“Fairest Lord Jesus” has long been a favorite hymn of mine. The text presents beautiful scenes from nature, then says how much more beautiful Jesus is. The music is full of longing. All together, there is an adoration in this hymn that makes it more like a love song than anything else. Verse two says:ContinueContinue reading “Fairest Lord Jesus”
Category Archives: Music
This Is My Father’s World
Based on headlines, we might conclude this world belongs to chaos, harm, and despair. We do live in uncertain, though not unprecedented, times; uncertainty is a hallmark of human existence. But these words echo from another uncertain age: “This is my Father’s world. O let me ne’er forget that though the wrong seems oft soContinueContinue reading “This Is My Father’s World”
O Sacred Head, Now Wounded
Digital Painting by Patrick Murphy My upcoming book, Voiceless Choirs: Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, is getting closer to being finished. Next step is to get a proof-copy of the paperback. I also need to set up the e-book version. One section of Voiceless Choirs contains poems based on traditional Christian hymns. Rather than justContinueContinue reading “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded”
S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W
This past Friday, my daughter and I went to a concert: My Chemical Romance kicked off their reunion tour in Seattle. The Violent Femmes opened. MCR’s performance was pretty epic, full of theater, energy, flashing lights, and pyrotechnics. They played for about two and a half hours and never slowed down. Lyrics are a closeContinueContinue reading “S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W”
Tuba Mirum (Wonderful Trumpet)
“Christ is risen!” “He is risen indeed!” This exchange is traditionally heard between Christians of all stripes on Easter. Later this year, I plan to self-publish Voiceless Choirs: Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs. This book will include a series of poems based on Mozart’s Requiem Mass. Requiem masses are Catholic funeral services and include themesContinueContinue reading “Tuba Mirum (Wonderful Trumpet)”
Just Another Day – Ray LaMontagne
Earlier this year, I was introduced to the music of Ray LaMontagne through the song “In My Own Way.” I was struck by the lazy vibe and ethereal beauty of the music. “In My Own Way” is from the album “Ouroboros”, so I decided to check it out. The term ouroboros comes from Greek andContinueContinue reading “Just Another Day – Ray LaMontagne”
Christ Arose
Happy Easter! Today, we remember that Jesus rose from the dead and is the resurrection and the life for every person He indwells 😊 A well known hymn about Christ’s resurrection is “Christ Arose” by Robert Lowry. This is one of the hymns I wrote a poem based on and which will appear in myContinueContinue reading “Christ Arose”
Dies Irae (Day of Wrath)
Last year, I started a series of poems based on Mozart’s Requiem. I ended up writing 12 poems that correspond to the 14 movements of the Requiem (two of the poems combine movements of the Requiem). These poems will be part of a book I hope to release this year entitled Psalms, Hymns, and SpiritualContinueContinue reading “Dies Irae (Day of Wrath)”
Softly and Tenderly
Last week, I mentioned I’m working on poems based on Christian hymns that will be included in an upcoming book, Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs. My goal has been to write modern poems in which I poetically interact with a hymn rather than just rehashing it. Synthesizing and distilling the text of a hymn into new imageryContinueContinue reading “Softly and Tenderly”
Caverns
In other posts, I’ve mentioned I’m working on my fourth book, The Anonymity of Waiting. Well, at some point last year I started working on a fifth book at the same time. It started with poems based on the text of Mozart’s Requiem Mass. From there, I moved on to writing poems based on Psalms. I originally thought allContinueContinue reading “Caverns”
A Wandering Minstrel 