This coming Sunday a new work of mine will be sung at Spirit of Hope United Methodist Church in Golden Valley, MN. In the Fall of 2011 Wendy Gennaula, my wife, began to sing there as a member of the quartet of choir section leaders. Jerry Rubino, the director of music at the church, asked if I would be interested in writing a solo piece for Wendy. I love to write music for Wendy and jumped at the opportunity to do so again.
But the first question that came to my mind was "what text to set to music?" And my go to answer for this question is "the Psalms." In my experience, all the emotions of the human experience can be found there. When I was young I had the idea that the Bible was like a users manual for life. It told you exactly what you should do. As I've grown older, I have found that that approach is not very helpful. Instead of finding the best answers in the Bible, I have found the best questions. And a perfect place to find those questions is the Psalms. There one will find joy, rage, loneliness, emptiness, fullness, companionship, peace, and sorrow. But which Psalm? There are 150 of them!
Sometimes the text finds you. I honestly can't remember where I first heard Psalm 31 in the Fall of 2011. Was it at the wedding of friends? It might have been during a service at First Covenant where I sing in the choir once a month. It could have also been the Sunday that I visited Spirit of Hope to hear Wendy sing with the rest of the choir. In any case I remember hearing a Psalm Response based on Psalm 31:24. "...all you who hope in the LORD." Hope in the Lord. A Spirit of Hope.
Sometimes the text finds you.
