Sunday Morning Music

The following piece of music is one of my favorites. It reminds me of my mother, the source of my love of music and the amazing woman and talented musician that she is.

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My life flows on in endless song;

Above earths 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 joys and comforts die?
The Lord my Savior liveth;
What though the darkness gather round!
Songs in the night He giveth:
No storm can shake my inmost calm
While to that refuge clinging;
Since Christ is Lord of Heavn and earth,
How can I keep from singing?

I lift mine eyes; the cloud grows thin;
I see the blue above it;
And day by day this pathway smoothes
Since first I learned to love it:
The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart,
A fountain ever springing:
All things are mine since I am His—
How can I keep from singing?

Lyrics: Robert Lowry (1860)
Melody: Ira D. Sankey (1840-1908)

Learning, Learning Everywhere

Today's lesson comes from an extremely boring, typographic error-filled legal response to a lawsuit pending against my employer. Here it is -

"Substantial evidence means more than a scintilla but less than a preponderance."

Well, if you have to read through one of these documents, my thought is, at least learn something. Plus, wow, they used the word "scintilla!" I will probably remember this lesson(though I may forget the rest of the crap in the extremely boring, typographic error-filled document). Just thought I would share.

Today's Theme Song

It's not unusual for me to wake up with music running through my brain. Seriously, I have woken up singing. This morning's music is a piece that I was fortunate enough to learn and sing under the direction of its author, Dr. Horace Clarence Boyer. Dr. Boyer was a Professor Emeritus at UMass Amherst and one of the editors of the hymnal, "Lift Every Voice and Sing", which is filled with traditional African American spirituals. Which white people can't sing too well, but under his direction, WOW, we sounded great. WOW. I loved every minute of it.

This clip is of one of his compositions, It's My Desire. It's deceptively simple, really fun to sing, and it IS my desire to be like Him. Him being Jesus.

Unfortunately the first phrase was cut off in the video - ) :. Let me fill it in: It's my desire to be like the Lord, ...

The rest of the lyrics:

It's my desire to be like the Lord,

It's my desire to be like Him. (repeat)

It's my desire (To show that I care), to be a friend (Doing my full share),

'Til the end (Though it is so rare), through rain and wind (To kneel in prayer).

It's my desire (To be a soldier), yes it is (For His great cause),

To live my life as He did His.

The note that the soprano hits twice near the end, that's actually written into the music, and Dr. Boyer called it a "high hoo". I love that - a high hoo!

As I was looking around for a clip of this to post, I learned that Dr. Boyer died last year at the age of 73. R.I.P., my friend, I look forward to more great music in heaven!

Have a wonderful and peaceful week.