Tag: FHU Chorale

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The Prayer of the Children

choraleIn January, the Freed-Hardeman Chorale toured North Texas during their Winter Tour. I was blessed to hear them sing most every night of the 12 day tour, and one of my favorite songs they sang was written by Kurt Bestor. In 2005, he shared the background for the song and how it was born from his frustration over the horrendous civil war and ethnic cleansing that was taking place in the former country of Yugoslavia. Having lived in this war-torn country during the 70’s, he grew up loving the people with whom he lived and served. The following is a portion of his explanation behind “Prayer of the Children…”

“When Yugoslavian President Josip Broz Tito died, different political factions jockeyed for position and the inevitable happened – civil war. Suddenly my friends were pitted against each other. Serbian brother wouldn’t talk to Croatian sister-in-law. Bosnian mother disowned Serbian son-in-law and so it went. Meanwhile, all I could do was stay glued to the TV back in the US and sink deeper in a sense of hopelessness.

Finally, one night I began channeling these deep feelings into a wordless melody. Then little by little I added words….Can you hear….? Can you feel……? I started prayer of the childrenwith these feelings – sensations that the children struggling to live in this difficult time might be feeling. Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian children all felt the same feelings of confusion and sadness and it was for them that I was writing this song.

I took a long night to finish the song and I sang it for my wife and family, but that was about it. I put it away for awhile never thinking to sing it publicly. Then one night, as I struggled to fill a 2-hour concert, I decided to sing “Prayer of the Children.”  I’m not sure, but I think it was 1994. The song had an immediate reaction on those in attendance and I was surprised at the almost hushed sound as I sang.”

The interpretation (signing) is being done by my daughter, Emili Bruce. She is a junior, Arts & Humanities Major at Freed-Hardeman University.

Can you hear the prayer of the children?
On bended knee, in the shadow of an unknown room
Empty eyes with no more tears to cry
Turning heavenward toward the light

Crying Jesus*, help me
To see the morning light-of one more day
But if I should die before I wake,
I pray my soul to take

Can you feel the hearts of the children?
Aching for home, for something of their very own
Reaching hands, with nothing to hold on to,
But hope for a better day a better day

Crying Jesus*, help me
To feel the love again in my own land
But if unknown roads lead away from home,
Give me loving arms, away from harm

Can you hear the voice of the children?
Softly pleading for silence in a shattered world?
Angry guns preach a gospel full of hate,
Blood of the innocent on their hands

Crying Jesus*, help me
To feel the sun again upon my face,
For when darkness clears I know you’re near,
Bringing peace again

Dali cujete sve djecje molitive?
(Croatian translation: ‘Can you hear all the children’s prayers?’)
Can you hear the prayer of the children?

 

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Mary’s Song…Luke 1

Do we realize how powerful our words can be? We hear the saying a lot, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me…” But in all honesty, that is not true, and I speak from experience. The words that we speak on a daily basis can either bring someone’s spirit up or down. Even the experiences that we have and participate in can have a positive or negative effect on our attitudes and actions. In Luke 1, we read the account of when the angel of God came to Mary and told her that she would bear God’s Son. Most of the time we focus on her final reply, “Behold, I am a bond slave of the Lord; may it be done to me Mary's songaccording to your word.” If we put ourselves in that situation, in Mary’s position, would we respond the same? As we read the chapter, we see that Mary goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth who was six months pregnant at the time. Shortly after arriving and receiving blessings from her cousin, she begins to pour out her heart to the Lord about her situation. What she says, or sings, in this passage is known to many as Mary’s song or in some circles today it is known as Magnificat.

When I was asked to write my thoughts about this song, I had no idea how I was going to begin. To start, I talked with my roommate about the different aspects and approaches that I could use. As a student at Freed-Hardeman University, and a member of the Chorale, I decided to ask some of my peers their perspective of this hymn. Breaking it down verse by verse, I asked them about a few questions;
1) what thoughts ‘spoke’ to them in the verses,
2) on a personal level, how are they affected by the song, and
3) how could this hymn affect them in their own spiritual life.
Here are a few of their responses…

Soprano: “My soul magnifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, my soul magnifies the Lord, my soul rejoices in God!”
– “This part makes me feel like it is my soul magnifying. It feels like there is a deeper part of my being that is being pulled out of me…It’s almost like it is out of my conscience self.” -Leila M.
– “It’s VERY powerful, and it is a simple message that our souls cannot help but rejoice for God being just what he is…” Caleb. H

Bass: “Glory be to God the Father, and Glory be to God the Son, Glory be to God the Spirit, Glory be to God.”
– “My dad sings this part, the bass, of the song so I hear him sing it a lot in church… It is the simple glorification that sets the basic tone for the song as a whole. The other themes in the song are based off this verse… “Glory be to God…” Unfortunately, we don’t have Mary’s perspective, but we can take it as surrendering our all to God on a daily basis…” – David. C

Alto: “He has been mindful of his servant, He has been mindful of me, I will be blessed forever, forever, I will be blessed by the Lord.”
– “No matter how much we sin, the Godhead (The Father the Son and the Holy Spirit), will still receive us (bless us) forever…FOREVER!” -Michal V.
– “This verse I think represents her praises to the Lord for finding favor in her and for giving her the great gift of bearing the Son of God. I personally feel most connected to this verse because Mary is rejoicing in the great news of the Son and now we can too. God really was watching out for us when He gave us Jesus, knowing that we would all die in our sin without Him. It is because we have Jesus we will be blessed forever and ever by our Lord. This is a song of praise, it is a song we use to show God how we feel about His glory, might, and his indescribable gift.” (2 Cor. 9:15) -Zack G.

Tenor: “God alone is mighty, mighty, our God alone has done great things, God alone is worthy, worthy, Holy is His name!”
– “When I think of these phrases, I see/think of God looking down from Heaven and the clouds rolling… And I think, ‘He has the power to do whatever He wants, and He can do, He has done, such wonderful things. He deserves to be praised and worshiped.’” -Mikayla T.
– “It is a description of His power, and He doesn’t need anyone with Him to help Him to be able to display it. I imagine that I will not have the same emotion as Mary, but when I have children I consider that a blessing. When we aren’t planning on it, God will allow something extraordinary and impossible to happen in our lives and we need to not just be prepared for that time. We need to be watching for it as well, just like Mary.” -June W.
– “‘God alone is mighty,’ this really speaks to me because He is the only one who is mighty… He created the world and we cannot really compare anything to Him. I think that we as Christians could be less prideful because we are not as good as we think we are, and God is and always will be better than we are or ever will be.” -Kyllian M.


As I was listening to my friends’ responses, I couldn’t help but be impressed with the thoughts and ideas they were sharing. Listening to this song I typically follow the alto line, but as I sat and listened to it recently, it made me realize something. Through every trial, tribulation, grief or joy our God blesses ME! That hit me like lightening. It dawned on me that no matter what I do or how far I stray, as a baptized believer in God’s church I will always be on my Father’s mind and He will always care for me. Not only does He care for me He cares about all Emili...sophomore yearof His children and He will bless us as long as we honor, worship, follow and praise Him.

Thanks to my daughter Emili for her time and energy in pulling these thoughts together. May our soul indeed, “Magnify the Lord!”