an arrangement of glory to god, whose goodness shines on me

November 28, 2023 by Paul Vasile in Congregational Song, Music, Worship

Just before Advent, I received sample copies of an arrangement of “Glory to God, Whose Goodness Shines on Me” by Joel Raney that also weaves in a bit of the hymn “To God Be the Glory” (a more inclusive text, too). It’s an accessible SAB arrangement and available for purchase from Hope Publishing Company. It’s fun to see something you’ve written come back in a new way!

Here’s a preview recording of the arrangement from the publisher’s website.

i cannot dance unless you lead me

September 19, 2019 by Paul Vasile in Music

I Cannot Dance Unless You Lead Me is a layered song based on a saying of Saint Mechtild of Magdeburg (1210-1282), a medieval mystic who shared visions that inspired and shocked her contemporaries for their sensuous, intimate language of relationship with the Divine.

our tears falling down like rain

September 01, 2019 by Paul Vasile in Music

Our Tears, Falling Down Like Rain was written for the 2018 Annual Conference of The Hymn Society in St. Louis, Missouri. I hoped it would be a vessel big enough to hold many people’s prayers of repentance, especially those from diverse denominational and theological spaces. It’s essentially a Kyrie eleison (Lord/God, have mercy), a classic penitential text in the Christian tradition, rooted in a verse from Psalm 126:6.

forgiven, loved, and free

August 27, 2016 by Paul Vasile in Congregational Song, Worship

To receive forgiveness is to have a burden lifted from our shoulders; it is a gift of grace upon grace upon grace. Forgiveness frees us from the unrelenting demands of perfectionism and fear of failure; it nourishes hope and encourages us toward a whole and integrated life. When we are forgiven our offenses are in the past, forgotten by God. We're given a clean slate and invited to begin again.

But have these life-changing words found their way to the core of our being? Does our liturgy provide space to celebrate and savor the grace we have received? Do the words and tunes we sing in response to the Assurance of Pardon invite us to be present to moment and to share the joy with others?

we need beauty as well as bread

May 13, 2016 by Paul Vasile in Congregational Song, Music

Over the past year, I have found renewed joy, nourishment, and a profound sense of place in nature. Working in both northern and southern California has put me close to some of the country’s best national parks and I have been grateful for the resources and the time to visit several of them.

Driving and especially hiking through such varied topography – from giant redwoods to high desert, and seaside cliffs to peaks in the Sierras – has filled me with wonder. I have been humbled by the astounding variety of plants and trees, of landscapes carved from the slow movement of glaciers or the fiery power of a volcanic eruption. The expansiveness of sky and sea has inspired prayers of gratitude. The sound of an ecstatic bird chorus or the twilight gurgle of frogs has motivated me to lift my voice in praise of the Creator.