Today after the Worship Committee meeting, as we were cleaning up and getting ready to leave, I was talking with one of the women in the group who was expressing her hope that I'd be feeling much better soon, that she had noticed on Sunday how under the weather I seemed to be. I thanked her and assured her that I did feel much better now and while we were talking, I said that my mood and my sense of wellbeing had taken a marked step upward during the service on Sunday.
I told her that it had happened suddenly, during our opening song:
"And I'll bring you hope, when hope is hard to find, and I'll bring a song of love, and a rose in the winter time..." That was the key for me to hit bottom and bounce upward out of my dark place. Thank you, Carolyn McDade.
9 comments:
That is one of my favorite hymns. It always puts my in a more hopeful mood. I am, also, glad you are feeling better!
Thank you! You know, I've sung that song a thousand times, probably, and this time, of all those times, it hit me right between the eyes. I do have hope.
That one means so much to me ... I mean, the whole idea of someone pledging to not just reach out to you when it's easy or convenient, but when it's damned hard ... a rose in the wintertime.
That hymn, and that line, are in my heart, nestled beside, "Ours is no caravan of despair ..."
As I recall, McDade lives in West Newton, MA (there are about nine Newtons), so that perhaps if I had gone to the West Newton UU church from the house in Newtonville where I lived for most of the time when I was working on my doctorate, I could have met her. That was a miss.
Yep, LE/LWM, "No Caravan of Despair" is the kind of sermon title we need to be seeing around the nation right now. And we do give hope to one another---what a mission statement!
LF, I too would love to meet Carolyn McDade. She has given us such a wealth of wonderful songs.
yay! glad to hear you're feeling better. Taking care of yourself is so important, and it's something I'm having to remember to do these days.
Thanks, Pixie, I appreciate it.
I guess I'm the lone dissenting voice here, but I loathe that song. Partly due to overkill, I suspect, but also musically it's somewhat wretched.
Our volunteer choir director made an arrangement of it a few years ago for adult and children's voices, and then beat it into the ground; it was the theme of our annual canvass and we heard it week after week.
Now, thank goodness, we have a paid professional Music Director who agrees that it's the worst song in the UU lexicon. Second worst is "Go Now In Peace," which we sing every week as the children leave. He is writing a new song so we can lay that one down, too.
Sorry to be a spoilsport, and I'm glad the song lifted you up, Kit. It's just that musically it s**ks. (And I'm a fan of Caroline McDade -- this one just doesn't make it.)
Gee, Judy, I'm a pretty skilled musician myself and I disagree with the idea that the song is a bad one. I can resonate with the overkill piece, but it's a good song, easy to sing, catchy, and inviting. It's not great classical literature, but it's a good song.
Post a Comment