February 2024 - Finding the Meaning in Everyday Life

May The Love of The Father

May the Love of the Father is yet another moving prayer from John Birch. It calls upon the power of the Holy Trinity to lift our spirits bringing peacefulness to our lives. John Birch has an ability to convey the mystery God’s love in language that speaks to the modern day heart.

May the love of the Father, the tenderness of the Son, and the presence of the Spirit gladden your heart, and bring peace to your soul; this day and all days. Amen.

I chose to set these words as a benediction response or blessing. The composition debuted in worship for the first time at Rio Rancho Presbyterian Church in Rio Rancho NM. It is written for four-part (SATB) choir with piano accompaniment. The voice parts are in a comfortable range for most volunteer choirs. The flowing accompaniment supports the choir, rising and falling to provide a sense of movement and encouragement.

I have always loved the sung responses used during worship. I have enjoyed writing a variety of introits, prayer responses, and benediction responses. Sometimes they take me a while, but this one seemed to speak to me almost immediately after I read Mr. Birch’s prayer. I added an Amen to this composition simply because I just like the feeling I get when I sing them.

A midi audio of the composition is available for you below.

If you would like a copy of this composition you can find it HERE. A selection of other compositions can be found at Music Notes Market Place.

Happy Things January 2024

I’ve written before about the book 14,000 things to be happy about by Barbara Ann Kipfer. I think that focusing on happy thing of the things we are happy about is a fabulous strategy for improving health and happiness. So, I decided to do a monthly blog post about my happy things. Finding things to be happy about in January was a little tough. But, that’s probably when I need it the most.

brown framed eyeglasses on a calendar — Photo by Leeloo The First on Pexels.com

January is the month of my deceased daughter’s birthday and this year it was the month when my mother died. If that’s not bad enough, it was also my mother’s birthday. This involved frantic travel to get to her before she passed, the painfully sad event, and the family drama that frequently rears its ugly head around such events.

If I wasn’t intentional about it I could have easily missed all of the things I’m grateful for and feel happy about.

Here’s my January 2024 list:

sea shells on body of water — Photo by Oleksandr P on Pexels.com

A caring Hospice chaplain
Abundant sea shells on the beach
Watching ocean waves under an amazing cloudy sky
Finding a restaurant that could manage food allergies that overlooked the water.
Phone calls from friends and family
Successfully completing a composition I’d been working on for a long time
A hotel that offered compassion and a last minute reservation change without a fee
Slip on shoes
Flights that left and landed on time
Unsweetened iced tea
Puppy kisses
Beautiful hymns of faith
Allergy medication
A large woodpecker on the tree outside my office window

Humility

One of the lessons I am learning as an adult student of both composition and voice is humility. This humility is necessary in order to set aside any excess pride or superiority that can interfere with my learning. That isn’t always comfortable. Some definitions of humility include.

A modest or low view of one’s own importance
Freedom from pride or arrogance
The feeling or attitude that you have no special importance that makes you better than others
Not believing you are superior to others

While I believe all of these definitions are accurate, they don’t fully capture my experience as an adult learner. Then I found a description that was more illuminating. It said that people who are humble can still think highly of themselves, but are also aware of their mistakes, gaps in knowledge, and imperfections. This awareness of mistakes, gaps in knowledge, and imperfections has been very important in my current student status.

Jeff Boss at Forbes.com (3/1/25) wrote that humble people are confident and competent in themselves so much that they can help others. They don’t feel the need to boast but let their actions speak for their ideals. They don’t feel the need to show others how much they know. Humble people actively listen to others, and they are eager to understand others because they are curious. They are perpetual learners and realize that they don’t have all of the answers. Also, they glean knowledge from the experiences of others and crave more opportunities to learn. They accept feedback, assume responsibility, and they ask for help.

When I am able to engage in this manner I find that I am able to focus my attention on learning rather than trying to prove how much I already know, a practice that interferes with learning. It is also sometimes very difficult for me to ask for help. Unfortunately this has been my default mode for most of my life and now I’m trying to fill in the gaps in knowledge that resulted.

So what can we do to show up ready for learning in this way? I think the first step is to take a good look at your reasons for being in the situation. Are you there to get praise or acknowledgement for your brilliance or are you there to expand your knowledge? What behavior or attitude will help you most to achieve your goal. Don’t get me wrong – I LOVE praise and validation. But I learn the most when I don’t let that be what motivates my behavior.

The second step may be to identify where your areas of weakness might be as well as how willing you are to be vulnerable enough to show those areas of weakness to the person(s) that are trying to teach you something. For me that is sometimes not at all vulnerable and other times I can choose to be extremely open. This does not always feel comfortable, but with a trusted mentor or teacher, it can be so extremely effective.

Give it a try.