Nunc Dimittis

We at Pilgrim Lutheran, in the long-standing tradition of the church, as a matter of common practice, sang the Nunc Dimittis this morning after Communion. I have been puzzled over why we sing Simeon's Canticle at this particular point in the service, but today the theology became clear to my view! Here are the words, translated into elegant Elizabethan English:

LORD, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace: according to thy word.
For mine eyes have seen: thy salvation,
Which thou hast prepared: before the face of all people;
To be a light to lighten the Gentiles: and to be the glory of thy people Israel.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

The Book of Common Prayer, 1662

Simeon was a servant of God who had been promised by God that he would not die without "seeing the salvation" that God would bring about physically through the person of Jesus Christ. This canticle is the record of Simeon's praise following the encounter with the infant Jesus. So why do we sing it now? Because in Biblical theology, ["This IS my body . . . this IS my blood] we in the bread and wine have also made an encounter with the physical Christ; we have "seen the salvation" of God--we have tasted, touched and handled it. We, too, must praise God!

It always amazes me how these truths are "hidden" in the liturgy for us to dig out.

"A light to lighten the Gentiles . . . the glory of thy people, Israel." How wide, how inclusive, God's grace.

Adventures of a Weary Church Mouse

Life is just very busy these days. I now work 30 hours per week at Principal Financial Group, carry out my varied duties of rehearsal and performance at church, care for a husband, a house and two entitled cats. I'm learning many new things, especially as I learn a completely new job role at Principal, and because of our move last summer, new opportunities are opening up. Nothing is dull!

Last weekend Bryant and I celebrated our first anniversary by taking a three-day weekend. Note to self--we really should go out of town next year, because it's too tempting to "work from home" and not make time for each other! It's hard enough to prioritize life's duties on a daily basis. Truth to tell, we're both overcommitted at this point, and something needs to change. I'm praying for wisdom on this one, because it's so hard to give up "opportunities." (Sometimes they're really temptations in disguise!)

For instance, I have wanted to polish my accompanying skills for some time, not having had much opportunity to do so. I was contacted by the Slinger Middle School teacher with a request to help her with students this month, so I was able to accompany a dozen kids in the competition. It was a great experience, and I'm sure I learned more than the kids did!

My good friend Audrey--another church mouse--has helped me out with a couple of vocal performance opportunities, and I'm very grateful. I'm hoping for a few more. But all of these things compete ruthlessly for my time, and I really must learn when to say "no." Up to this point, I've always reminded myself that opportunities come disguised as hard work, but now my priorities have to change somewhat. My marriage has to come before my career in any case!

I'm hoping some of my sage readers have helpful suggestions for me! What are the time challenges you have faced in balancing work and family life?

Performance Insight

I had an eye-opening (ear-opening?) experience yesterday. I was driving along, listening to the radio, when I heard the orchestral introduction to a Ron Hamilton song I knew well. The song itself has a lovely melody and is easy to sing, but as the song progressed I was struck with the way this man sang: robotically, with no feeling, no passion and obviously no comprehension of what he was singing. It was as if he did not like the melody and sang only syllables of text, unheeding of content. I did not know it was possible to sing any song that way. It’s possible to play notes that way if you’re not into the music—but to sing so insensitively, unfeelingly, is a feat in itself, because singing is such an intimate extension of one’s inner life compared to playing an instrument. I’m quite sure I’ve never heard anything like it. Absolutely robotic.

His vocal technique was low-to-average and he carried a tune well, but he did not produce any music. I do not know the name of this particular “artist,” and that is well.

Mary Jane and I have been discussing what it means to really get inside the music and portray the attitudes and the message the composer intended—so that your audience can experience the magic. It was most interesting to hear an extreme example of “what not to do.”

Are there any other musicians who have had a similar experience? Or perhaps you’ve just happily experienced something quite the opposite?

Church-Musick

SWEETEST of sweets, I thank you when displeasure
Did through my body wound my minde,
You took me thence ; and in your house of pleasure
A daintie lodging me assign'd.

Now I in you without a bodie move,
Rising and falling with your wings :
We both together sweetly live and love,
Yet say sometimes, God help poore Kings.

Comfort, 'Ile ; for if you poste from me,
Sure I shall do so, and much more :
But if I travell in your companie,
You know the way to heavens doore.

--George Herbert

"Here was a man who seemed to me to excel all the authors
I had read in conveying the very quality of life as we live it
from moment to moment, but the wretched fellow, instead
of doing it all directly, insisted on mediating it through
what I still would have called the "Christian mythology."
The upshot of it all could nearly be expressed, "Christians
are wrong, but all the rest are bores."
-C. S. Lewis

You Know You’re a Lutheran Music Director When . . .

You have Sunday’s dates all memorized through the next few months, and are able, at the drop of a hat, to reel off all the musicians involved.

You arrive at church at least an hour before anyone else and make a beeline for the organ.

You have a food stash in the church basement (not even kidding).

You have a hard time getting downstairs to socialize because you’re always wrapping up “loose ends” of the music scene.

You acquire music faster than you can organize it.

Your way of “killing time” is getting in a few more hours of organ practice.

You receive news of an upcoming funeral, and immediately think, “Can I get off work that day?”

Your idea of a successful Christmas/Easter service is stuffing it full of as much music as folks will sit through.

You’re suddenly aware that you forgot to give the congregation that crucial piece of music history that would have made the chorale so much more meaningful . . . . that must be the reason for the lackluster singing.

Halfway through the introduction, you realize you’re playing the right hymn, wrong tune.

In an exchange with a Baptist, you come to the realization that he has (gasp!) no clue who Paul Manz is.

Your congregation is really eager to sing a nominal German stanza of “Silent Night.”

Weather Forecast by King's Singers

News from ELCA

Thought I'd pass along some sad news from the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America). They have decided to chuck the Biblical directive (regarding homosexuality) in favor of a more politically correct position. Read more.

The ELCA leaders should know that they haven't convinced God. "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders, nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God" (I Corinthians 6:9-11).

Pange Lingua

Sing, my tongue, the Savior's glory,
of His flesh the mystery sing;
of the Blood, all price exceeding,
shed by our immortal King,
destined, for the world's redemption,
from a noble womb to spring.

Of a pure and spotless Virgin
born for us on earth below,
He, as Man, with man conversing,
stayed, the seeds of truth to sow;
then He closed in solemn order
wondrously His life of woe.

On the night of that Last Supper,
seated with His chosen band,
He the Pascal victim eating,
first fulfills the Law's command;
then as Food to His Apostles
gives Himself with His own hand.

To the everlasting Father,
and the Son who reigns on high,
with the Holy Ghost proceeding
forth from Each eternally,
be salvation, honor, blessing,
might and endless majesty.
Amen. Alleluia.

--St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) for the Feast of Corpus Christi (now called the Solemnity of the Holy Body and Blood of Christ).

Churchly Spires

I'm reposting a piece I wrote shortly after my move to Milwaukee, so impressed was I with the many beckoning spires on the south side.

***

My eye caught the spark of beauty leaping from the horizon of downtown Milwaukee, a gladdening distraction from the torn-up roads in the construction zone. Polished, churchly spires gleamed against their gray and ghetto-like surroundings, testifying to a time when people did not settle for “whatever works,” but invested those solid piles of masonry with consideration for God’s glory and for posterity. Truly, a wise man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children.

Today, most congregations question the wisdom of building something so permanent when a cheap wooden building would do, but Milwaukee’s first settlers took the trouble to build not for their time but for the future. We see in abundance the structures built by pragmatism. Our society “lives for the moment,” and it produces art and architecture that will soon be cast away and forgotten. We mourn the lost aesthetic of beauty and extravagance, of high art poured out to the glory of God.

The soaring spires on Milwaukee’s skyline, as long as they stand, will never cease to signify the glory that is above and within them, and I believe their aesthetic will be reborn in my time. The consuming beauty of holiness is a call to worship, and we answer with our art.

“Lord, I have loved the habitation of Thine House, and the place where Thine honor dwelleth.”

8-29-07

Milton in Church

Milton in Church
But let my due feet never fail
To walk the studious cloister's pale,
And love the high-embowèd roof,
With antique pillars massy proof,
And storied windows richly dight
Casting a dim religious light.

There let the pealing organ blow
To the full-voiced quire below
In service high and anthems clear,
As may with sweetness, through mine ear,
Dissolve me into ecstasies,
And bring all Heaven before mine eyes.