Merry Christmas

Thank you, Jesus.

Above all powers above all kings,
Above all nature and all created things,
Above all wisdom and all the ways of man,
You were here before the world began.

Above all kindgoms above all thrones,
Above all wonders the world has ever known,
Above all wealth and treasure of the earth,
There's no way to measure what You're worth.

Crucified laid behind a stone,
You lived to die rejected and alone.
Like a rose trampled on the ground,
You took the fall and thought of me.
Above all.

Click below to listen to the song Above All, written by Lenny LaBlanc and Paul Baloche.



Above all, Jesus, You truly are. Above All continues to be one of my heart songs. I cannot forget the image of a beautiful rose trampled on the ground, which was shown on the screen while we listened to the song during one Good Friday service at Lake Avenue Congregational Church (not the above video though).


"That man should be made in God's image is a wonder,
but that God should be made in man's image is a greater wonder.
That the Ancient of Days would be born.
That He who thunders in the heavens should cry in the cradle?"

~Thomas Watson

Beautiful lyric

As the bridegroom to his chosen, as the king unto his realm,
As the keeper to the castle, as the pilot to the helm.
As the captain to his soldiers, as the shepherd to his lambs,
So, Lord, art thou to me.

As the fountain in the garden, as the candle in the dark,
As the treasure in the coffer, as the manna in the ark,
As the firelight in the winter,As the sunlight in the spring
So Lord art thou to me.

As the music at the banquet, as the stamp unto the seal,
As refreshment to the fainting, as the winecup at the meal,
As the singing on the feast day, as the amen to the prayer,
So Lord art thou to me.

As the ruby in the setting, as the honey in the comb
As the light within the lantern, as the father in the home,
As the eagle in the mountains, as the sparrow in the nest,
So Lord art thou to me.

As the sunshine in the heavens, as the image in the glass,
As the fruit unto the fig tree, as the dew unto the grass,
As the rainbow on the hilltop, as the river in the plain,
So Lord art thou to me.

John Rutter's contemporary anthem setting brings out the heavenly beauty of E. F. Bevan's English translation of John Tauler's 14th-c. text.

Faithful One

之前在本blog 提過的歌 Faithful One, 歌詞在最近一.兩天常在腦中泛起,成為我的鼓勵, 雖然已經點送過給大家, 卻也忍不住再送多一次,這次連歌詞附上, 可惜未能找到 audio link. (Update on 2/28/08: Audio's available on youtube.)

Faithful One, so unchanging,
Ageless One, You're my rock of peace.
Lord of all, I depend on You.
I call out to You, again and again,
I call out to You, again and again.

You are my Rock in times of trouble,
You lift me up when I fall down.
All through the storm,
Your love is the anchor;
My hope is in You alone.

©1989, Mercy / Vineyard Publishing
Words and Music by Brian Doerksen

This is the Scriptural passage I read to dad today:

耶和華說、我的意念、非同你們的意念、我的道路、非同你們的道路。

天怎樣高過地、照樣我的道路、高過你們的道路、我的意念、高過你們的意念。

雨雪從天而降、並不返回、卻滋潤地土、使地上發芽結實、使撒種的有種、使要吃的有糧．

我口所出的話、也必如此、決不徒然返回、卻要成就我所喜悅的、在我發他去成就的事上〔發他去成就或作所命定〕必然亨通。

你們必歡歡喜喜而出來、平平安安蒙引導．大山小山必在你們面前發聲歌唱．田野的樹木也都拍掌。

松樹長出代替荊棘．番石榴長出代替蒺藜．這要為耶和華留名、作為永遠的證據、不能剪除。

以賽亞書 55:8-13 《和合本》

Music talk: my earthly treasures

With no pressure of preparing for lectures and almost done with the quarter, i do what i feel like doing these 2 days. I cleaned up my apartment by rearranging a few things and throwing out a few things.


Moving the CD player from the living room to the kitchen/dining area gives me great pleasure! Now when I clean the kitchen, I can have some audio entertainment.



Besides books, there are few things that I keep over a long period of time as I'm frequently on the move. But there's this music folder, which has stayed with me for many years and may be considered my "earthly" treasure. The folder contains music scores that I've accumulated over the years. (I started collecting song-sheets since secondary school.) Among these music scores is one of my favorite oldies, Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water. The musical arrangement was put together with a gospel kind of feel.

Music talk: 點歌 - song dedication

以前在香港住﹐聽收音機﹐ 商業電台常有點歌項目 (I give up, it takes too long to type in Chinese). Person A will call in and asks the DJ to play a certain song for Person B (or even C, D, E). As far as I am aware of or remember, no one has ever done it for me on a radio show. But someone did give me a song during a Christian gathering... The song was a Christian hymn "I know who holds tomorrow."

After I graduated from UCSD, I went back to HK for a 2-week vacation and then was going to return to the U.S. for a full-time job in San Diego. Well, during that 2 weeks, I made the decision to stay in Hong Kong for good. That decision lasted for 8 years. (您聽落梗係覺得我好cool la, but my sister had to take care of the mess after my decision- clearing and moving my stuff, selling my old car, etc. Thank you, sis.)

We were singing "I know who holds tomorrow" at a Christian revival meeting. This brother sitting a row in front of me turned around, "gave" that song to me, and turned his head back.

That was many years ago. But the incidence's made such a deep imprint that God is my rock whenever things get uncertain, whenever fear arises.


In the past year, Brian Doerksen's Faithful One and 盧永亨's "誰曾應許" (click link for the tune) have become my "heart" songs.

Faithful One so unchanging
Ageless One You're my rock of peace
...
You are my rock in times of trouble.
You lift me up when I fall down.
All through the storm
Your love is the anchor
my hope is in You alone

誰曾應許，一生不撇下我；
每段窄路，誰陪我去走過？

誰曾應許，天天看顧著我；
晝夜眷佑，連頭髮也數過﹗
誰還以愛，驅走心裡懼怕怯懦，
...﹗

If your next step seems a little uncertain or if you feel a little lonely at times, I dedicate these two songs to you.

P.S. I wonder if my friend remembers extending the small gesture of encouragement to me. Feel even a bit embarassed just to say I have remembered it for so long. The fact is - God can use a word of kindness, a genuine smile thru each one of us to bless another person.

Music talk: 彩虹下的約定

In my discipline of study (i.e. musicology), we view musical works as cultural product. I'd like to think that we appreciate music through understanding and interpreting it in its historical and cultural context. Now, to some of my friends, the word "history" means digging into something irrelevant and that happened long time ago. If you think that too, read on.

The idea of death and dying was commonly used as a euphemism for love consummation in the 16th- & 17th-c. English literature. Religious writers and poets were inspired to use this metaphor to denote spiritual union. Famous examples include George Herbert, John Donne, and Richard Crashaw. A number of musical works by Henry Purcell (1659-1695) also play with this metaphor.

Now, back to the present. Let's take a look at the SOP (Stream of Praise) song "彩虹下的約定" (The Covenant under the Rainbow). The subject of the song is the convenant between God and man, as 歌詞中的"與祢有約, 是永恆的約" 的 "祢" refers to God. The SOP Vol.5 CD cover states as much, "在詩歌中體驗造物主對人永恆不變的愛."

However, this is not its only source of meaning. Since once the music is published, the meaning of the song is no longer limited by the author's original intent but rather open to the public's reading and re-reading. "彩虹下的約定" has often been sung in weddings, and the idea of love covenant is used to depict that of the bride and bridegroom. In addition to being sung in weddings, "彩虹下的約定" has also been performed in funerals (and may be more so since the Christian movie "天作之盒"). Thus "約定" may also mean both the convenant of the bride and the groom, and that of the dead and God. Thus, like Henry Purcell's works, "彩虹下的約定" serves as yet another conflation of "death and dying" & the ultimate union of Christ and man.

Hope you enjoy reading this piece of music talk -- sort of.

Music spec. for my big day

"what would go through your mind if one day your doctor said s/he found something on your test and wants you to run through more tests to make sure?" That's the question my Sunday school teacher posed during class couple weeks ago.

well, for me, it wasn't exactly a hypothetical situation, 'cuz that was pretty much what my doctor told me several weeks ago. i didn't give it much thought initially, but then the thought grew & made me a little nervous ... and more nervous. interestingly & thankfully, i became not so concerned pretty soon.

somewhere along these states of mind, i ran thru just one additional test & that's it. thank God that the result comes out negative and i'm fine ... for now.

nevertheless, the incident re-ignites my interest in writing down what i want for my funeral, especially the music i like to have. (i've thought about it in the past, just never get to write it down.) why not? some girls planned for their weddings when they were still little brats!

here's my wish list for my funeral (since it may be difficult & expensive to have the music played live, i'm willing to settle for a good CD & sound system):

1. John Rutter's Requiem

Haven't looked at the lyric in detail. But the music is beautiful!

2. J.S. Bach's Cantata No.140, Wachet auf ruft uns die Stimme ("Wake up, cries the watchman's voice")

The cantata includes a duet between bride and groom, representing Christ and the Soul. What does or can a dying person look forward to, but the waking up and the union with Christ? The hope offered for the dead is what I'm after here.

3. Along the same line of thought as Bach's cantata, Rutter wrote an choral anthem "As the Bridegroom." I like that; Christ is the perfect bridgeroom.

Oh... I also need 1 or 2 congregational hymns. How about "Great is thy faithfulness"? I like it.