One word I would use to describe this song and video is “masterpiece.” Yes, I’m a proud mother but it fits anyway. It is perfection: it has the perfect words, the perfect tune, the perfect pictures and the perfect notes. Everything has meaning. It is for children and adults. It is complex yet simple. I find it to be hauntingly beautiful. I listen to it at least five times a day now.
My son got his friend Ramadatt to play the guitar with him on this song to take it to the next level. They were able to create some magic here.
Several weeks ago, I noticed that the most viewed post on my blog was Taize: Veni Sancte Spiritus. This morning I checked the stats and see that in the last quarter that post has been viewed 482 times. It is a 2016 post, so most viewers are probably finding my post through a Taize internet search. It is understandable that people would be looking for peace and inspiration from Taize music during the pandemic.
Below is the English version of Veni Sancte Spiritus. To read about some of my experiences with Taize, to hear the original version of the song and to read the English lyrics go to my 2016 post.
In normal times, there are congregations singing Taize music in Christian churches (Catholic, Protestant, Greek Orthodox, etc.) all over the world. Yesterday, a friend sent me the link to a choir that was created to sing a Taize song pandemic style.
I saw a report of this America’s Got Talent performance on CNN a few minutes ago and searched for it on the internet. Watching it left me with tears running down my face, tears because I felt inspired, felt joy, felt hope.
In a few hours, I will be with Amma. Being touched by this video of a young man giving his all and seeing the effect he had on the judges and the crowd seems like a perfect lead-in to a day of heart opening.
Sreejit is in the process of writing a new song called This is What the Dream Looks Like. It is about his experience of living and working on Amma’s most recent North India Tour. The video below was taken when he shared the lyrics with a group in Amritapuri.
Lyrics:
Straw mat and a concrete floor, food in the corner from two days before, laundry hanging from a rope through the center of the room – this is what the dream looks like.
Callus hands but they weren’t always rough, sharp words but we weren’t always tough, one thing this life teaches is that, together, we are enough.
This is what the dream looks like, more than a struggle it’s a fight to be kind when you’re hungry and tired, ‘cause you don’t have any right to be tired
when people are coming to forget their problems, and maybe a little of your time could help solve them, maybe a kind word from you would absolve them of the feeling that they’re all alone – though sometimes we all feel that we are all alone – yeah this is what the dream looks like.
Beaten down by the work no one sees, ‘cause it’s always full-on behind the scenes to magnify the glitz and the lights – yeah this is what the dream looks like.
Getting home to see family at most once a year, and never bringing home the glam and the cheer – just wanting to hide in your bed, to watch tv just to get out of your head – yeah this is what the dream looks like.
Feet full of cracks and can barely walk, always falling asleep and so can barely talk, all eyes on you confused why you can’t form a sentence, let alone a thought,
always irritated by the smallest things, ‘cause that’s just what happens when you forget to eat, and that’s just what happens when you’re consumed with the work that you love – yeah it truly is a gift from above.
Straw mat and a concrete floor, kind of looks like the city before, but that place had water and this one you have to go next door,
but next door they have a kitchen and some home cooked food, and a friendly ear to pry out the blues if you choose to forget for a moment that you are not alone in the struggle – yeah this is what the dream looks like.
This fall, Sreejit wrote a musical inspired by Martin Luther King Jr.’s Drum Major Instinct sermon. Chaitanya decided to use one act of it during the 2018 Amritapuri Christmas Eve cultural events. Sreejit played the role of a preacher in the performance. The words of the song that they used for the event was adapted from a portion of Dr. King’s sermon.
Sreejit as preacher
Here is the soundtrack:
The lyrics:
I know of a man about whom I’d like to discuss and maybe you’ll find that he walks among us
this man, you might know him, he was great indeed he needed not a PhD to help those in need.
Born in a small village his parents were poor his means were quite meager yet his intellect soared
and though his mind did roar the poor he still loved because there was no one he felt he was above.
there was no one he felt he was greater than because all were brothers and sisters guided by the Lord’s own hand
This is his story, he came to fight for the whole world ‘cause God was their birthright
This is his story he came to win he came to forgive the world of its sin.
This is his story.
He learned his father’s trade to build houses while knowing his Father’s plan to move mountains
at thirty he couldn’t stop talking – adamant – that all who could hear heard the new commandments
about a father who loved all his children and would cradle them independent of their wisdom
He never wrote a book, he never held office he never had a family, he never went to college he never owned a home, he never traveled more than 200 miles from the place he was born
with his words he rocked many boats – fearless – their egos he refused to stroke He did none of the things that the world would raise above all else and heap upon praise
but his greatness, was accepted ‘cause the Lord’s light within it was reflected
His greatness was protected ‘cause the Lord’s light within it was reflected
His greatness was protected because the Lord’s light within it was reflected
His greatness was protected because the Lord’s light within it was reflected
And when he looked at you he didn’t see social status When he looked at you he didn’t see black or white He didn’t see man or woman good or bad all he saw was his family in God’s holy light. When he looked at you… When he looked at you…
there was no one he felt he was greater than because all were brothers and sisters guided by the Lord’s own hand
This is his story he came to fight for the whole world ‘cause God was their birthright.
This is his story he came to win he came to forgive the world of its sin.
I saw this video on a friend’s blog a few minutes ago. I believe it is an important one to pass on. Thank you Kathie for introducing me to it and thank you Barbra for creating it.
Sreejit sent me the link to a video yesterday. I loved it:
This morning I played it again. As I was doing that, I noticed another video by the same group. When I listened to/watched it, I got goosebumps. By the end, I was teary.
What a good way to start my day. I hope these music videos also brighten your morning/afternoon/evening.
“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.” “Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.” “Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.”-William Shakespeare
Living, Learning and Letting Go 