So grateful to have my song God Calls You Good included in The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada’s new collection titled Songs for the Holy Other: Hymns Affirming the LGBTQIA2S+ Community, released at their annual conference this month.
Read MoreEvery Christmas for the last few years I've been inspired to re-arrange a carol or two for solo piano. It's a creative challenge to take something well-known and make it my own. It also gives me a chance to dig deeper into the text and see how it might come alive through sound. It's a bit of theological exploration through music that first emerges through improvisation.
This year I found myself drawn over and over to Away in a Manger (to the tune MUELLER) as well as Shirley Erena Murray's sobering adaptation, Away and In Danger.
Read MoreThemes of spiritual pilgrimage and journey are woven through the last few years of my work. While I’ve blogged about pilgrimage before and even compiled a list of songs on the theme, it wasn’t until this year I actually wrote a song of my own about it. The Journey of a Thousand Miles is rhythmic walking song based on a teaching of Taoist teacher Laozi (also known as Lao Tzu), with some added text of my own.
Read MoreThis list of congregational songs and online resources is for communities seeking to be more intentional about singing both praise and protest in worship.
Read MorePray With Our Feet is a protest song written a few days after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Based on a quotation by Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, it speaks back to the shallow 'thoughts and prayers' and inaction of American politicians in face of ongoing mass shootings and gun violence.
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