I'm a morning person and it's now past 10:30pm I should be propped up on my pillow. Me, the bride and youngest daughter were invited to the Sabres hockey game tonight. I think the Sabres lost. We left with about eight minutes left in the game. It was a tie game when we left and by the time we got to a restaurant for a dessert nightcap the game was going into a shootout. I'm not much of a hockey fan and if you're not either, I apologize for even talking about this.My friend who invites me to a game every now and then knows that I'm not much of a fan and I really don't think he is either. He just happens to be wealthy and every season he buys this suite that seats about sixteen people. The game is not as important as is the conversation that goes on between the people he invites. Tonight there was a mix of a hospital administrator, lawyer, politician, and and architect and others...but I happened to be yakking with the first few I mentioned. My friend is an Iranian Jew who came to America for college, graduated from the local University and ended up marrying an Italian American woman. He inherited bundles from his dad and made bundles himself...so I've been told. I've known him peronally for these last couple of years and we have a lot in common....and it has very little to do with philosophy or politics...or whatever. We just like each other for some reason. Although a lot of times we do discuss politics...however there have been times when he has said I was being too philosophical and I told him he was being too old testament-like. Anyway, I have to go to bed and dream about what I'm trying to say tonight. Sometimes in my dreams I sort things out. I think this whole thing is about gathering. Which reminds me of an line from an old hymn...gather us in, the rich and the haughty.
Here in this place new light is streaming, now is the darkness vanished away;
See in this space our fears and our dreamings brought here to you in the light of this day.
Gather us in, the lost and forsaken, gather us in, the blind and the lame;
Call to us now, and we shall awaken, we shall arise at the sound of our name.
We are the young, our lives are a myst'ry, we are the old who yearn for your face;
We have been sung throughout all of hist'ry, called to be light to the whole human race.
Gather us in, the rich and the haughty, gather us in, the proud and the strong;
Give us a heart, so meek and so lowly, give us the courage to enter the song.
Here we will take the wine and the water, here we will take the bread of new birth,
Here you shall call your sons and your daughters, call us anew to be salt for the earth.
Give us to drink the wine of compassion, give us to eat the bread that is you;
Nourish us well, and teach us to fashion lives that are holy and hearts that are true.
Not in the dark of buildings confining, not in some heaven, light years away -
Here in this place the new light is shining, now is the kingdom, and now is the day.
Gather us in and hold us forever, gather us in and make us your own;
Gather us in, all peoples together, fire of love in our flesh and our bone.
----Marty Haugen
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July 2009 
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And isn't it all about the conversation anyway?
Love you.
D
No wonder he likes you! How could anyone not like you??!
Auntie Helen
I really like this hymn. there is something about it. Who is Marty Haugen. Where did you find it?
That is a really beautiful hymn. Never heard of it before either.
I like you too.
This is so beautiful! I read your blog this morning and it was so shining and true, I thought about it throughout the day. I second what Jenni said–who is Marty Haugen and how did you find this? This is a poem about US, and about ALL the 'US'es, all the holy circles, lowly and elevated of all connections among us. Rings so very true and resonates deeply. Thank you for sharing this!
Tom, that hymn isn't that old. I mean, he's younger than you (though older than me). Haugen writes for Catholic and Protestant congregations and is quite prolific. If you use the “Gather” hymnal by GIA (as we do at my church), then you have probably heard or sung many of his songs., which are throughout the Gather hymnal. “Gather Us In” is a very fine hymn in 6/8 time in D Dorian. The Dorian scale is a minor mode with a flatted 3rd and 7th, as in the natural minor scale, but with a natural 6th as in the major scale. I think that mix of minor with a hint of major gives it a haunting, yet hopeful sound, especially in the bridge (3rd line of each verse). Dorian has a cool sound - there's lots of jazz and church music written in the Dorian mode. There's always a bit of left over “unfinishedness” or unrelieved tension. Listen to Miles Davis's “So What” on Kinda Blue, which modulates between two Dorian keys.
Another of Haugen's oft-played hymns is “Shepherd Me, O God”. Another prolific modern composer of liturgical music is David Haas. Theirs is among the better of modern church music, but not everybody likes it. I prefer Haugen to Haas, but like the really old stuff better.
will you just google Marty Haugen please.
I did. That's how I found out how old he is. He's definitely a post Vatican II composer. Sometimes I think every other modern song we do at church is by Haugen or Haas. BTW, here's another guy who really doesn't like Haugen, but will teach you how to write like him.
This is fun: I went to Youtube and searched for “gather us in” and got… HA! The Gather Us In Ring Tone. (really.)
I meant old as in oldies but goodies. Anyway thank you all. I asked you to google Marty Haugen because I was too lazy to do what Martha did. Not only that, I don't have the computer saavy to do so. My favorite line in the song is this: “give us the courage to enter the song” I actually did a Xmas card using that line as a springboard. If I knew how to post it in the comment section I would. As for my nephew Marty….I knew you would know of Marty Haugen…you old choir boy you!
When I was reading up on Dorian mode, I noticed there were several sea shanties and seafaring songs written in it. The shanty What Shall We Do with the Drunken Sailor? is written in a Dorian key, but is not in a waltz or 6/8 time. The Haugen song somehow has a seafaring song feel to it, and guess what? Another 6/8 song in a Dorian mode is The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. In fact, its chord structure is very similar to Gather Us In.
So, if you pay attention at Church, you get to hear all your favorite songs with different lyrics. Here's an oddball. Sing of the Lord's Goodness is written in a minor key in 5/4 time. Now 5/4 is pretty unusual. It's kind of got a skipping, trippping, waltz feel to it. There aren't too many familiar songs written in 5/4. There's the Mission Impossible theme. There's Everything's Alright from Jesus Christ Superstar. But Sing of the Lord's Goodness is an almost exact rip-off of Dave Brubeck's Take 5. It's pretty shameless, actually. The only thing missing is Paul Desmond's haunting sax solo.
PS: Speaking of “Give us the courage to enter the song.”, my (non-Catholic) wife once remarked about how Catholics behave at Church. Something like they give without opening their wallets and sing without opening their mouths. Church is for singing. I sing fairly well, but I don't mind sitting near someone who can't hold a tune. In fact, one day I sat in front of a guy who I'd known for years but had never sat near. He was horrible, but he sang nonetheless. It was amusing and kind of enjoyable. He probably didn't sing anywhere else, and I'm sure his friends are thankful for that. But he did the right thing at Church.I think his attitude was “The Good Lord gave me this voice, and he's just going to have to listen to it!”
It weren't nuthin'. I was lookin' for a video, but a ringtone came up instead. I think it's funny. If I need something exotic (like a “ringtone”), I just ask my kids to find it for me. Do your kids do technology by request? That's how my kids can earn points with old mom. Well, that and cleaning the toilet without being asked 6 times. :)
I love the stones.
DC