O land of rest...

Yesterday I enjoyed worshiping without playing - in other words - I had a vacation Sunday. I have next week off as well and plan to visit another congregation to see how they worship. A week ago (August 8th) I played Joseph Martin's arrangement of Land of Rest for the prelude. This was done with a little humour, pointing to my vacation time with the words:

O land of rest, for thee I sigh! When will the moment come...?

In reality, the words are not talking about vacation at all, but rather about the Christian's responsibility to keep on the heavenly road until we are called home to our reward.

I'm not sure that the words I recall are actually the ones that belong with Martin's arrangement. The tune names are similar but not identical. Martin indicates that the traditional American melody may have come from the UK originally but is known to have been widely used in Appalachia. That tune is called LAND OF REST. He also says that the words commonly used are from the 16th century.

The tune I'm more familiar with is O LAND OF REST and was written by William Miller in the 1800's. The verses have a refrain which are in keeping with the idea of continuing to work for the Kingdom:

We'll work 'til Jesus comes,
We'll work 'til Jesus comes,
We'll work 'til Jesus comes,
And we'll be gathered home.

Words by Elizabeth Mills

Unfortunately, neither of these tunes is in the Cyber Hymnal.

Summer Camp and Rain

As happens nearly every year, I seem to get lost in memories of summer camp. For 3 or 4 years as a teenager I spent about three weeks in July at what was then called Clarksburg Camp (Church of the Nazarene) within walking distance of Georgian Bay. I helped in the dining hall - we called it waitressing - but what it really meant was setting tables, filling salt shakers etc. and washing dishes. It meant early mornings after late nights around a campfire, and it produced lasting friendships and opportunities for spiritual growth.

There is so much music associated with those weeks that I could probably write several entries. The bunch of us girls washing dishes and cleaning up the dining hall would often sing to pass the time and some songs I recall are: Amen (the spiritual), a version of Psalm 100 put to music by a local musician, and He's got the whole world in His hands.

Then there were the traveling song evangelists that came to provide music for the services. I remember many of them, but one that holds a special place in my heart is Canadian Deverne Mullen. He created some of his own arrangements for the camp choir to sing and he always encouraged the teens to join. The tabernacle (meeting place) had a tin roof and you can imagine the deafening sound when it rained! We've had a couple really torrential downpours in the last week or so, and it made me think of Deverne singing "My, Didn't it Rain!" He always had this piece at the ready in case of a storm at camp.

The Father's glory

This morning at St. Andrew's our final hymn was "Shine, Jesus, Shine" which is also known by its first line, "Lord, the light of Your love is shining". I enjoy this hymn! It was written by Graham Kendrick and bears the copyright year of 1987 but still feels 'new' to me. I fear that says more about me (and my age?) than the hymn!

Do you ever go on 'auto-pilot' when you sing in church? I know I do. I'm looking at the hymn, and usually playing, and often singing but I'm not necessarily paying attention to the words and what I am singing about. The words of the refrain of this hymn are a prayer. I was paying attention today, and praying as I sang, and then the thought occurred to me: what would it mean for our land to be filled with the Father's glory? Would it mean that all is done to glorify God? Would that mean God's Kingdom has come here on earth? How can I (or you) help to bring that about? Does it mean sharing the good news (gospel) with those around us?

A few questions which I hope have made you think...

More Grace

Never doubt, dear reader, that God knows what it is we need before we ask. I began this day feeling rather overwhelmed with life's circumstances and wondering how I would cope with things coming up. This afternoon, my Mom phoned to see how I was, and to tell me that my aunt had woken up early - 4:30 a.m. early! - and had the overpowering urge to pray specifically for me. That was answer #1. After we finished on the phone I started straightening up the kitchen and put on a CD for company. One of the pieces in a medley struck home with a powerful hit. That was answer #2. The song is one my Mom often sang and the first line immediately came to mind:

He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater.
Words by Annie Johnson Flint

The power of music and words together never ceases to amaze me! I am thanking God for this gift today.

My Journey of Faith

On June 6, 2010 I became an official member of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church. I thought this would be a good place to share what I read to the congregation during that special service. The photo was taken while I was sharing my journey of faith.


"I am blessed to have been raised in a Christian home, with parents who lived out their faith every day. My Dad was a minister in the Church of the Nazarene, a small, evangelical denomination. During his 45+ years of ministry he served many congregations - some of them were church plants - and I recall occasions where the 6 of us, Mom, Dad, sisters, brother and I, were the only ones present for a service. I saw how God gave them strength to continue living a Christian life in spite of circumstances which might be discouraging.

"At age 8 I attended summer camp and accepted Christ as my Saviour. I realized my parents’ faith would not save me; I had to make my own decision. With God’s help, I have tried to keep that commitment. As a teenager, I asked the Holy Spirit to come to me, to sanctify – that is, make holy – my life for God’s service.

"I began playing for church at age 12 which was about the time my oldest sister left home for college. When I finished high school in Ontario, I came out to Winnipeg to attend Canadian Nazarene College to study church music. A few years later I met Gord in an adult Sunday School class; we were married and Wesley joined our family a year later.

"One day in early 1998, I received in the mail an appeal from the Music Committee of St. Andrew's. They were looking for an organist and, I presume, got my name from the Music Teachers' directory as an organ teacher who might have a student looking for a job. Such appeals had come to me before and I usually ignored them, but this time I felt prompted to respond. I would just take one step, I told myself, and see what happened.

"I called Susan, the contact given for St. Andrew's. That step led to us (the Keeley family) visiting for a morning worship service. It was Annual Meeting Sunday and while the rest of you were downstairs eating - I think it was chicken a la king - Susan and I were upstairs talking. I took the next step - meeting with the Music Committee, and the rest as they say, is history.

"I am so thankful to God for leading my family and me to the Presbyterian Church! St. Andrew's is my church home; you are family to me. I am blessed to be part of this fellowship."

Dreaming in Music 3

Well I just learned something about myself; I dream in music more often than I want to freely admit. (I just checked my previous posts and had to change this to #3 because I've already written about this twice before!) I suppose more accurately, this post should be called "Practising in my Dreams" because that is what I was doing. This actually happened a couple weeks ago before I 'nailed' the rhythm in one particular section of a Mark Hayes piano arrangement I'm working on. In my sleep I went over and over the troublesome part until I felt confident that I really had it.

Many stories have been told about how our subconscious brain works on things while we're sleeping. One I remember, maybe because I like to sew, is the story of the man who was trying to figure out the needle and bobbin technique for the sewing machine. He dreamt the solution to his dilemma.

Oh, by the way, the piece I'm so intent on learning? Sing to the Lord by Robert Sterling. I have so far been unsuccessful in finding the words which I'm guessing are still under copyright. If one of my readers has a source I could look up, please do let me know.