Sunday Drive: Peace Prayer

He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?

                                                 -- Micah 6:8

The Peace Prayer, sometimes called the Prayer of St. Francis, exquisitely performed by John Michael Talbot.

The Lessons Appointed for Use on the

Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

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Sunday Drive: O Little Town of Bethlehem

The Lessons Appointed for Use on the 

Fourth Sunday of Advent

 

The Magnificat 

My soul doth magnify the Lord,

and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

For he hath regarded the lowliness of his handmaiden.

For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

And his mercy is on them that fear him throughout all generations.

He hath shewed strength with his arm.

He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

He hath put down the mighty from their seat

and hath exalted the humble and meek.

He hath filled the hungry with good things.

And the rich he hath sent empty away.

He remembering his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel

as he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed, forever.

Amen.

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Sunday Drive: In the Bleak Midwinter

The Lessons Appointed for the 

Third Sunday of Advent

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Sunday Drive: O Come, O Come Emmanuel

As performed by the Piano Guys.

The Lessons appointed for use on the

Second Sunday of Advent

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Sunday Drive: Once in Royal David's City

The Lessons appointed for use on

The First Sunday of Advent

On this first day of the church year, Father David shares some timely thoughts on endings and beginnings:

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Sunday Drive: Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming

As performed by the choir of the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul, Montreal, with lyrics:

The Fourth Sunday of Advent

It so happens we have roses blooming in our garden right now --
a Christmas miracle!

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Sunday Drive: Schubert, Ave Maria

As performed by Luciano Pavarotti in 1994:

The Third Sunday of Advent

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Sunday Drive: Handel, Comfort Ye, My People / Every Valley Shall Be Lifted Up

From Ghana comes this rather wonderful rendition by the Gramophone Chorus, featuring Ebenezer Antwi:

The Second Sunday of Advent

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Sunday Drive: Once in Royal David's City / In Dulci Jubilo

As performed by the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, in 2013:

The First Sunday in Advent

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Independence Day, 2020

Photo by Saka8490 at Wikipedia, CC-4.0

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.

--Abraham Lincoln, second inaugural address, March 4, 1865

While watching one of the memorial services for George Floyd last month, at which several people spoke from the pulpit, I was struck by the remarks of a grieving young woman, perhaps a teenager, who in the middle of saying her piece asked, contemptuously, "Make America Great Again - when has America ever been great?"

And while listening to newscasters and protesters and professional chatterati of all stripes during the past month, I have been distressed to hear pompous expressions and condescending judgments that seem to be based on the notion that nothing at all has changed in this country since 1965 - or indeed, since 1865.  Which seems quite wrongheaded to me; remembering vividly the segregated society of my childhood and youth, I could write a long list of things that have changed markedly for the better just in my lifetime, for all kinds and conditions of people, despite whatever seems to have gone wrong at present.

That is not to say that our country, or any one of us, has reached perfection yet.  We never will.  We can only continue working and reaching toward a more perfect union, even though our reach exceed our grasp.  Though we may always fall short of what we seek, the persistent striving for it is what counts.

How the nationwide disgust and outrage over the brutal murder of an innocent man got diverted into refighting the Civil War is a bit more than I can understand.  That conflict was ended, settled, and done with two centuries ago; and our enduring union was bought dearly, cemented with the blood of brothers from all parts of the land, all part of our one big American family:  Americans all, before and after the fight.

The enmities of that needless, senseless war were laid to rest long ago along with the bones of those who sacrificed themselves, as brave men in every age have done, in defense of their homes and families, and for what seemed to them the greater good in that day and time.  Mistaken or not, may they all rest in peace.  There is no North or South, no East or West, in the grave.

It is certain that those on both sides who survived the bloodshed were anxious to move forward as one people and bind up the nation's wounds, not tear them open again.  How much more so should we humbly desire to heal and reconcile with one another, we who live in this vastly different modern age, knowing and understanding so much more than they about all aspects of life on this fragile planet?

It seems to me that today's perils, conflicts, and injustices are what deserve our earnest attention and steady focus now.  The past belongs to the dead, who are beyond all praise or reproach; it is the present that belongs to us, the living - along with the sacred duty to carry on the good work that was begun, not ended, in 1776.  Lazily to castigate the past, which cannot be changed, instead of working hard to repair the present, which can always be improved, is a useless waste of time and spirit.

So today as we celebrate the nation's 244th birthday, I offer these musical selections as a reminder of the permanent possibility of progress  - now quick, now slow, but always upward - that has made the United States an inspiration to all the world from its beginnings, and will continue to do so, if only we remain one united people devoted to liberty, equality, and justice for all - in the enduring bond of brotherly love and mutual respect.

That is much easier to say than to do, of course.  But we must try anyway, and not be foolishly diverted from the essential issues that now confront us.  Though the forces of intolerance and disunity abroad in the land are bent on tearing us apart, I believe it is not yet too late for the better angels of our nature to prevail, and lead the American experiment onward to ever-greater heights.

Red and yellow, black and white, male and female, straight and gay, we are all Americans; we are heirs of the past but not bound to repeat it.  Let us fix what is broken and mend what is torn:  good neighbors and fellow workers in all the good we can do for our country.  Let us be friends; we must not be enemies.


Early or late, progress happens.  The story of how the following performance came about is too well known to repeat here.  The great American contralto Marian Anderson sings "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in April 1939:




The late actor and author Ossie Davis attended the concert as a college student, and here recounts what it meant to him:




In September 1942, Miss Anderson christened the Liberty ship Booker T. Washington in a shipyard in Los Angeles, and sang "The Star Spangled Banner" (the second half of the clip is silent):





Bonus: Miss Anderson sings Schubert's "Ave Maria" in the original German - one of the loveliest renditions I know of this sacred melody:

Sunday Drive: Schubert, Ave Maria

As performed in Rome in 1994 by the late, great Luciano Pavarotti:

Sunday Drive: The Holly and the Ivy

The Second Sunday of Advent

The Choir of King's College, Cambridge, performs the old English carol:

Sunday Drive: Once in Royal David's City

The First Sunday of Advent

The Choir of King's College, Cambridge, has presented a Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols every year since 1919. Here they sing the beloved 1848 carol:

Sunday Drive: O Come, All Ye Faithful

The Fourth Sunday of Advent, 2017

As sung by the Choir of King's College, Cambridge:

The Virgin of the Lilies, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1899.

Sunday Drive: The Holly and the Ivy

The Third Sunday in Advent, 2017

From the Choir of King's College, Cambridge:

Sunday Drive: Once in Royal David's City

The Second Sunday of Advent, 2017

As performed by the Choir of King's College, Cambridge:

I post this series every year in loving memory of my late husband Cody, a master organist and choir director, whose greatest glory was playing sacred music in church, especially his Christmas concert.

Sunday Drive: I Believe

Embed from Getty Images

For the victims of the Manchester bombing, and for all the dead of all the wars and tumults, and for all who weep and are alone -- I know these pretty words don't change anything, but it's all I have to offer -- a musical bouquet, if nothing else -- a pious hope -- a fervent wish.

Sunday Drive: O Magnum Mysterium

The Annuncation, El Greco, circa 1590-1603

As performed by the Choir of King's College, Cambridge:

The Third Sunday of Advent, 2016

Sunday Drive: O Come, All Ye Faithful

As performed in Westminster Abbey, Christmas Eve, 2013:




I post these choral pieces every December in memory of my late husband Cody, 1950-2005, organist and choir director, who always put his heart and soul into his Christmas concerts and Sunday services for forty years, and thereby gave delight to many.

Sunday Drive: Hark! the Herald Angels Sing

The Fourth Sunday of Advent

The Magnificat:

My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.

His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;

he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,

according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.


As performed by the Choir of King's College, Cambridge: