'Senex puerum portabat’ (William Byrd) at Ely Cathedral

"Ely Cathedral is one of those places where music lifts the soul towards heaven in surroundings that are sublime. In the setting of an empty Cathedral filled with over 6000 candles for Candlemas, Ely Cathedral Choir sings ‘Senex puerum portabat’ by the composer William Byrd."

  

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Cherokee Morning Song

In solidarity with the Cherokee Nation, celebrating the removal of the Andrew Jackson ("the Chicken Snake") from the $20 bill.

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Precious Lord, Take My Hand (Mahalia Jackson)

One of Rev. Martin Luther King's favorite songs was "Precious Lord, Take My Hand" (composed by Tommy Dorsey). Mahalia Jackson sang it on several occasions for Dr. King at meetings and rallies where he spoke. She sang it for him one last time at his funeral on April 9, 1968 following his assassination on April 4.  Here is her recorded version from the album Bless This House. The song is also features in the film Selma.

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As the Ruin Falls (Phil Keaggy)

Phil Keaggy wrote music to accompany a poem by C.S. Lewis, "As the Ruin Falls." Keaggy was a pioneer in the Contemporary Christian music genre. C.S. Lewis's words gave more depth than one usually found in the emerging genre back in the 1970s when this was recorded. Scroll down to see the lyrics. If you really want the full depth of Lewis's poem, read his novel Till We Have Faces. This song is a good meditation for Holy Week.

As the Ruin Falls

All this is flashy rhetoric about loving you.

I never had a selfless thought since I was born.

I am mercenary and self-seeking through and through:

I want God, you, all friends, merely to serve my turn.

Peace, re-assurance, pleasure, are the goals I seek,

I cannot crawl one inch outside my proper skin:

I talk of love --a scholar's parrot may talk Greek--

But, self-imprisoned, always end where I begin.

Only that now you have taught me (but how late) my lack.

I see the chasm. And everything you are was making

My heart into a bridge by which I might get back

From exile, and grow man. And now the bridge is breaking.

For this I bless you as the ruin falls. The pains

You give me are more precious than all other gains.

                                                    ~ Clive Staples Lewis

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