reading, writing, exploring
Posted in main on Dec 5th, 2008
On Thanksgiving Day I opened my email to find a note from my husband’s youngest cousin. It was a blessing that I was unaware of what was going on until it was mostly over. She and her fiance were staying on the 15th floor of the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai when the terrorist attacks [...]
Posted in main on Nov 22nd, 2008
November 22 – St. Cecilia’s feast day. I’m a church musician and I have visited the catacombs outside of Rome where Cecilia died. I pray not to die a martyr’s death, but I also know that music and singing stand a good chance of being a comfort to me whenever God calls me home.
November 22, [...]
Posted in main on Jun 25th, 2008
Soul Music. World Music. Music of the Universe…
The opening measures of the cello repeat throughout the entire piece, like the eternal music of the soul. Deep, grounded, constant. And then the higher strings chime in and begin to move atop the solid foundation. They get lighter and more joyful until the notes are dancing and [...]
Posted in main on Jun 17th, 2008
There’s an old (Shaker?) hymn that has been keeping me company of late:
My life flows on in endless song;
Above earth’s lamentation
I hear the sweet though far off hymn
That hails a new creation:
Through all the tumult and the strife
I hear the music ringing;
It finds an echo in my soul—
How can I keep from singing?
What though my [...]
Posted in main on Apr 22nd, 2008
It’s been a day. Started by spilling coffee on my shirt when I transferred it to the travel mug so I wouldn’t spill it. Change shirts. Load the dogs up to go to the groomer’s. Spill coffee from that stupid travel mug on shirt number 2. Get to the groomer’s, and Cooper manages to soak [...]
Posted in main on Apr 21st, 2008
Yesterday I got a call asking me if I knew the praise song “Lord, I Lift Your Name on High” and if not, could I learn it. I’d heard it, so I went out to iTunes to get a copy so I could learn it. There were 107 different versions of this song. So, I [...]
Posted in main on Apr 14th, 2008
I could go off on a lot of tangents this morning, but the gospel is pulling me back to shepherd images. When I was a teenager, someone gave me the following (I don’t know the author – does anyone else have a clue?)
Shepherd, shall I tend your sheep?
I with scant shepherd’s skill?
But I see them [...]
Posted in main on Jan 21st, 2005
At the Foot of Knocknarea (Cathie Ryan:The Music of What Happens) is a song about a woman carrying a stones to the top of Knocknarea to leave at Queen Mave’s (sp?) cairn – a stone that bears all her troubles. I’m picking through the stones I’d like to leave at the tomb, or the [...]
Posted in main on Jan 20th, 2005
I think I might just sing the refrain differently if I don’t watch it:
And She will raise you up on eagle’s wings
Bear you on the breath of dawn
Make you to shine like the sun
And hold you in the palm of Her hand.
I’ve been listening to “On the Wing” on the Radio Reader for a couple [...]
