Mary & Martha – Music Story

Women flourish where they have the power to publicly and freely sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to him. That power comes from their country’s legal system. It’s a nation’s laws (not an individual’s spirituality or vague sense of kindness to women) that protect women from violence and discrimination.

Laurie Stewart, JD, looks at four major religious worldviews and compares their impact on laws regarding the treatment of women. She asks, “Who or what holds the greatest hope for women?”(1)

1.       Islam: Women and the Laws of Saudi Arabia

2.       Hinduism: Women and the Laws of India

3.       Atheism: Women and the Laws of China

4.       Christianity: Women and the Laws of the United States

Professor Stewart concludes that Christianity is good for women!

Women flourish where they have the legal right to publicly and freely sit at Jesus’ feet and learn from him. The original documents detailing Jesus’ life and teachings make it clear why Christianity revolutionized the treatment of women.(2)

From the album “Faces” this video is scrolling playback of the song based on Luke 10:38-42.

Kathy

Scroll down here to read Luke 10:38-42.

Print (PDF) sheet music is available for Mary & Martha.

Click here for PDF.

(1) Click here for Stewart, JD, Laurie, “On the Record of Women’s Rights”

(2) See: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John

Shine! – Music Story

A praise chorus.

Original lyrics of this song are based on key phrases from Philippians 2:14-16. The melody hints at the children’s song, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.”¹

From the album “A ChorusBook” this video is music overlaid on slides.

Kathy

Click here to read Philippians 2:14-16.

Digital (MusicXML) and/or print (PDF) sheet music is available for Shine!

Click here for MusicXML.
(MusicXML™ is the standard open format for sharing digital sheet music. Check the help files in your music notation app for directions on importing MusicXML files.)

Click here for PDF.

¹ https://www.godtube.com/popular-hymns/this-little-light-of-mine/

Joy! – Music Story

Joy! a praise chorus. Original lyrics of this joyful chorus are set to the tune “I’ve Got the Joy.”  This lively chorus about Jesus’ love will get your hands clapping and feet dancing.

From the album “A ChorusBook,” this video is scrolling playback of a song based on Philippians 4:4.

Kathy

Click here to read Philippians 4,

Print (PDF) and/or digital (MusicXML) sheet music is available for Joy!.

Click here for PDF.

Click here for MusicXML.
(MusicXML™ is the standard open format for sharing digital sheet music. Check the help files in your music notation app for directions on importing MusicXML files.) 

Seeds

I have a black thumb. Indoor plants are a problem for me. That’s why I have silk flowers in my house. They look realistic. But they don’t require water, don’t wilt, and require minimal maintenance.

Last year I purchased a Garden Tower. What was I thinking! I would have to start vegetable seeds indoors. Would they grow? Given my track record, this was iffy. I was so relieved when 50 seeds sprouted and could be transplanted outside. The summer rain and my garden hose kept the soil in the tower moist. In a few weeks I had delicious homegrown food. 

Jesus said that people are like seeds. And that presents a problem for us. Seeds illustrate the tension between losing life and gaining life, between living and dying. This 41-minute presentation follows seeds through the Bible, unearthing the tension they symbolize.

Kathy

Notes pages of this PowerPoint presentation are available as a PDF.

Click here for PDF

Print (PDF) sheet music is available for Seeds, a song based on the Parable of the Sower and featured in the presentation.

Click here for PDF

You can read the Parable of the Sower here, here, and here.

Jesus Is Lord – Music Story

In his letter to the Philippian church the Apostle Paul wrote one of the most moving descriptions of Jesus. 

Jesus – 

Humble

Obedient

Exalted

– Lord!

From the album “A ChorusBook” this song sets Philippians 2:6-11 to music.

Kathy

Click here to read Philippians 2.

Print (PDF for choir and piano) and/or digital (MusicXML for string instruments) sheet music is available for Jesus Is Lord.

Click here for PDF.

Click here for MusicXML.
(MusicXML™ is the standard open format for sharing digital sheet music. Check the help files in your music notation app for directions on importing MusicXML files.) 

Grandma’s Christmas Tree – Music Story

For Sara, age 14, so she remembers Christmases past.

Grandma’s Christmas Tree

Tiny white lights are woven in branches.

Red balls of all sizes and candy cane horses.

Cross-stitched pictures in gilded frames.

Little red stockings stitched with our names.

Three little kittens who found their mittens.

Vintage tree topper and little toy engines.

Glass icicles, red tambourines.

Needlepoint wagon, glass figurines.

Rotund Santa,

little red hearts,

sequined balls,

sequined trees.

Horns and trumpets,

candy canes,

picture frames,

choo-choo trains.

Memories grace Grandma's Christmas tree.

Granny Square stockings boast chocolate.

Three little bears, Baby, Mister, Misses.

Three wise men,

sheep and shepherd,

Christmas star,

Baby King!

Bring us joy and delight

this holy Christmas night.

Memories grace Grandma's Christmas tree.

From the album “Silly or Celebratory – Songs for Sara Lily” this video is scrolling playback of the song.

Kathy

Print (PDF) sheet music is available for Grandma’s Christmas Tree.

Click here for PDF.

Nights Are Long - Music Story

Dad was a miller by trade. The company he worked for made restaurant quality food mixes. My favorite was wild rice pancake mix. After years of inhaling flour and other dry baking ingredients, he developed COPD. There were times when he couldn’t sleep unless he was sitting up. He sent me a poem he wrote about his love/hate relationship with his lazy boy chair. I set the poem to music, below.

Despite COPD, Dad was grateful. This is in his own handwriting.

For those of you who have trouble deciphering a lefty’s script, this is what he wrote:

Well it has been fun to go back into the past. Perhaps one could be proud of one’s ancestors, but I am much more grateful that through faith in Christ I have been born into the family of God. John 1:12 “But as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” My prayer is that this might be real in the lives of all who read this. Merry Christmas – 1977 Dwayne

From the album “This and That” this video is scrolling playback of the Dad’s lazy-boy-chair lament.

Kathy

Click here to read John 1:12, the verse Dad quoted.

Print (PDF) and/or digital (MusicXML) sheet music is available for Nights Are Long.

Click here for PDF.

Click here for MusicXML.
(MusicXML™ is the standard open format for sharing digital sheet music. Check the help files in your music notation app for directions on importing MusicXML files.)