The One Who Sings Through Me….

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The Music Director of a congregation where I’ve shared my music and led services is planning a Hymn Sing,
featuring the music of UU composers. She asked me to write something about my music, to share in the program:
“Singing is my spiritual practice, an intentional response to Life. Sometimes the response is silence, listening for what needs to be sung, to recreate harmony. Song-writing is an act of love, a collaboration with the mystery, always yearning to be known.
“All my songs arise in their own way from this conversation with the Deep Self. Sometimes I ask for something specific, like a song that will see me safely through (e.g., “Safe Passage” or the new “Metta,” Loving Kindness song). When I asked for a song for my own memorial service, I heard ‘I Know This Rose.’
“When my discursive analytical mind tries to shape a song, it sounds pedantic. My task is to listen, record what I hear and then translate it into time signatures, keys, tempo, piano arrangement.
“I never know when a song will come through. And my deepest intention is to keep open to the One that sings through me.”
Thanks for asking!

 

Dearest One

What do you call God? After years pretending not to notice the Presence that is everywhere, the yearning for that most profound relationship outweighed my objections. A term of endearment emerged: “Dearest One!” – for God, Mystery, Presence, partner, family, companions in meditation.

And yet no term is big enough for the love we embody: Dearest One, Deepest One, Hidden One, everywhere! This song is a prayer and love song to [God].

Spirit Song Volume 2

Sing it alone or to your Beloved; sing it with a spiritual practice group or  congregation. Sing it with piano or guitar, or as a choral piece with harmony. 

 Who are you singing to?

Who sings these words to you?

What is it like to sing these words to your deepest, wisest self?

 Where is God / Life / Mystery in the song, as you sing?

 

LYRICS:

Dearest One, Deepest One, Hidden One, everywhere! Spacious One, Flowing One, Dreaming One, Knowing One! 

Weeping One, Laughing One, Holding One, Loving One!  Quiet One, Singing One, Listening One, Healing One! 

Yearning One, Dreaming One, Shaping One, Moving One!  Waiting One, Patient One, Resting One, Being One! 

Changing One, Present One, Changeless One, Empty One!  Dearest One, Deepest One, Hidden One, Everywhere!

Be Still and Know

When I was eight, sitting still, waiting for school assembly to begin, marveling at sunlight playing on the skin of my arm, I heard an inner voice, “The Christ is within.” “Of course it is!” replied the Self-assurance of the child. Years later, when I heard these words from Psalm 46:10, I felt them ringing throughout my life, from unchurched young adult activist to older spiritual explorer.

 These words point us away from our culture’s mad dash for more information, noise to fill the hole in our lives. They call us to the silence within, where our hunger for meaning, for relationship with our Deepest Wisest Self may be fed.

Sing this song as an act of reverence, commitment to listen, not to tumble into the next project. Use it to calm a reactive mind. As a love song to the Deep Self.

Spirit Song Volume 2

What do you notice about the stillness?

Where does the stillness live in your body?

Who is singing?

Where are you in the song?

Where is God?

 

 


All My Relations, Singing!

Mary Grigolia Memorial Services

After a near-death experience (1975) and my parents’ deaths (1979, 1982), I’ve been drawn to the threshold between life and death and to meditative states to calm the mind/body and help us let go. How do we cut through the western habit of seeing the body as a pesky object to subdue? Through the power of singing meditation!

Have you seen the beauty of red corpuscles, the complexity of white blood cells? We trace identity through blood lines. We imagine and take our place in the dance of being, singing and dancing through the blood, the skin, the breath.

When I hear this song, I imagine a circle dance with all my relations, those who came before, those with whom I explore and play, and those yet to come. I hear a strong, steady beat. I hear us singing in unison, then breaking into harmony. I feel us moving together, strong and supple, able to adapt to Love’s dream.

 What does it feel like in your body to open yourself to all your relations?

Who do you imagine singing (and dancing) with you?

What part of the body needs to be included in your singing?