In Flanders Fields

Music – Stephen Rew

Text – John McCrae

In Flanders Fields the poppies grow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place, and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly.

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead.  Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie,

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

Prelude from Le Tombeau de Couperin (1917)

Music – Maurice Ravel

  Somewhere I Have Never Traveled

Music – Kevin Foster

Text – Thomas Troeger

Somewhere I have never traveled

is the place I long to be –

its hills, its plains, and streams

are known yet unknown to me –

just beyond the last vision of my waking dreams,

over the edge of the mind’s vast sea

and still past that to a farther rim –

there, precisely there,

marked on no map or chart

but glimpsed through hope,

through the reach and stretch of the yearning heart

and the wordless prayer it offers

when the land I’ve walked

and the silhouette of the hills

against the last leaning light of day

are carried off in the rising breath

of wind blowing through the darkened cedars

that sway and bow to the music

sounding from somewhere I have never traveled.

You Do Not Walk Alone

Music – Elaine Hagenberg

Text – Traditional Irish Blessing

May you see God’s light on the path ahead

When the road you walk is dark.

May you always hear, even in your hour of sorrow,

The gentle singing of the lark.

When times are hard may hardness never turn your heart to stone,

May you always remember when the shadows fall –

You do not walk alone.

Psalm 23

Music – Rollo Dilworth

Text – Marilyn Nelson, based on Psalm 23

Adonai, my shepherd,

I know no need.

In lush meadows You invite my soul to rest and recline;

Together we walk beside the dance of light on quiet waters.

You give me back myself, point me to road toward justice,

One of Your sacred names.

Even when I walk in a valley dark as the shadow of death,

I know no fear, for You are near me with Your staff and crook, and I am safe.

You spread out a feast before me with those who were my enemies.

You touch my head with fragrant oil; my thanks overflows.

May goodness and mercy follow me all the days of my life,

And may I make my home in the house of the Lord forever.

Lead with Love

Music & Text – Melanie DeMore

You gotta put one foot in front of the other and lead with love!

Don’t give up hope. You’re not alone.  Don’t you give up. Keep moving on.

Lift up your eyes and don’t you despair.

Look up ahead, the path is there.

I know you’re scared, and I’m scared, too.

But here I am, right next to you!

Big Yellow Taxi

Music & Text – Joni Mitchell

Arrangement – Matt & Adam Podd

They paved paradise and put up a parking lot

With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swingin’ hot spot

Don’t it always seem to go

That you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone?

The paved paradise, put up a parking lot.

They took all the trees, put ‘em in a tree museum

And they charged the people a dollar and a half just to see ‘em

Hey Farmer, farmer, put away that DDT now

Give me spots on my apples

But leave me the birds and the bees, please.

Late last night, I heard the screen door slam

And a big yellow taxi took away my old man.

Let the Life I’ve Lived Speak for Me

Music & Additional Text – Gwyneth Walker

Original Text – traditional folk

Let the life I’ve lived speak for me.

When I come to the end of the road, and I lay down my heavy load,

Let the life I’ve lived speak for me.

Let the friends I’ve made speak for me.

When I come to the end of the road, and I lay down my heavy load,

Let the friends I’ve made speak for me.

Lay down your burden, and rest with the setting sun.

All the beauty of your life will shine when the day is done.

Let the love I’ve shared speak for me.

Let the love I’ve tried to share, and the burdens I’ve struggled to bear,

All this life of joy and care, speak for me.

Sanctuary

Music & Text – Jason Robert Brown

Arrangement – Mac Huff

That’s a siren.  There’s an ambulance down in the street.

Shut the window.  Pull the curtain, the lights are blinding.

I can’t hear with the children crying.

I can’t think with the anger flying.

I can’t breathe with my mentors dying, and I…

I am searching for sanctuary.  Will you shelter me?

I am writing your name in the air.  Can you see me?

You’ve been waiting.  I can tell from your steps in the hall.

You’ve been silent.  Keeping watch as the world’s unwinding.

You are standing in isolation.

You have shut down communication.

You are leading your own migration, and I…

I am searching for sanctuary.  Will you shelter me?

I am stretching my arms to the sky.  Can you reach me?

If you’ll be my walls; if you’ll be my roof.

If you’ll keep me safe, I will give you music!

I am searching for sanctuary.

Will you shelter me?

I am lost at the end of the world.

Can you find me?

I am reaching for sanctuary.

Will you shelter me?

I am praying for sanctuary.

Will you shelter me?

I am here.  I am here.  I am here.

Will you shelter me?