Issue 8
Romans
8:11
"The Spirit of God, who raised
Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just asGod raised Christ Jesus
from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same
Spirit living within you.
"Breathe on me, breath of God.
Fill me with life anew. That I may love what You would love And do
what You would do."
This is the first verse to one of
my favorite hymns. It is a gentle song of supplication that is matched
with a beautifully calming tune. Written in the mid-1800's by an Oxford
professor, it is really a simple prayer from such a highly educated
man. Perhaps this simple prayer should be our first thought as we
begin our day.
As musicians, our job is to keep
the spirit of God in our music, to breathe life into the songs and
hymns we offer. As we use new songs or new words, we breathe new life
into our worship services. Using a new arrangement or allowing the
congregation to sing without instruments can breathe new life into
a favorite song and into our congregational singing.
We don't need to do new things for
the sake of "new". The words of the hymn say "fill
me with life anew." This means something different to me. It
speaks more of reviving the original spirit of the hymn text through
study and prayer, invigorating our collective song through intentional
submission to the Holy Spirit. Like a child who views each day as
a grand adventure, we need to allow the breath of God to set us on
our adventure of offering spirit-filled music to our congregations.
Book Alert: Great
Songs of the Faith: 365 Devotion Based on Popular Hymns
by Robert Brown
This book offers us an opportunity
to use the hymn texts as devotionals for each day of the year. While
it doesn't offer all the information on the actual composition of
the hymn, it does help us use these hymn text in their original form
- as poetry. Short scriptures are also paired up with the hymn.
Music Alert: Piano
Meditations for Communion (with
options for singing)
Hope Publishing #8247
For those of you who like to have
singing during communion, Joel Raney has written a new collection
of piano pieces based on communion hymns. Each setting begins with
an introduction, followed by the tune for vocalist, ensemble of C
instrument playing this verse. The setting then continues with an
extended arrangement for the piano. This collection is very useful
and will allow you to breathe some "new life" into your
communion music.
Upcoming events:
Choirfest 2006 - May 7, 2006
at 7:00 p.m. at First Baptist-Waukesha. Join us for a wonderful evening
of song.
Any comments, questions or suggestions
email me at fbwamusic@aol.com
Mary
