Posts from — April 2012

I so needed this reminder today.

“…the ordinary is not ordinary. Rather, it is in the ordinary that we are able to build people up and, yes, inspire the human spirit.

When you clean house for your family, or pour a cup of coffee, or take your car to the wash, you aren’t just doing small, mundane things. You are building building people up. You are making things better, and making a statement that people matter. Or, that’s how you ought to see it.

And the doctrine of vocation takes us further than this. For it means that, when we serve others in the everyday, it is actually God himself who is serving people through us . . .

In fact, the doctrine of vocation even takes us one more step. When we, as followers of Christ, serve others for his sake, we aren’t just serving them. We are actually serving the Lord himself.”

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In honor of the joint birthday festivities for The Bard (born April 23, 1564) and Prokofiev (born April 23, 1891), enjoy the In-Temporalis piano & percussion interpretation of Prokofiev’s Montagues & Capulets from Romeo & Juliet.

“We — or at least I — shall not be able to adore God on the highest occasions if we have learned no habit of doing so on the lowest. At best, our faith and reason will tell us that He is adorable, but we shall not have found Him so, not have ‘tasted and seen.’ Any patch of sunlight in a wood will show you something about the sun which you could never get from reading books on astronomy. These pure and spontaneous pleasures are ‘patches of Godlight’ in the woods of experience.”

- C.S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm

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My God, how many are my fears
How fast my foes increase
Conspiring my eternal death
They break my fleeting peace

The lying tempter would persuade
My heart to doubt your aid
And all my swelling sins appear
Much greater than your grace

Arise, Oh Lord, fulfill your grace
While I your glory sing;
My God has broke the serpentʼs teeth
And death has lost his sting

But you my glory and my strength
Will on my tempter tread
Will silence all my threatening guilt
And raise my drooping head.

And though the hosts of death and hell
All armed against me stand
No more will terrors shake my soul;
Secure within your hand.

One of my all-time favorite hymns is the American Appalachian folk song What Wondrous Love is This. This simple, haunting tune simultaneously captures both the yearning and hope of the Christian life; and its timeless melody perfectly matches the lyrics.

I’ve been thinking on this hymn a lot this past week in preparation for Good Friday and Easter, and thought I’d share a few favorite renditions (lyrics are at the bottom). (Note: I’m still searching for the perfect harp arrangement, if anyone out there has any leads.)

Mountain Blue

Gorgeous harmonies in this acapella version.

Fernando Ortega

Meditative version for solo voice and simple instrumentals.

Chanticleer

A more unusual acapella version that includes an extra verse.

Blue Highway

Love this bluegrass rendition.

Random Acapella Quartet

The video quality is not great on this one, but I wanted to include it because (a) this is the version (Paul Christensen arrangement) I’ve heard most often live in concert and (b) I just like that some random guys sang this in the middle of the day in a public space.

What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this
That caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul!

And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on;
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on.
And when from death I’m free
I’ll sing His love for me,
And through eternity I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on,
And through eternity I’ll sing on.

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