Current Program
SPIRIT: Water & Words



Stand in that River
Words and music by Moira Smiley
I went to my river but my river was dry
The dust rose up to a darkened sky.
Tell me, where is hope?
Where do the waters run clear?
I do not know my way from here.
Come and stand in that river
Current gentle and slow
Send your troubles down water.
Down on that water flow
When you stand in that river,
Angels sing in your head.
Secrets beyond ev’ry worry.
Dreams beyond ev’ry dread
Tell me sister, brother,
Where does that river flow?
It flows down to the great water.
Where soon my people will go
Oh time passes on down the stream
Some days are so much sweeter
Some days, some pass like a dark dream
Come and stand in that river
Current gentle and slow
Send your troubles down water.
Down on that water flow
Flow with the River
Words and music by Steve Parsons
Life is a river uncharted and flowing
Flow with the river, flow with the river
Full of adventure unfolding and growing
Flow with the river of life.
Born of the earth slowly tumbling and falling,
Flow with the river, flow with the river
Soon it is racing, fulfilling its calling,
Flow with the river of life.
Flow with the river wherever it leads you,
Carrying onward so swift and strong
Come take the journey, unique and exciting
Found in the river, the river of life
Never lose faith in the path you are making
Flow with the river, the river of life
Cherish the journey in each undertaking
Flow with the river of life
Ev’ryone’s life has a part to deliver
Flow with the river, the river of life
Adding our own special stream to the river
Flow with the river of life
Flow with the river wherever it leads you,
Carrying onward so swift and strong
Come take the journey, unique and exciting
Found in the river, the river of life
Carry us all in the river, let it flow.
Flow with the river wherever it leads you,
Carrying onward so swift and strong
Come take the journey, unique and exciting
Found in the river, the river of life
Flow with the river
Join with the river
Flow with the river of life
Shenandoah
arr. James Erb
American Folksong
Oh, Shenandoah, I long to see you
And hear your rolling river
Oh, Shenandoah, I long to see you
‘Way, we’re bound away, across the wide Missouri
I long to see your smiling valley,
And hear your rolling river
I long to see your smiling valley
‘Way, we’re bound away, across the wide Missouri
Tis seven long years, since last I saw you
And hear your rolling river
Tis seven long years, since last I saw you
‘Way, we’re bound away across the wide Missouri
Oh, Shenandoah, oh, Shenandoah, oh, Shenandoah
Sicut Cervus
G.P. Palestrina
Psalm 42: 1- 3
Sicut cervus desiderat ad fontes aquarum,
ita desiderat anima mea ad te, Deus
Sitivit anima mea ad Deum fortem vivum,
quando veniam et apparebo ante faciem Dei?
Fuerunt mihi lacrymae meae panes die ac nocte,
dum dicitur mihi quotidie:
ubi Deus tuus?
Translation:
As the heart longs for the water springs,
So longs my soul for thee, O God.
My soul has thirsted for the living God:
When shall I come and appear before the face of my God?
My tears have been my bread by day and by night,
While it is said to me daily:
Where is your God?
Water
Words and music by Anders Edenroth
Water...
In the mind of a melting snowman,
in the sound from a whistling kettle,
in the gently alighting crystal of ice,
in the dewdrops of a colourful petal.
To live, everyone must have water,
to give, not to deny each other,
to bring from source to mouth just like
the food of love from a nursing mother.
Sweet as an angel’s kiss,
salt as her falling tears,
droplets in patience wearing away
the mountain of time for billions of years.
In the shape of a cloud evolving,
in the gleam when your skin perspires,
in the curse of a lost and foundering ship,
in the silent face Narcissus admires,
To kill for in a global battle,
to chill well in a plastic bottle,
to find between air and earth,
both cold and wet says Aristotle.
Mild as a mermaid’s song,
wild when the oceans roar,
never been born and never been buried,
infinite waves caressing the shore.
Water…
La Chanson de Mardi Gras
arr. Michael McGlynn
Traditional Cajun
Les Mardi Gras s’en vient de tout partout,
Tout alentour le tour de moyeu,
Ça passe une fois par an, demandé la charité,
Quand-même ça c’est une patate, une patate ou des gratons.
Les Mardi Gras sont dessus un grand voyage,
Tout alentour le tour de moyeu,
Ça passe une fois par an, demandé la charité,
Quand-même ça c’est un poule maigre, ou trois ou quatre coton maїs.
Capitaine, capitaine, voyage ton flag,
Allons chez un autre voisin,
Demandé la charité pour les autres qui viennent nous rejoindre,
Les autres qui viennent nous rejoindre,
Ouais, au gombo ce soir!
Translation:
The Mardi Gras come from all around the area,
From all around the town center,
They come by every year asking for charity
Sometimes it is potatoes, potatoes and pork fat.
The Mardi Gras are on a great journey,
From all around the town center,
They come by every year asking for charity
Sometimes it's a small chicken, or three or four cobs of corn.
Captain, captain, wave your flag,
We will go to another neighbor’s house.
Asking for charity for others who will join us later on,
For others who will join us later
For gumbo tonight.
Even When He is Silent
Music by Kim André Arneson
Anonymous 20th c.
The text was found written on a wall at a concentration camp after World War II.
I believe in the sun even when it’s not shining.
I believe in love even when I feel it not.
I believe in God even when He is silent.
Spes (Hope)
Music by Mia Makaroff
Sami text by Nils Aslak Valkeapaa (1943-2001)
Ecclesiastes 8:1, 8
Quis talis, ut sapiens est?
Et quis cognovit solutionem rerum?
Biekka oapmi lean
muhto liikká ealán
ja dat lea vissa eallima dárkkuhus
Ealán odne dál ja dás
ja just dat lea madoheapme de in eali sat ihttin
nu ja máid dasto
Non est in hominis potestate
dominari super spiritum
nec cohibere spiritum
nec habet potestatem supra diem mortis
sapientia hominis illuminat vultum eius
et durities faciei illius commutatur
Translation:
Who is like the wise?
Who knows the explanation of things?
I belong to the wind,
but I live,
maybe that is the meaning of life.
I live here and now...
I won’t be alive tomorrow.
That is the way – and so what.
As no one has power
over the wind to contain it,
so no one has power
over the time of their death.
A person’s wisdom brightens their face
and changes its hard appearance.
Lullaby for P. Bruce
arr. Lindsey Bower
Words and music by Connie Converse
A ship sails tonight for Singapore
A ship sails tonight for Italy
A ship sails tonight for dream country
I wonder which ship will carry me
It's three weeks to sail to Italy
It's four weeks to sail to Singapore
So I'll take the ship for dream country
And morning bright, I'll be back on shore
Ramblin’ Sailor
arr. Gitika Partington
Traditional
I’ve sailed the seas, fought battles too
Long time I’ve ploughed the ocean
I’ve fought for my home land ruled the sea
Won medals and promotion
But now I’ve bid ship mates adieu
I’ve left behind both ship and crew
To travel my home land through and through
And be a rambling sailor
Moving on I’ll never marry
Solitary never tarry
And if you want to know my name
My name it is a nonsense
I have a mission from the Queen to court ev’ry one
that hand some with my false heart and flattering tongue
I’ll court them but I’ll marry none
And be a rambling sailor
Moving on I’ll never marry
Solitary never tarry
Unwritten
arr. Vince Peterson
Words and music by Natasha Bedingfield, Danielle Brisebois, and Wayne Rodrigues
Prelude in F Major, J. S. Bach
I am unwritten
Can't read my mind
I'm undefined
I'm just beginning
The pen's in my hand
Ending unplanned
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words
That you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
Oh, oh
I break tradition
Sometimes my tries
Are outside the lines
We've been conditioned
To not make mistakes
But I can't live my life that way
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words
That you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
No Hopers, Jokers, and Rogues
arr. Anna Tabush
Words and Music by Rupert Christie & Tom Gilbert
Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and rogues
We're on the road to nowhere, let's find out where it goes
It might be a ladder to the stars, who knows?
Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and rogues
Leave all your furrows in the fields where they lie
Your factories and offices, kiss them all goodbye
Have a little faith in the dream-maker in the sky
There's glory in believing in
And it's all in the beholder's eye
Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and rogues
We're on the road to nowhere, let's find out where it goes
It might be a ladder to the stars, who knows?
Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and rogues
Turn off your engines and slow down your wheels
Suddenly your master plan loses its appeal
Everybody knows that this reality's not real
So raise a glass to all things past
And celebrate how good it feels
Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and rogues
We're on the road to nowhere, let's find out where it goes
It might be a ladder to the stars, who knows?
Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and rogues
Awash on the sea of our own vanity
We should rejoice in our individuality
Though it's gale force, we'll steer a course
With sanity
Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and rogues
We're on the road to nowhere, let's find out where it goes
It might be a ladder to the stars, who knows?
Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and rogues
Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and rogues
We're on the road to nowhere, let's find out where it goes
It might be a ladder to the stars, who knows?
Come all you no-hopers, you jokers
And rogues

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