“…February alone, which has 28, every leap year, 29.”  And what a special month this February is shaping up to be!  The choir has had a run of great anthems lately, and that streak continues this month with a wide variety that promises to please and offend almost everyone.

We begin in the midst of Epiphany with a setting of the first reading for the 5th by K. Lee Scott, “Have You Not Known?”  There will be a part for the congregation to sing, making the finale truly grand.

They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.  They shall mount up as eagles; they shall run and not grow weary; they shall walk and never faint.

Sunday the 12th brings a new anthem for the choir.  My wife brought it home last summer from a reading session.  It always brings a smile to my face when I play it, and it is hoped that it will bring joy to you when you hear it.  “I Love to Sing the Story” is a compilation of four [4] hymns from my Baptist past:  “I Love to Tell the Story”; “Love Lifted Me”; “Love is the Theme”; and “Since I Have Been Redeemed.”  Since so many of these have to do with “Love” and the anthem is so much fun, it seemed appropriate on this Sunday.
           
Transfiguration Sunday seemed like a great time to bring back “Shine, Jesus, Shine” by the contemporary British hymn writer Graham Kendrick.

Lent starts on the 22nd with Ash Wednesday.  Our bishop is scheduled to be with us on the first Sunday in Lent.  It was difficult to find an anthem that fits both the start of Lent with the bishop’s visit.  However, right under my nose was a fitting selection from my days at First Lutheran Church in Louisville, KY.  For those being confirmed, and for all of us on our Christian journeys, we offer these words by the Rev. Charles Lee Reynolds:

Give me a faith, O Lord, I pray, A faith that makes me strong each day,
That helps me face the storms of life, That takes away the sting of strife.

Give me a joy that faith will bring, A joy that helps my heart to sing,
Whate’er the tasks and perils be, And trials sore that trouble me.

Give me the peace that faith will give, A peace that shows me how to live
Above the loud and mighty roar Of winds and waves upon life’s shore.
               Give me the peace.

Give me the hope that faith bestows, A hope that triumphs thro’ all woes,
To see the dawning of the hour When all shall recognize thy pow’r, thy pow’r.

Give me a faith that ever grows In spite of clouds and cruel foes;
A faith that holds me close to thee, And from all ills will set me free.
               Give me a faith, give me a faith.
                                                           

Remember our Offertory Anthem on Sunday, February 22nd?...

Precious Lord, take my hand
Thomas Dorsey was a jazz musician from Atlanta. In 1926 he gave up writing secular music to concentrate exclusively on spiritual music.

In 1932, experiencing many of the problems common to many people living during the depression, he also faced the problem of having many people think his music too worldly — the “devil’s music” they called it. Later he could laugh about it. He said, “I got kicked out of some of the best churches in the land.” But the real kick in the teeth came one night in St. Louis when he received a telegram informing him that his pregnant wife had died suddenly.

Dorsey was so filled with grief that his faith was shaken to the roots, but instead of wallowing in self-pity, he turned to the discipline he knew best ... music. In the midst of agony, he wrote the following lyrics:

“Precious Lord, take my hand, Lead me on, let me stand, I am tired, I am weak, I am worn. Through the storm, through the night, lead me on to the light; take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.”

...We must remember that we do not need to be on the top of the mountain for God to use us in ministry, for many times our view from the valley also encourages those who travel with us.