Short song: Rejoice in the Lord always

During Tuesday evening services on Iona, volunteers who are leaving later that week are sent off and blessed. On my final Tuesday evening service, the scripture passage was Philippians 4:4-9:  

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Bluebells, daisies, and sycamore trees on Iona

I have been thinking about this passage often since then. How easy it is for me to be anxious at times, but these words remind me that I don't have to be anxious, that any moment can be an opportunity to delight in God, that I have much to be thankful for, and that I am invited to make my requests to God.  

I've written a short song based on these words.

Click here to download the MIDI version of this song.

Hymn: You're the one who created me

Today I added three more verses to the short song I wrote about last week. I also changed the harmony and removed the bass line; I think two parts gives it an appropriate simplicity and openness. Now it's a hymn, and not a short song; and the title has changed too.

Listen to the tune

 
1. You're the one who created me
Even now you're still making me
Who will I be when your work is done?

2. You have given me gifts to use
What's the work you would have me do?
Help me hear you when your call should come.

3. I can't see where the path unfolds
I don't know what tomorrow holds
Teach me how to follow you today.

4. Who can say what the Lord will do?
Every day is a gift anew
Trust in God and do not be afraid.

Short song: Who can say what the Lord will do?

Today I finished a short song/chant I began writing a couple of months ago while on Iona. I had written the melody and various verses, which wrestled with the uncertainty of the future, but never could quite find the right shape or direction of the song. I ended up keeping it simple with just one verse, since the melody seemed to suggest going in that direction.

Who can say what the Lord will do?
Every day is a gift anew.

Trust in God and do not be afraid.

Green woods near Carsaig on the isle of Mull

I didn't appreciate short songs until I went to Iona. Every Tuesday there is a service of prayers for healing, and throughout the service, between the prayers, we would repeat a short chant, usually a few lines long. Some of those chants have grown in me and continue speaking to me.

As a musician assistant, once a week I helped lead a Taizé service. If you don't know, Taizé is a community in France where thousands of people come each week to worship and work with each other (kind of like Iona, but with more people. I also hear the food's better on Iona). The community is known for its original chants, hundreds of them, which they sing over and over again in their simple, meditative services. These Taizé chants too have become very meaningful to me.

Once I was talking with a guest from the Netherlands, who had been to Taizé, and who compared the music: Taizé chants are sung inwardly, to oneself, whereas Iona Community songs are sung outwardly, to the world. I liked that distinction; the Taizé chants that I know seem to be focused on personal devotion to God, and the Iona Community is known for its commitment to living out the gospel, particularly through seeking peace and justice, and this is reflected in many of its songs. However, the Iona Community has written some powerful songs and chants that speak to me inwardly, too.

Metabolism (poem)

Between my thumbs and index fingers
I held
the Body of Christ
and with T.P. and K.O.
I broke it
For us
cleanly, quietly,
ambidextrously
It chewed like a cookie
of all things
placed into our hands

It looked like an empty coffin
And tasted like the fire of a billion burning
silver leaves
that are not consumed.


Written in 2012 after attending a Love Feast at a Church of the Brethren. 

Hymn: Though I have tried to follow you

I've just returned from the Iona Abbey, Scotland, where I was volunteering for two months (again) as a musician assistant. One of the things I got to do was share some of the hymns I have written. In a morning service on the weekend before Holy Week, the congregation sang the following hymn, "Though I have tried to follow you." I wrote it as a way to ask for forgiveness and help, as well as to better understand the meaning of Jesus' death.


Though I have tried to follow you, I find I'm still in need
of your strong light to guide my steps and steer my every deed.
How narrow is the road to life! How easily I stray!
Yet still my eyes are fixed on you to navigate my way.

When you walked down the streets we knew, you offered all your grace
Forgiving those who turned to you, pointing home to God's embrace.
When you hung high upon a tree, you saw where I was lost
and drew me with your broken heart to meet you at the cross.

Your wounded body breaks like bread; your blood pours out like wine.
I eat and drink this healing meal with others close beside.
And here, where once a cross stood tall, we find a table spread,
and you, whose body had been there, now live in us instead.

So make us strong to do your work and follow all your ways,
to share the gift we have received: new mercies every day,
and travel on this narrow path flowing through all time and space
to unite everyone who turns to you with the home of God's embrace.

Text: Josh Seligman
Tune: RESIGNATION