am at.
Hope you enjoy this link!!
Want to escape your routine this summer? Teens come to the Christian Youth Conference at Ocean Park this August. It's two weeks of God, friends and fun -- on the beach. What's not to love?
My most interesting uncle --actually a grand uncle -- passed away this morning at the age of 93 after a long full life
What made him so interesting? His stories. Often humorous, they dealt with his life working, often overseas, for the phone company, his other travels, and his stint as a chauffeur and household assistant.
That was for a famous cellist, Mstislav Rostropovich. Here the Maestro, as Uncle Clay called him, plays Bach's Prelude for Cello Suite #1. Uncle Clay wasn't particularly a classical music enthusiast, but I post this in his honor, a nod to his varied and interesting life. He'd probably laugh.
