Pastor Anne’s April 18 sermon, loosely, addresses the apparent paradox of evil existing in an existence governed by a God who is Love. I have wrestled with this myself for my entire life, as I am sure many before and many after me shall.

I am left with the reality that I cannot control, or really begin to prevent, evil and suffering in the world. All I have and can control is my reasoned response to evil and suffering. I think of the work that God has given us to do, day by day.

In the 8th movement of Kyle Smith’s masterpiece, The Arc in the Sky, the narrator encounters a group of fishermen:

I would stand and watch them
as they sat at their work.
 
“what are you doing?” i’d say.
 
“we’re mending our nets,” they’d say.
 
“mending?”
 
“yes. mending our nets.”
 
“why must you mend them?”
 
“they’re torn. they’ve been broken into.
the night-fish have leapt through them
in the sea. every night they break them;
and every day, we mend.”

The night of suffering will continue to fall. Every day, we mend.

This week’s Musical Meditation was performed by The Crossing under the direction of Donald Nally.

– Logan Henke, Music Minister

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As spring beckons us outdoors and we finally enjoy the fruits of fellowship before the Doric columns and doors of the church, my mind is drawn to the words of the 133rd Psalm.

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

Arvo Pärt’s setting in Russian (despite the title in Latin) is bright and open, leaving space to breathe. The music beckons the sun to warmly shine through like the first light that illumines the spring dew of which the Psalm speaks.

It is like the precious ointment…as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life forever more.

This week’s Musical Meditation was performed by Vox Clamantis.

– Logan Henke, Music Minister

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The treasured hymn All Glory, Laud and Honor was first written in the year 820 by Theodulf of Orléans while in captivity, who had been Bishop of Orléans during the reign of Charlemagne. Following a power struggle after Charlemagne’s death, Theodulf had been imprisoned for backing the wrong successor. Myth has it that Theodulf’s captor, Louis the Pious, heard him sing the hymn and released Theodulf on the condition that All Glory, Laud and Honor be thenceforth sung every Palm Sunday thereafter.

The text of the hymn is based upon Matthew 21 and sings of the victorious arrival of Jesus into Jerusalem. Here, the Choir of King’s College of Cambridge sings the hymn while in procession on Palm Sunday, 2013.

– Logan Henke, Music Minister

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The text of the most famous Celtic hymn is so ancient that its authorship can not be claimed for certain. Be Thou My Vision, or Bi Thus a Mo Shúile in the modern Irish, is traditionally attributed to the 8th-century Irish poet, Saint Dal­lán For­gaill.

No matter its authorship, this much is true: Before it was sung around the world, Be Thou My Vision was sung on the Emerald Ilse by the faithful for centuries indeed.

This week’s Music Meditation is performed by Moya Brennan.

– Logan Henke, Music Minister

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There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus…So begins the third chapter of John’s gospel, the chapter from which the most famous piece of scripture unfolds. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,” Jesus reveals to Nicodemus.

In 1725, Bach applied his singular talent to this text in one of his cantatas, Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt. Although written for Pentecost, Bach captures the joy, hope, and sacrifice imbued within Christ’s words to Nicodemus.

The meditation this week is that cantata, performed by the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir.

– Logan Henke, Music Minister

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This week’s Music Meditation is Stars by Eriks Esenvalds. It is a fitting homage to the psalm for this week, Psalm 19, which begins “The Heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork.” The poet of Stars, Sara Teasdale, meditates on the beauty of God’s handiwork of the firmament, finally acknowledging:

And I know that I
Am honored to be
Witness
Of so much majesty

The meditation this week was recorded by Roots in the Sky, a professional chamber choir from Bozeman, MT.

– Logan Henke, Music Minister

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