The Wall. This year, as the holidays approach, we may find ourselves on a collision course with the seemingly insurmountable.
Rather than writing a post, here is a small heartfelt anodyne — from our house to yours — the first of several Soundings I’ll send you over the holiday months. Dreamer and I hope you’ll share these with those you know who might enjoy them. In a time of walls, relational disconnects, and lockdown, hope, too, may prove contagious.
Today you’ll hear “God of the Living,” a powerful blessing written by artist/writer/speaker Jan Richardson, followed by a song Dreamer wrote—both pieces gratefully voiced by yours truly.
GOD OF THE LIVING
When the wall
between the worlds
is too firm,
too close.
When it seems
all solidity
and sharp edges.
When every morning
you wake as if
flattened against it,
its forbidding presence
fairly pressing the breath
from you
all over again.
Then may you be given
a glimpse
of how weak the wall
and how strong what stirs
on the other side,
breathing with you
and blessing you
still,
forever bound to you
but freeing you
into this living,
into this world
so much wider
than you ever knew.
THE EYES OF ALL (based on Ps. 145:15-16, 18-19)
The eyes of all wait upon you and the reason—
oh, my Lord, you give them their meat in due season.
You open your hand, and every man is made full.
The Lord is near to all who call upon him.
He will fulfill the desire of those who fear him.
He hears their cry and he draws nigh to save.
“God of the Living” by Jan Richardson, from Sparrow: A Book of Life and Death and Life, Wanton Gospeller Press, 2020. Used by permission.
“The Eyes of All” by Bill Klein, Sounding Chord, House of Mercy Music, 1984. Used by permission.
So beautiful, Bill, Laurie, and Jan ~ thank you for the melodious blessing of song and word. Blessed Thanksgiving to you and yours ~
Nancy, lovely to hear from you. I’m glad you enjoyed Jan’s work and the song. Blessings on you and yours during this week especially designed for giving thanks!
Lovely ?
Meditative and a gentle reminder of His truth. Thank you!
Gail, so glad it took you into that space, from which, so often, all things seem possible again. Blessings on you, friend!
I haven’t heard your voice in years. So familiar. So beautiful. Just as I remembered you. So thankful to have heard this!
Dear Debbie, thank you so much for listening. And thank you for taking time to respond. To be warmly remembered, and then to be told in such a caring way, is a profound gift.
Wishing you a meaningful Thanksgiving week, in whatever ways your gratitude takes shape among those you love this year.
Awesome!
Thank you, dear Sally. Glad you enjoyed it. :>)
Stunningly beautiful–a gift of peace, strength, and joy!!! The harmonies at the end of “The Eyes of All” brought tears to my eyes, as a vision of angels came to mind. Thank you, Laurie and Dreamer! I’ll be playing this again–a number of times!
Friend, you are so welcome. Thank you for letting the sounds carry you today, toward God, and into those three graces you name, amazingly extended back toward us all. I can’t help thinking of the experience just now as circular, a movement that gently eclipses the seeming insurmountability of the wall.
Thank you, Precious One! I listened once, replayed it and sang in the Spirit in a descant along with you. Feel like I’m floating on a cloud. I return now, to my chores, with renewed strength, hope and joy.
❤️
Oh, Pacia, that is lovely to imagine. As if, by leaning closer, ear cocked to the screen, I can almost hear that fluting thread, drifting eastward …
Or, as the bard said:
“Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
like to the lark at break of day arising
from sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven’s gate;”
Thank you, for singing with me today
❤️? (Closest I could find to a lark ascending… ) ☺️
Works for me! :>)
Tears brimming, sniffling, no words but thank you!
Reaching your way right through the screen . . . love you, friend
Thank you “ours truly”…
The text, the music, the voice, the culminating and communal like harmonies served as hopeful salve. Thank you…
Dear Judy, you are welcome! And how marvelous that this mini audio collage felt healing. Your observation helps me hear those layered background vocals with added dimension.
And I just have to add, I’ve always liked the word “salve.” It looks so brim-full of secret, serious promise just now, on the screen, as I type.
We are having such a good time creating these—a glimpse of silver amid the overcast skies.
Beautiful! Went into my spirit today. Thank you.
Linda Jo, how wondrous, the ways words and music enter and often lodge within us. Thanks for letting us know!
Magnificent and complex chording. Haunting 4ths? or minors (what are those trying steps?). No matter my ignorance, it is as life is. The ending spectacular. Fulfillment even in the unknown.
That Dreamer, he’s a wonder. Among his many other stellar qualities, I do love and celebrate his ear.
I’m so struck by your final words, which are going to haunt me today . . . “Fulfillment even in the unknown.”
So soothing and so beautiful. So needed at this time. Thank you.
Judith, thank you for listening in today. You must be really busy with the new book, so it means a lot to hear from you today. May copies fly into mail boxes and nestle in tissue beneath bright-spangled trees. May the words grace the hands and hearts that hold them. We are all so parched these days for story and truth and beauty.