Tag: Inspiration

Posted in Encouragement

“This Is My Song”

Posted on by Neal Saye

I love this hymn we sang at church this week, as the theme of the service was celebrating our nation’s independence holiday.

It challenges the belief that the United States is “God’s country,” that the USA is more special and deserving of good than other nations.

Take a look at the lyrics, with my emphasis in red:

This Is My Song

by Georgia Elma Harkness, Jean Sibelius, and Lloyd Stone

Verse 1

This is my song O God of all the nations

A song of peace for lands afar and mine

This is my home the country where my heart is

Here are my hopes my dreams my holy shrine

But other hearts in other lands are beating

With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine

Verse 2

My country’s skies are bluer than the ocean

And sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine

But other lands have sunlight too and clover

And skies are everywhere as blue as mine

O hear my song Thou God of all nations

A song of peace for their land and for mine

Verse 3

This is my prayer O Lord of all earth’s kingdoms

Thy kingdom come on earth Thy will be done

Let Christ be lifted up till all shall serve Him

And hearts united learn to live as one

O hear my prayer Thou God of all nations

Myself I give Thee let Thy will be done

God bless … the World and all its Nations.

Posted in Holidays and Seasonal Changes

In Flanders Fields

Posted on by Neal Saye

From 1914 to 1918, Flanders Fields was a major battle theatre on the Western Front during the First World War. A million soldiers from more than 50 different countries were wounded, missing or killed in action here. visitflanders.com

The poem, ‘In Flanders Fields’, by John McCrae, went on to inspire the use of the poppy, which once grew on the battlefields of Flanders Fields, to become an enduring symbol of remembrance across the world. 

HAVE A BLESSED MEMORIAL DAY 2024

Posted in In Our Own Backyard, Lean in to the Lovely

Angeling

Posted on by Neal Saye

This morning we picked up breakfast sandwiches and coffee and headed over to Savannah’s beautiful Bonaventure Cemetery for a forenoon (Isn’t that a cool word?) picnic.

Walking afterwards, we came across her …

“What’s going on here?” I quietly asked.

(I had to repeat my question several times before she answered me.)

I had to lean in to hear her.

“Angeling is hard work.”

I simply nodded and motioned for Robert to soundlessly move along.

Posted in Art Joy

A Fresh and Just Look at Stained Glass … “Saint Kern“

Posted on by Neal Saye

Today Robert and I visited the Walter Museum of Art in Baltimore. Our favorite exhibit was one called “Saint Amelie.”

SAINT AMELIE

Kehinde Wiley (American, born 1977), 2014

Saint Amelie is one of a series of twelve freestanding stained glass panels by Kehinde Wiley that depict contemporary portraits of young Black residents of Brooklyn, New York. It mirrors the form, composition, figural pose, and framing of historic stained glass windows from the medieval and Renaissance periods, and specifically a window titled Saint Amelie by the French Neoclassical painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780-1867).

Wiley honors his subject, Kern Alexander, whom he used as a model in multiple works, by depicting him in a context traditionally reserved for Christian saints and religious contemplation.

Like much in Wiley’s work, Saint Amelie explores the invisibility of Black people within the traditional art historical canon.

Hand-painted stained glass, mounted on lightbox with aluminum frame.

A beautiful exhibit!

Posted in Monday Moaning or Monday Marveling?

Monday Moaning or Monday Marveling? 3/18/24 “All”

Posted on by Neal Saye

Marveling this morn, thinking back on the church Robert and I walked past on a walk near our Airbnb in the Riverside neighborhood of Jacksonville over the weekend.

It’s Romanesque and Byzantine architecture first caught our eyes. But then the large sign out front sparkled in joyfully inclusive welcome.

Look closer …

Thank you, Riverside. You are a Marvel.

Posted in Beauty, Holiday Joy

Taize

Posted on by Neal Saye

I love this current liturgical season of Lent on the Christian calendar. For me, it’s a time to calm down, quiet down, and reflect before the exuberant excitement of Easter.

For the four Wednesdays before Palm Sunday, the church that Robert and I attend, Asbury Memorial here in Savannah, holds brief and beautifully simple Taize services.

Asbury Memorial

“The Taizé prayer service is from an interfaith community founded in Taizé, France in 1940. A Taizé service provides a meditative style of song and prayer known for its simplicity and focus on Christ. Today the Taizé community comprises those of Catholic and Protestant backgrounds from regions around the globe. At a Taizé service we pray as we sing, as we reflect on the Scripture reading, as we sit in silence, and as we offer our prayers to Christ.” jaxcathedral.org

Whatever your belief, or lack of, may Peace be your Portion at this time of year.

Here is a neat article with more info about Taize, if you are in the slightest bit interested …

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/trevin-wax/a-look-at-the-taize-community/?amp