A Song to Uplift Your Morning Prayer Routine

   As prayerful Catholics, many of us start our days with reflections and readings. I have a variety of devotionals to slow myself down and ensure that I am starting my day with an intimate relationship with God. Sometimes, though, especially after a night of not enough sleep, I need an extra jolt to jumpstart my sacred connection.  While I almost always discipline myself to not read any email or news on my phone until after my contemplative time, there is one way that our Smartphones can be invited into our sacred space and be useful: we can listen to music. In particular, music that points us to the most beautiful psalm of all.
    So what better way to start the day than by playing the song Shepherd Me O God? The composer, Marty Haugen, has woven an emotive melody with the words of Psalm 23. No matter what pressures the day holds, this song creates such a gentle path toward the list of tasks, have-to’s, and challenges. 
     It’s a well-loved and familiar piece, and is close to many congregations’ hearts. Both the pianist at my church and the cantor love to perform this together. Each time, I appreciate the piano’s fresh flourishes, and the cantor’s extra-sustained vibrato. Shepherd me, O God, beyond my wants, beyond my fears, from death into life.  And of course, an added benefit is that this touching refrain gets stuck in your head, so that throughout the day, you are renewed by the words, continually sustained.  How wonderful to have the morning prayer time last all day!
      Dozens and dozens of versions of it exist on YouTube. There are various choirs, guitars, and even karaoke (yes, I tried it). My favorite version is by the musical artist Sonia Salas. I prefer this piece stripped down. Alongside her own expressive piano playing, her voice is intimate.
Surely your kindness and mercy follow me all the days of my life; I will dwell in the house of my God for evermore.  I teach workshops on the Psalms, and I always play this version. The faces of the workshop participants always soften as we drop down into a place of welcoming the Holy Spirit. I will provide the link to it here, though of course, follow your own heart in finding a version that works for you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXS3L-sdfPA
     Music is such an essential part of Mass and our worship as a community, and yet, we can use it when we are in solitude as well. I hope this song can help start your day with more hope and faith, and to help center you in the music of all life, which is God.