MUSIC BOX
Melinda Coffey Armstead, piano
Prelude to Worship
Chorale: Nun lasst uns gehn und treten . . . J. S. Bach (1685-1750)
Now let us come before Him, with songs and prayers adore Him,
Who to our life hath given all needed strength from heaven.
Simple Gifts . . . American folk melody, arr. by John Carter
Musical Interlude
Romance Op. 118 No. 5 . . . Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Postlude
Blest Be the Tie That Binds
Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love,
The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above.
Sinfonia in F Major . . . J. S. Bach (1685-1750)
Shoulders
A man crosses the street in rain,
stepping gently, looking two times north and south,
because his son is asleep on his shoulder.
No car must splash him.
No car drive too near to his shadow.
This man carries the world’s most sensitive cargo
but he’s not marked.
Nowhere does his jacket say FRAGILE,
HANDLE WITH CARE.
His ear fills up with breathing.
He hears the hum of a boy’s dream
deep inside him.
We’re not going to be able
to live in this world
if we’re not willing to do what he’s doing
with one another.
The road will only be wide.
The rain will never stop falling.
by Naomi Shihab Nye
