Settler words&music in S'ólh Téméxw, (leanpub.com/upsun) living where privilege meets precarity in MST country. she/her/they———– Novels: Midnite Moving Co., Upsun; Sweep Off Those Waves coming soon, Hair Sinister after that. —Restore All Indigenous Lands!
Physio kicked my ass this morning. My flexibility was deemed excellent and worthy of comment, but my lack of strength was considered troubling. Of course. At least I am well enough to start swimming again.
I am showing the cafe tonight, or so I fondly hope, wish me luck.
Keith dropped by last night, it was lovely to see him.
400 words on T4A yesterday.
I picked some organic carrots for snax…. they were yummy. It’s amazing how fast those suckers disappear when they are so slender and fresh.
sigh. I do know I must be at church for the next three weekends. And I’m doing aesthetics in there.
The NFL former players are not getting a big payout for the hits they took…
And here’s the documentary Jeff and I watched, shaking our heads almost the whole time. Tragic, and so stupid! The flower of American young men broken and discarded like trash….
Cooked up a standing rib roast for Jeff, Rob, Tom and Peggy last night; the taters were an extremely well received new red-skinned potatoes, quartered and dredged in salt, rosemary and garlic and roasted and I also made steamed carrots and the usual corn and peas. Peggy brought HOME MADE PUNKIN PIE X 2 may she be worshipped and adored forever and ever, AND whipped cream, and whipped the cream TOO. OM NOM NOMMITY. Rob brought a blueberry pie, which I am, like an evil, evil crathur, contemplating for brekkie.
Reviewed the birds’ eye maple which will be used in Tom’s custom guitar (it’s a good thing, and will be a pretty thing). Once the guitar is made he will be playing a lot more.
Job interview went well. I am now hoping my former boss will get back to me via LinkedIn with his phone number so I can get a proper reference.
Life proceeds!
Wish me luck. I am very happy to have an interview for which I have neither to go downtown nor cross a bridge. It’s a good job, temporary, for a good company.
Criterion Collection of Kramer’s It’s a mad mad mad mad world. I bet mOm and pOp like this news.
I am hopeful to at least get sent to an interview this week. In the meantime, I have completed and frozen the turkey soup, which is more like turkey stew, and now must repair the damage to the kitchen – a twenty pound turkey carcase leaves a greasy trail.
Landlord was unhelpful. I must now wait another month. Oh well. Those that burn their arses must sit on the blisters.
New Game of Thrones Mashup. I did laugh quite immoderately.
Good news first, I have been asked to come in and talk to a recruiter this afternoon. This is the closest I’ve gotten to genuine job hunting activity in months so I am obviously thrilled.
Bad news. I’ve lowered the price and still can’t get anybody interested in the cafe; I will have to break the lease. HEAVY HEAVY SIGH.
Tarot for Atheists, a couple of hundred words’ worth of progress.
Turkey soup is on the stove – I will adjust seasoning shortly and then start freezing it in containers. Jeff can’t stand the smell of the bones, and has no idea how this sentence would have ended if I hadn’t backspaced over it.
Replaced cpap machine with one that smells a little less disgusting. I must make a purchase decision within 2 weeks.
Completed writing down a song, converted it to midi and fired it off to mOm. I only have another hundred songs to write out. It really IS the Song That Never Ends.
Herewith today’s linkorama:
This guy and guys like him are why I make no further efforts to date.
If you rape a girl and leave her naked outside in freezing weather, and you work for your family’s restaurant, and your local prosecutor despite eyewitnesses and video refuses to prosecute, and then the whole town turns on the rape victim and burns her house down, well, the internet just might give bad reviews to your restaurant.
Fresh roast turkey, peas, corn, mashed potatoes and brussels sprouts. Katie and Paul have left for work and home respectively (Katie’s crashing at her dad’s no details available…) and Keith is still here.
There are 317 readings in the UU hymnal, designed to provide words of wisdom, comfort, exhortation, prophecy and joy apposite to the occasions which present themselves at church. Which, candidly, is a panoply of human life.
Sticklers notice: I will be using UU and Unitarian interchangeably. It’s inaccurate and kicks church history in tender parts, but ainsi soit-il.
As a lengthy aside, I purchased a copy of the hymnal and gave it to my cheerfully atheist mOm, as she is the designated driver and provider of editorial content for the crafty circle of elderwomen she remains connected to at the retirement home (which was the last home of her mother-in-law). (My folks are still, praise evidence based medicine & competent ambulance attendants, in their own home.) As such she must occasionally find words for occasions, and I thought I’d minister to her by providing her with some very nice quotations. I also wanted her to be able to find lyrics and words to follow along from Orders of Service I provided her with from time to time when I delivered homilies (see list to the left).
Although she has declared herself permanently disinclined to religiosity, however friendly a face it may present to atheism, I keep hoping that she’ll wake up one morning and declare for Unitarianism, like 16th century Hungary. (I must hasten to add that my mOm is not as big as Hungary, although she contains multitudes). Given that my pOp blew out of the Anglican church the day he was confirmed – to make his mother happy, may she rest in the comfort of Denny’s presence for all eternity in a specially constructed atheist heaven – I can only imagine my father attending church after a stroke which destroyed both frontal lobes, his hearing and his taste buds, and at this point my imagination reels at the prospect of my mother ever darkening a church door in Victoria unless I was presenting.
I’m sure she’ll quirk an eyebrow when she reads that, but I’ve tried not to be a pest in my conversion attempts and she’s been very patient with me.
Aside aside, the hymnal is full of great quotes. Roughly half of them were written by Unitarians, and the rest come from an array of holy books, atheists, agnostics, pagans, Christians and poets. It is a collection of words useful when depth of emotion overwhelms our capacity to frame a spoken response, or when we’re feeling lazy.
Unitarianism is a religion which has dodged liturgy, ducked canon, rejected creed and flattened hierarchy for so long that it has come to be defined (by outsiders) as offering a kind of nebbish-y nebulous feelgood question-of-sin-dodging heathenism, mocking Christianity with its vintage Orders of Service but spitting on Jesus and trampling the Bible underfoot in the ultimate glorification of apostasy. Neither of which we do. We revere Jesus and continue to draw both comfort and sermon ideas from the Bible. We do not worship Jesus or take the Bible literally. Right there we sacrifice the right to call ourselves Christians, but I guess it’s legit if we call ourselves Protestants, cause we’re still protesting everything we can. As we are able.
I prefer to think of Unitarianism as being evidence based religion. Yeah, I know, it sounds like a contradiction in terms, but I think I can at least provoke some discussion on the matter.
In the course of human events, and rather earlier than everybody else, Unitarians became convinced that black people (and other POCs) and women were persons, which meant that they had to change the organization to accommodate them as full members, and anoint them as worthy of the ministry. So it was that the first woman ordained in the US, the highly remarkable Olympia Brown, was ordained in 1863 (probably not coincidentally during the budding of the women’s rights movement coexistent with abolitionism during the Civil War) and so it was that one of the charter members of the Gloucester MA church was a free black man. (No date available at press time, but it was at least 50 years before the Civil War.)
How long did it take science to catch up? Cheezy Pete, check out the UNESCO declaration. Whoopsy, the scientists gathered themselves up after the carnage and frenzy and sacrifice and heroism of WWII to declare race to have no scientific basis. (Whether women are human beings remains an open question on sizable chunks of this old world. Count me as a believer.)
Unitarians had thrown their hearts over THAT fence more than a century earlier, even if we’ve done a shitty job of being integrated since (and that will be ANOTHER rant). So when I say that Unitarians are an evidence based religion, it’s to say that we came to a decision, as an organization, that we can’t fear science any more than we fear the light of the sun or the silence of our sanctuary. (We can always bring sunscreen and wear headphones). We WILL KEEP THROWING OUR HEARTS OVER THAT FENCE. And science, sapientia, Sophia, will keep catching up with us, and showing that when we love, when we work for justice, when we instill inquiry and lovingkindness in our children, when we speak truth to power, science will come along and provide evidence, and tools, and confirmation, even it comes later. We trust the dawning future because it’s always been there for us. Always. That’s what being in the vanguard of religion means. The past is awesome and we love poking around in it but children are starving now, and we look to a future in which that can be made impossible.
When Montreal congregations put themselves at hideous risk by providing contraception and abortion information to women in the 60s, it was before the laws changed. When Unitarians put themselves at hideous risk hiding fleeing slaves, it was before the laws changed. And the laws changed in part because of us, because AT EVERY STAGE of liberalization of laws regarding human rights, in both the US and Canada, Unitarians have been in there preaching, marching, organizing, lobbying and in general kicking ass, taking names, and staying up late putting stamps on newsletters.
Thank you for your patience thus far. Back to the hymnal.
The readings are divided into groups, roughly, words which are plug and play with the Order of Service, words apt to or from our Living Tradition, and words for special occasions. There’s everybody from Maya Angelou to Israel Zangwill in there.
Here begins the drunkard’s walk. In most cases the quote will be a partial one from the reading, just for flavour, and also to maintain some kind of distance in terms of legal right to reprint. I can quote for commentary but just dumping the whole reading is disrespectful.
Reading 420, Annie Dillard: We are here to abet creation and to witness to it.
Tangential comment: Annie Dillard is one of the most amazing writers in the English language. The fact that she quoted Dorothy Dunnett in one of her works will be amusing to at least one of my blog readers.
Reading 429, William F. Schultz: Come into this place of peace and let its silence heal your spirit.
Reading 435, Kathleen McTigue: We come together this morning to remind one another to rest for a moment on the forming edge of our lives.
The line “the forming edge of our lives” hits that sweet spot of brevity, accuracy and power which characterizes many of my favourite readings from the hymnal.
Reading 440, Phillip Hewett (minister emeritus of UCV and one of the finest theologians and preachers of our faith in Canada and whose participation in Rev Thorne’s Rite of Ordination was one of the high points…): Let us labor in hope for the dawning of a new day without hatred, violence, and injustice.
Amen, venerable Phillip. (This is a joke which someone who attended the Ordination might find amusing).
Reading 441, Jacob Trapp (I’d provide a link regarding this remarkable UU preacher but the best one goes to a PDF of his eulogy): Worship is kindred fire within our hearts; it moves through deeds of kindness and through acts of love.
Reading 447, Albert Schweitzer (who likely doesn’t need an introduction): At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person.
I think this reading, which is for the chalice lighting at the commencement of the service, for the annunciation of sacred space, is part of Beacon’s DNA.
Reading 457, Edward Everett Hale. This I think may be Peggy’s favourite reading from the hymnal, I could be wrong. It sure is one of mine. I quote it in its entirety: I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.
Reading 462, Paul Robeson: The song of freedom must prevail.
Reading 463, Adrienne Rich: My heart is moved by all I cannot save.
Reading 470, Leonard Mason: We affirm a continuing hope that out of every tragedy the spirits of individuals shall rise to build a better world.
Reading 471, L. Griswold Williams: Love is the doctrine of this church, the quest of truth is its sacrament, and service is its prayer.
What admirable concision.
Reading 477, Vivian Pomeroy: Forbid that we should feel superior to others when we are only more shielded, and may we encourage the secret struggle of every person.
Reading 483, Wendell Berry, who should need no introduction unless you’ve been hiding in a hedge these last 30 years: I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief.
Reading 543, Greta Crosby (a Unitarian minister): Winter is a table set with ice and starlight.
Reading 492, W.E.B. Du Bois, quoted in its entirety: The prayer of our souls is a petition for persistence; not for the one good deed, or single thought, but deed on deed, and thought on thought, until day calling unto day shall make a life worth living.
Reading 496, Harry Meserve: From arrogance, pompousness, and from thinking ourselves more important than we are, may some saving sense of humor liberate us.
Hey, I do what I can.
Reading 504, e.e. cummings: i thank You God for this most amazing/day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees and a blue true dream of sky, and for everything which is natural which is infinite which is yes
Long term Beacon members will remember Rev Ev using this often in services, and how wonderful that was, his delivery always being a support to the meaning….
Reading 526, Inuit Shaman Uvavnuk: The sky and the strong wind have moved the spirit inside me till I am carried away trembling with joy.
Reading 530, Robert T. Weston: Out of the stars we have come, up from time.
Reading 557, David H. Eaton: Our destiny: from unknown to unknown. May we have the faith to accept this mystery and build upon its everlasting truth.
Reading 560, Dorothy Day: No one has a right to sit down and feel hopeless. There’s too much work to do.
Reading 561, Margaret Mead: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it’s the only thing that ever has. (I recollect Peggy has this up on the wall in her house.)
Reading 566, Francis David adapted by Richard Fewkes: Sanctified reason is the lantern of faith.
Reading 579, Frederick Douglass: The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.
Reading 592, William Ellery Channing (my all time fave historical Unitarian even if he was a well intentioned racist – hey, we all have our cognitive cross to bear): I call that mind free which sets no bounds to its love, which, wherever they are seen, delights in virtue and sympathizes with suffering.
Also Reading 652: The great end in religious instruction is not to stamp our minds upon the young, but to stir up their own.
Reading 603, Lao-Tse: And whether we dispassionately see to the core of life, or passionately see the surface, the core and the surface are essentially the same.
Reading 637, Robert Eller-Isaacs: For each time that our greed has blinded us to the needs of others, we forgive ourselves and each other; we begin again in love.
Reading 649, Antoine de St-Exupéry: Love, like a carefully loaded ship, crosses the gulf between the generations.
Reading 657, Sophia Lyon Fahs: Some beliefs are like blinders, shutting off the power to choose one’s own direction; other beliefs are like gateways opening wide vistas for exploration.
Reading 663, Margaret Starkey: We make a holiday, the rituals varied as the hopes of humanity, the reasons as obscure as an ancient solar festival, as clear as joy on one small face.
Reading 671, John Milton: If the waters of truth flow not in a perpetual progression, they sicken into a muddy pool of conformity and tradition.
Word.
Reading 681, adapted from Gaelic Runes (and another favourite of Peggy’s): Deep peace of the running wave to you.
It’s a benediction I sometimes write or say to people suffering loss.
Reading 698, with which I close. Wayne B. Arnason: Take courage friends. The way is often hard, the path is never clear, and the stakes are very high. Take courage. For deep down, there is another truth: You are not alone.
There are 415 hymns in the UU hymnal (“The Grey Book”) Singing the Living Tradition, and although I’ve been going to Beacon Unitarian Church nigh on 15 years, I’ve not heard more than a tenth of them. I won’t be addressing the readings, that will be another post.
There are additional hymns I will reference from the (“Teal Book”) Singing the Journey Hymnal, which (and here my prejudices flow like an unattended bathtub…) has a bunch of songs in it from the people who put the hymnal together (read the credits for the authors, and then look at who wrote what and tell me I ain’t lyin’) which sound like anemic show tunes and are expletive hard to sing for altos, but it definitely widens the scope of what can be sung in church, although it’s my preference to let the choir handle it, because I don’t like many of those songs and would prefer not to voice them, however frequently people tell me I’ll start liking them eventually. (Mushy lyrics and ditzy tunes, o well). These two sentences deleted for excessively high sour grapes content. Yeah. Okay, there are some good tunes in it, I love Blue Boat Home, which Gary and Elva brought into a service in such an emotionally appealing way that I can’t help but applaud them.
But, erm, why sing at all?
Hymn singing in church is a purposeful way of:
Herewith my meander through the main hymnal, with a nod to various connecting points. At this point, however, I must pause and say that David Hamilton’s piano playing has enhanced every aspect of worship, and that his dedication and ability are an adornment to our church. For further info on tunes.
Hymn 1. May nothing evil cross this door. Louis Untermeyer wrote the words, Robert N. Quaile wrote the music. We have sung this once to my recollection; I particularly love the last lines, which speak to our wandering state, tent dwellers in a world of settled churches. “Though these sheltering walls are thin, may they be strong enough to keep hate out and hold love in.” It’s in waltz time.
Hymn 145. As Tranquil Streams. Another of many gems from the Musicalisches Hand-buch, which has been feeding congregational singing for over three hundred years, it has a tune recognizable to any Protestant but the lyrics are… well, Unitarian, as in written by a relatively prolific Unitarian hymn lyric writer by the name of Ham. My favourite line: “A freedom that reveres that past but trusts the dawning future more, and bids the soul, in search of truth, adventure boldly and explore.” Sounds like a Star Trek hymn, and certainly a suitable hymn for a lifelong SF fan. This is one of our congregations mainstays.
Hymn 348. Guide My Feet. (I sang this to the KSS, the former minister as HO-OLD my PU-URSE, while I run this race. It was appropriate in context.) A real corker, if sung with sufficient enthusiasm and all our basses are in da house to sing that line. It’s a traditional tune, pleasingly simple and with loads of gospel flair.
Hymn 211. Jacob’s Ladder. Like a number of other hymns in the hymnal, this resonates with my childhood. One of the many folk groups we listened to constantly back then had a really fine version of this on an album. It was one of the Limelighters, Kingston Trio, Chad Mitchell Trio (or other) albums. It was wonderful hearing it in church for the first time, and as I recollect I asked for it as a hymn for one of the services I delivered. Obviously the lyrics have changed from the original…
Hymn 108. My Life Flows On. AKA How can I keep from singing. This is one of the hymns I sing in my head, a LOT. The lyrics strike me as facing the trials of life with a tranquil and patient spirit. All of the lyrics are moving and essential… the last verse in particular I love. “When tyrants tremble as they hear the bells of freedom ringing, when friends rejoice both far and near, how can I keep from singing? To prison cell and dungeon vile, our thoughts to them are winging; when friends by shame are undefiled, how can I keep from singing?” All as a reminder of those who do not enjoy the benefits of living in Canada in the circumstances we enjoy. Often I sing the first lines to myself… “My life flows on, in endless song, above earth’s lamentation. I hear the clear, though far off song, that hails a new creation.” So mote it be.
Hymn 324. Where My Free Spirit Onward Leads. The truest and saddest song in the hymnbook, I definitely have used this one a couple of times in services, and I’m the only one who did, to my recollection. The minor tune, an English folk melody, is lilting and questioning at the same time. The lyrics, by my personal favourite Alicia S. Carpenter, contain the following gem. “Eternity is hard to ken, and harder still is this: a human life when truly viewed is briefer than a kiss.”
Hymn 361. Enter, Rejoice and Come In. Well now. I love this hymn so much I mentioned it in my “Cognitive Bias and Congregational Life” homily, referenced to your left. When I first started attending UU services it was at the Lakeshore UU Congregation and a very excellent pianist would be playing this as I climbed the stairs (where a beautifully coloured and handlettered sign welcomed me, like a hug, honestly). I thought with the naivety of the newbie that ALL UU Congregations started their services that way and I was saddened to find that nope, every UU congregation is like a different fingerprint gathered from the same body. And then I cheered up, because individuality within unity is good.
Hymn 291. Die Gedanken Sind Frei. Ah, another gem from my past, as sung with tremendous musicality, precision and enthusiasm, by the Limeliters. When I first started attending Beacon at Place Maillardville, we had two elderly German speakers in the congregation, and I was BLISSFUL when they sang, standing shoulder to shoulder at the back of the congregation, in the original German. One of those men escaped from Hitler. Both were mighty hearts for justice and learning. It’s a song with a LOT of meaning for me; I’m always thrilled when it’s in the order of service.
Hymn 8. Mother Spirit, Father Spirit. A plea to the Spirit for assistance in understanding our lives; as deeply Unitarian a hymn as can be, having been written, lyrics and tune, by one of our martyrs, Norbert ÄŒapek, who died in a concentration camp in 1942. The tune is simple and yet heart-rending. Sung measuredly and reverently, it’s an amazing work for congregational singing.
Hymn 16. ‘Tis a Gift to Be Simple. Here we borrow from the American Shaker tradition, and a fine borrowing it is, too. It’s a good one to put in the order of service if you know things will run long…. cause it’s so short you feel like you’re standing up and sitting down in the same breath.
Hymn 21. For the Beauty of the Earth. Gentle lyrics and a singable tune make this a favourite of mine.
Hymn 30. Over My Head. Another spiritual brought lovingly into our tradition. It does have God language, but as I have described repeatedly elsewhere, I have no objections to God language.
Hymn 34. Though I May Speak with Bravest Fire. From 1st Corinthians 13, to a lightly modified English folk tune. “Though I may speak with bravest fire, and have the gift to all inspire, and have not love, my words are vain, as sounding brass, and hopeless gain.” As stern a warning to Unitarians not to be chatty intellectuals as we get in the hymnbook.
Hymn 38. Morning Has Broken. A very slightly different version than the wonderful Cat Stevens rendition, which messes me up almost every time I sing it with the congregation despite David’s best efforts, but I don’t care, I’m always happy to see it in the service.
Hymn 55. Dark of Winter. “And then my soul will sing a song, a blessed song of love eternal”. Sung by the choir, this song has reduced me to silent weeping. Winter services are so NECESSARY. Anything to get out of the house and see people. “Let your peace flow through me.”
Hymn 73. Chant for the Seasons. A great hymn to include for solstice and pagan friendly services, it has a charming Czech folk tune and lyrics like a sensory tour of the changing seasons.
Hymn 95. There is More Love Somewhere. Apart from the fact that every time I see this in the order of service I think “Well, that’s a heck of an endorsement for our congregation if we sing about there being more love somewhere… else,” I enjoy this African American spiritual borrowing, which is full of plaintive longing for joy. “I’m gonna keep on… til I find it….”
Hymn 99. Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen. Can’t exclude that song from the hymnal. “Although you see me, going ‘long so, oh, yes, Lord! I have my troubles here below, oh, yes, Lord.”
Hymn 100. I’ve Got Peace Like a River. Sounds traditional, but it was actually composed in 1974. It is a very simple and singable tune, and I always like what the congregation does with it.
Hymn 109. As We Come Marching, Marching. Suitable for many occasions at church, but especially for woman warriors for social justice and International Women’s Day. “Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes; hearts starve as well as bodies, give us bread but give us roses.” “As we come marching, marching, unnumbered women dead, go crying, through our singing, their ancient song of bread.”
Hymn 118. This Little Light of Mine. A truly awesome song, begging for four part harmony and a kickass uptempo effort by everyone, it is guaranteed to cheer you up on the gloomiest of mornings.
Hymn 121. We’ll Build a Land. Carolyn McDade for the tuneage and a little bit of Isaiah and Psalms, repurposed, for the lyrics. “Come build a land where sisters and brothers, anointed by God may then create peace, where justice shall roll down like waters, and peace like an ever flowing stream.” It’s long and a bit complicated compared to many hymns but definitely worth it in worship.
Hymn 123. Spirit of Life. Carolyn McDade has provided Beacon with one of our signature songs (she being responsible for both words and music). Short, sweet, with deceptively simple lyrics, for all its brevity a truly great hymn.
Hymn 128. For all that is our life. Beacon uses a portion of this as the responsive song after the collection. I was irked when KSS introduced it and now it’s a comforting lodestone in the center of the service. “For all that is our life, we give our thanks and praise, for all life is a gift which we are called to use to build the common good, and make our own days glad.” Can’t argue with those sentiments!
Hymn 131. Love Will Guide Us. Some hymns, rather than associating directly with the church, you associate with church members. During the amazing/awful period of the getting of the Welcoming Congregation imprimature, Peggy asked us to sing this at the end of some of our meetings, and also we sang it many times at her insistence at the end of our Chalice Circles. Happy sigh. So no, can’t think of this song without thinking of Peggy, and the articulation of her voice singing it.
Hymn 159. This Is My Song. Oh my how very yes. We get to sing Sibelius in church on a regular basis. The tune is very familiar, although I keep messing about with the dotted quarter, wanting to flatten it all out, although if I keep my ears open I can hear David gamely attempting to get us to sing it as written. And who can fault Lloyd Stone’s brilliant lyrics. “This is my home, the country where my heart is/here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine/but other hearts in other lands are beating/with hopes and dreams, as true and high as mine.” Absolutely beautiful, and I love singing it. Also see Hymn 318 to the same tune We Would Be One. The lyrics for that one are almost as beautiful.
Hymn 163. For the Earth Forever Turning. A beautiful slow waltz time hymn which is a love song to our home, our planet earth.
Hymn 177. Sakura. “Cherry blooms, cherry blooms, pink profusion everywhere.” A wonderful hymn for spring in Vancouver, full as it is of cherry blossoms, or, as Lady Miss B refers to them, CHUBBLIES! We get to sing in rote Japanese, too. We also sing it for Hiroshima Day.
Hymn 188. Come, Come Whoever You Are. A well used ingathering song, it is wonderful to start the day with a paraphrase from the poetical and spiritual genius known as Rumi. “Come, come, whoever you are, wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving, ours is no caravan of despair, come, yet again come.” A sly reference to our mobile ways, and a candid revelation of the difficulties of a spiritual path. Sometimes we sing it straight, sometimes somebody up front keeps time and we sing it as a four part round. Either way, count me in!
Hymn 231. Angels We Have Heard on High. It just isn’t Christmas if we don’t sing this. This was my favourite Christmas Carol as a child, and singing it congregationally feels like a cup of hot chocolate on a miserable night!
Hymn 298. Wake, Now, My Senses. A call to get off one’s duff and work for justice. “Wake now my vision of ministry clear/brighten my pathway with radiance here/mingle my calling with all who will share/work toward a planet transformed by our care. The tune is a traditional Irish melody and Thomas J.S. Mikelson wrote the lyrics.
Hymn 304. A Fierce Unrest. I can’t think of this song without thinking of John. It’s definitely a science fiction Unitarian hymn. He and Brooke and Tom and Peggy sing, or sang this, every chance possible, and introduced it to many a filker. Don Marquis wrote the lyrics. “Sing we no governed firmament, cold, ordered, regular; we sing the stinging discontent that leaps from star to star.” It’s got a slightly awkward tune, but I don’t care, the lyrics make it all worthwhile. The lyrics of Hymn 343 are memorable too… A Firemist and a Planet contains the words: “A firemist and a planet, a crystal and a cell, a starfish and a saurian, and caves where ancients dwelt, the sense of law and beauty, a face turned from the sod, some call it evolution, and others call it God.” About as Unitarian a sentiment as is possible, I’d reckon.
Hymn 346. Come Sing a Song with Me. Carolyn McDade’s sweet and simple hymn, which I always love singing. Usually harmony, much to the consternation of the tone deaf members of the congregation who are standing next to me and leaning on my voice to find their way to the tune. And tone deaf is okay. Congregational singing shouldn’t be a popularity contest or only held up for people who can follow a tune. Even if I hadn’t thought that way at the beginning, filking would have cured me of that little caustic wound of elitism.
Hymn 305. De Colores. A gaily cheerful hymn, based on a Spanish folk tune, a little hard to sing for my taste, but part of our repertoire for sure. “All the colors abound for the whole world around and for everyone under the sun.” Amen.
Hymn 347. Gather the Spirit. The great Unitarian songwriter Jim Scott is responsible for this one. “Gather in peace, gather in thanks, gather in sympathy now and then/gather in hope, compassion and strength, gather to celebrate once again.”
Hymn 360. Here we Have Gathered. “May all who seek here find a kindly word, may all who speak here feel they have been heard.” That about wraps up how we should be toward newcomers… and oldtimers.
Next up: A drunkard’s walk through the spoken word portion of the UU hymnal.
I took Jeff to Gravity yesterday. I enjoyed it, he hated it. I’m hoping he does a full core dump on the subject, but like I say I really enjoyed it. I found it interesting, on Google Plus, that one guy I know who has been in zero g (twice, fer reals) and is a self described space geek absolutely adored it. Even Neil deGrasse Tyson liked it, fer cry eye. (Added later, but he ALSO critiqued the hell out of it.)
Very funny crossover graphic, safe for work.
I have a chest cold and my voice is now emerging from somewhere around my navel.
No word back about the cafe.