Almost done

We are in the home stretch, everybody. This is the last weekend. I am studying for my first spoken examination. I've only had those in language courses in high school, and it's a very different type of studying than for an essay exam.

Yesterday some friends and I went to lunch at an Indian restaurant to celebrate our friends who are graduating and a successful completion of the school year. When we came back, my friend Craig said he heard music in the air. So I naturally starting singing that wonderful song that I know from Call Me Madam, but it turns out that there really was music in the air. Some students had decided to throw an impromptu concert in the grassy area in the middle of our campus. (see picture) That was really nice. It has been raining all week, but yesterday was beautiful. It was wonderfully relaxing thing to come back from a fun lunch and sit in the grass listening to music.

Ok. I'm almost done. I'm going to make it!

Sometimes a Light Surprises a Christian when She Sings

I have four classes on Tuesdays, and usually they are self-contained. But today something odd happened in my first class. Then again in my second. Then again in my third. And I know it will happen in my fourth class.
Music happened.

In my first class we had a guest lecturer talk about the historical interpretation of the Psalms, and we sang "The King of Love My Shepherd Is" [#171 in the Presbyterian Hymnal].
In my second class we translated Luke 19:1-10 for yesterday, and today we were talking about the various exegetical issues in the passage. The passage is about a man named Zacchaeus who climbs into a tree to see Jesus. And, yes, we sang the song "Zacchaeus was a Wee Little Man".
Then I went to chapel where we heard a wonderful sermon about how God's grace is so abundant that we rebel against the idea of it. And we sang Amazing Grace without accompaniment with the last verse in a round. [Incredible]
My third class is a survey of early and medieval church history, and today we studied Eastern and Western mystics including Hildegard of Bingen who was a Benedictine abbess who had incredible visions and also wrote music. So we listened to a modern setting of one of her songs on the CD "Vision: The Music of Hildegard von Bingen".
My fourth class will be later today. It's choir, so I'm pretty sure I'm going to sing. We are working on music of an event called Carols of Many Nations which is next week.

Today is World AIDS Day. You can support World AIDS Day by contributing here. We stand in solidarity of those who have HIV/AIDS as we support raised awareness and a cure. Here at the Seminary we are having a worship service tonight remembering those who have died from this disease and praying in support of a cure. There are many myths still circulating about AIDS, so the first step is to educate. Here are the basics.

Instrumental thoughts

I know my father is going to disagree with me on this. [You know it's going to be a good blog if I start off with that.]

I think the cello is one of the most spiritual instruments. Is there anything as simply beautiful as a solo cellist to find your spiritual center? Every day at PTS we have chapel. This is not required of students, but I go almost every day. Today as an introit a student who is an incredible cellist played. I feel so bad that I can't remember the name of the song, but as the cellist was playing I noticed how his entire body was engaged in the music. That doesn't happen with other instruments. I should know. I've played enough different instruments to know how engaged you are with the instrument. When I played in marching band I played the baritone, and that was definitely not part of your body especially when it was cold. I am not saying that other instruments aren't spiritual, but the cello is one of the few instruments where it is almost as big as your body. It creates a different type of interaction with the music.
I love that my ideas of music are being expanded at seminary. Music is such an incredible part of our Christian journey whether it be hymns and organs or guitars and drums or an eclectic grouping. If you haven't heard of Church of the Beloved you should go to their website and check it out! They have an INCREDIBLE album called Hope for a Tree Cut Down that is FREE!

Giving Thanks

Something in today's Lectionary reading caught my eye.

Psalm 108
[1] My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and make melody. Awake, my soul!
[2] Awake, O harp and lyre!
I will awake the dawn.
[3] I will give thanks to you, O LORD, among the peoples,
and I will sing praises to you among the nations.
[4] For your steadfast love is higher than the heavens,
and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

So many times in Scripture we read about giving thanks with music. As the daughter of musicians I find myself engrossed in a world that constantly reminds me of music. One simple word can trigger any number of melodies and lyrics. Oftentimes I don't even realize I'm singing to myself as I go about on daily business. A long time ago when I was on a mission trip with my middle and high school youth group, I was given an award for singing too much. Those in the group thought it would be funny, but I was very hurt. I wasn't singing to annoy them. I wasn't singing because I had nothing better to do. I was singing because I was happy. ["I sing because I'm happy. I sing because I'm free, for His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me."] Psalm 150 tells us to give thanks with all sorts of instruments, Psalm 96 and others says to "sing a new song".
King David gave thanks by singing and dancing. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 tells us to "give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." It's one of the harder activities we are called to do. How can we give thanks when our hearts are broken for ourselves or others?
I'm not sure we can.
Sometimes our hearts are not steadfast, they are broken.

I can only offer one idea, and it's not even my own: "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit" [Psalm 34:18]. Psalm 34 does not tell us how the Lord is near to the brokenhearted, only that God is. If our hearts are broken, it is God's love that must fill us so hopefully once again we can raise our voices in thanksgiving.

" For your steadfast love is higher than the heavens,
and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds."