March 7/Friday after Ash Wednesday For you have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased.The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God,you will not despise. ~ Ps 51. 18-19 When I was a little girl, the looming arrival of Lent brought on…
Category: Songs for Lent
March 6/Thursday after Ash Wednesday
March 6/Thursday after Ash Wednesday Blessed are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked,or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers;but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night. ~ Ps 1.1-2 “Are we there yet?” Before the advent of personal…
Song 1: Rules of Engagement
March 5/Ash Wednesday Have mercy on me, God, according to your steadfast love;according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. ~ Ps 51.3 We arrive on the threshold of Lent, this Ash Wednesday 2025, perhaps stunned and a bit battle-weary. With daily political disruptions and system shocks and angry critiques swirling madly around us, we need a pause, a…
Song 40: A Gracious Plenty
March 30/Holy SaturdayEaster Vigil You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills, By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation; they sing among the branches. From your lofty abode you water the mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work. LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you…
Song 39: Broken
March 29/Good Friday I am forgotten like the unremembered dead; I am like a dish that is broken. ~ Ps 31.12-13 Years ago I had the opportunity to help create a mosaic, and participating in that process intensified my fascination with the form. The process of taking irregular and broken pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic and creating a…
Song 38: Debt Service
March 28/Holy Thursday What shall I return to the LORD for all his benefits to me?The cup of salvation I will raise, and on the name of the Lord will I call. ~ Ps 116.12-13 At the day’s end, I spend a few moments reflecting on the gifts that God has given me. They can be large — decent health,…
Song 37: The Saving Turn
March 27/Wednesday of Holy Week Insult has broken my heart, and I am weak, I looked for sympathy, but there was none;for consolers, not one could I find. But I am lowly and in pain; let your salvation, O God, protect me.I will praise the name of God in song, and I will glorify him with thanksgiving. ~ Ps 69.21, 29,…
Song 36: Our Help in Ages Past
March 26/Tuesday of Holy Week For you are my hope, O LORD; my trust, O God, from my youth.On you I depend from birth; from my mother’s womb you are my strength. ~ Ps 71.5-6 As I prepare to attend my [big number here] high-school reunion next month, I find myself thinking a lot about the gift of abiding friendships. …
Song 35: Lead, Kindly Light
March 25/Monday of Holy Week The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear?The LORD is my life’s refuge; of whom should I be afraid? ~ Ps 27.1 It is Monday morning — but not just any Monday morning. The hullabaloo of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem on what we know as Palm Sunday is over. The…
Song 34: Weal and Woe
March 23/Fifth Saturday of Lent They shall come and sing aloud for joy on the height of Zion,and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD,over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd;their life shall become like a watered garden, and they shall never languish again. ~ Jer.…