Sabbath Song

Some of the hymns in our hymnbook are really lovely. Still sometimes you* read them without the music and you** could come up with something at least as good. Sometimes the themes the speakers speak on inspire you*** and you **** compose a poem or hymn yourself.

This actually happens to me on a fairly regular biases. It's like my version of a Quiet Book*****. Anyway, such was the case today, and instead of toss my notes scribbled on the back of my sacrament meeting program into a pile of papers from my past like I normally do, I thought that I'd type it up (rough though it is) and put it on the blog. Enjoy:

Wandering amid the shadows,

My soul’s wasteland, dark and drear,

Stumbling, falling, I’m a stranger,

In this land of pain and fear.

Now again I take my journey,

Barren land and storm-tossed sea,

On every side I’m afflicted.

Hosanna Jesus, Save me!

In this world of desolation,

The flame of faith flickers still,

Pointing towards that distant promise,

Rescue, and my heart to heal.

Come Dayspring, Hope, the Father’s Son,

Creator and Redeemer,

All is of, and by, and through Thee,

Pierced are the hands that cure.

When the Lord shall come unto us,

In our lives and to our world,

All that’s broken shall be mended,

Souls expand like flags unfurled.

Then I too shall see the promise,

Day of glory, time of peace,

My voice shall join the heav’nly choir,

My gladsome songs find release.

*Me

**Me again

***both of us this time, I hope

****Back to just me, I think

*****If you don't know what this is, just count your blessings.

Messiah Sing-in

It was not quite as epic as this, but Brent brought me to a Messiah sing-in tonight. I do enjoy that aspect of being in Utah. There are a plethora of community artistic events and gatherings. I've never had a hard time finding a Messiah sing-in around Christmas time that is amateur enough for us to enjoy belting out our well beloved Handel's tunes at the top of our poorly trained lungs.

And, our particular amateur version (in a local stake center that was so crowded I'm pretty sure that if the fire marshal showed up, some of us would've had to clear out) was led by Merill Jensen. I thought the name sounded familiar. He was a very gracious and enjoyable conductor. He even took us back a few pages and had us repeat the end of one of the songs that we did particularly badly at, and did it in such a nice way I was very grateful for the do-over opportunity.

Apparently he is quite famous in Mormon circles, and in fact I own some of his music, such as the sound track of "Legacy." He also wrote the music for "The Testaments," "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration," "Finding Faith in Christ," and several other well known LDS films. He has also done some productions with the Mormon Tabernacle choir.

I'm impressed that he came to lead a bunch of high school band students and amateur music lovers (and a few stellar soloists) in such a venture. We are lucky to have such good and talented people among us.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merrill_Jenson

I'm so proud!!

Check it out! KSL news covered the play the kids from my work. Their play is this weekend. If you're local and want to come with us, call me :)

(I have some extra tickets.)

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=13560718