Songs for Lent

Song 35: Waiting It Out

April 11/Monday of Holy Week Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD! ~ Ps 27.14 Have you ever thought about how much time you spend waiting?  Biding time in a TSA or grocery store line, checking the status of a college or job application, awaiting the MRI report or the baby’s…

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Songs for Lent

Song 34: Guarding the Sheep

April 9/Fifth Saturday of Lent He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together,            he guards them as a shepherd his flock. ~ Jer 31.10 Gathering scattered sheep, guarding the flock — for most of us, attuned only to the highways and  byways of modern urban or suburban life, this sounds picturesque, even effortless.  We have an image of Jesus the…

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Songs for Lent

Song 32: Promises to Keep

April 7/Fifth Thursday of Lent  He remembers forever his covenant which he made binding for a thousand generations – Which he entered into with Abraham and by his oath to Isaac. ~ Ps 105.8-9 As luck (and the liturgical calendar) would have it, today’s psalm verse about keeping covenant falls on my parents’ sixty-fourth wedding anniversary.  Their binding commitment to each…

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Songs for Lent

Song 31: We Got Rhythm

April 6/Fifth Wednesday of Lent “Praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.” ~ Daniel 3.53 Sometimes prayer rises easily from our hearts to God’s ears; other times, its flow is blocked by anxiety or doubt.  In these moments when we are at a loss for words, we might consider reaching for the Bible, to let God pray through us and with…

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Songs for Lent

Song 30: Gone Missing

April 5/Fifth Tuesday of Lent  Hide not your face from me in the day of my distress.  Incline your ear to me; in the day when I call, answer me speedily. ~ Ps 102.2 As the days of our distress have accumulated in the past year, we may well wonder, where has God been in all of this?  It may…

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Songs for Lent

Song 29: Laying the Table

April 4/Fifth Monday of Lent You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. ~ Ps 23.5 Setting a lovely table is a way of honoring one’s guests.  Whether it is a small Ikea table laid for two with simple utensils, humble dinnerware, and a posy of wildflowers,…

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Songs for Lent

Song 28: Deep Down

April 2/Fourth Saturday of Lent Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me.O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous, you who test the hearts and minds, O righteous God. ~ Ps 7.8-9   Through the years, the stratagem known as “Bambi eyes,” essentially a…

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Songs for Lent

Song 26: Taking a Knee

March 31/Fourth Thursday of Lent Our fathers made a calf in Horeb and adored a molten image;They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass. ~ Ps 106.19-20 We may regard ourselves as far too sophisticated and worldly to bow down before a molten image (the Hebrew word translated “adored” is a rarely-used verb…

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Songs for Lent

Song 25: Finishing the Hat

March 30/Fourth Wednesday of Lent The LORD is good to all and compassionate toward all his works.The LORD is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth. ~ Ps 145.9, 18 Stephen Sondheim’s song “Finishing the Hat,” from the 1984 musical Sunday in the Park with George, is a paean to the creative…

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Songs for Lent

Song 24: Peace Like a River

March 29/Fourth Tuesday of Lent There is a river whose streams gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High.God is in its midst, it shall not be disturbed; God will help it at the break of dawn. ~ Ps 46.5-6 Peace has been a scarce commodity in our lives in the past couple of years, especially…

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