My latest tune I put together dedicated to all those in the front lines

Hope by Joy Rajan

I recently purchased "The Mirror of My Heart," a book full of poetry written by Persian women over a period of a thousand years. Quite a few lines inspired new material, but none more deliciously than the words of Jahan Malek Khatun, a 14th century poet from Shiraz, who begins one stunning piece with: "I am still drunk that you were here, and you were mine / And once again I stretch my hand out for that wine," and ends another with "From now on I renounce renunciations." (Translations by Dick Davis). Her divan contains over 1500 poems and they are all gorgeous. Reflecting on her words and some stories I've heard from dear friends brought me this piece, which I've been playing incessantly for some time. I often find myself struggling with the demands of adherence to doctrine and propriety as a religious leader with a dervish heart. Music like this helps me feel more in balance.

O Love

Hunger

Démos guitare/voix enregistrées en live à l'Urban Studio de Saint-Quentin, avec l'aide précieuse de Sylvain Tricotet. En prime, un accent anglais bien rouillé et quelques mots empruntés à Heather Nova.

Golden Ghosts

There was a time where I felt constantly shadowed by death, not only in my exterior but my interior life. I wrestled a lot with sharing this song at all, but in the time of Advent, when we often mark the solstice with “Longest Night” and “Blue Christmas” services, and contemplate not only a joyful birth but the pain and horror that will end the amazing life which is coming into the world, it seemed appropriate. If this song speaks to you, know that you are not alone. I am joined here by my dear friend Sunshine, who encouraged me to share it because of how it spoke to them. Their support reminded me that lots of folks are too afraid to speak out about their pain, especially at this time of year, and how important it is to name our fears and our demons.

Beneath My Ribs

Rumi Ghazal- You & I

A number of us play in a band called the Fallen Angles here at HT. After seeing the Pentatonix version of Mary Did You Know many years ago, we loved the melody and hook and talked about playing it, but couldn’t stomach the absurd “mansplainy” lyrics, so I never did anything to make it happen. However, it came up every year and then after a conversation in early Dec 2017, Jennifer volunteered to write some new lyrics. She did an amazing job and transformed this song into something authentic to us and inspiring to many. There are starting to be a few folks picking it up. We’ve played it since 2017, but this year (2020) is our attempt to put it down for our own history.
If you feel moved to use it in your worship (intact only, no re-sampling), feel free to do so. However, I am not a copyright lawyer and am not really sure of the potential issues with respect to "parodies" which is technically what this is of Mark Lowry's original song.

Mary, did you know? - Fallen Angles 2020

The Readings: https://www.lectionarypage.net/YearABC_RCL/Epiphany/Epiph_RCL.html

Holy Cross Monastery Sermons (West Park)

Unexpected, Unlikely, & Inappropriate - The Rev. Matthew Wright, The Feast of the Epiphany, 1/6/21

The Readings: https://www.lectionarypage.net/YearB_RCL/Epiphany/BEpi1_RCL.html

Leveling Waters - The Rev. Matthew Wright, The Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, Year B, 1/10/21

Anglican priest, Celtic harpist, composer, singer. Genre and gender fluid. :)

O Love

Clarityharp

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