(Original posting 4/17/2017) Well, March was the target date for completing my thesis project (an Easter cantata) to qualify for Spring graduation, but it’s not going to happen, . . . sigh. I knew it was an ambitious goal from the get go, so the disappointment is not too great. In fact, it appeared all along that this project would require at least part of the summer to complete and that’s just what it’s going to take. I want to spend the time needed to get this right since I’m looking at this more as a debut product rather than just another hurdle in a degree plan. It would be much more gratifying to see it performed than to have it spend its days on a dusty library shelf. (for more background on what this project is about see my 3/13/2017 post on Wounded, Bleeding, Still Proceeding)
At present, I’m working on the final movement , a traditional choir anthem about substitutionary atonement and Christ’s call to discipleship titled, He Became Like Me. (And no, just because it’s the final movement doesn’t mean the cantata is nearly done! Writer’s block was building up, and I jumped to the end to find some fresh creative energy.) As any good presentation of God’s word should do, the piece is a musical call for response to the Easter message and will close with the fourth stanza of Isaac Watts’ classic hymn, When I survey the wondrous cross.
He Became Like Me is actually a text and melody I wrote well before going back to school. My inability to successfully sculpt it into a pleasing form was at least a part of the impetus pushing me back to school to learn how to make it work. As I near completion of my degree it is delightful to find that this song wasn’t just a bumbling beginner’s muddle but actually contains some good musical ideas and a compelling text. Speaking of text, here are the lyrics:
He became like me so I could be like Him;
Laying down His riches, becoming just a man;
Familiar with my sorrow, acquainted with my grief;
Setting my example with His hands, His feet;
Exchanging all His glory for a twisted crown of thorns;
Surrendering His power, clinging to the tree;
Refusing ev’ry aid, He paid it all for me;
Craving ev’ry curse, the Father’s wrath to know;
Embracing ev’ry nail, so the blood of grace would flow;
and seeking out the tomb, to bury ev’ry sin.
And then, He rose again.
And now He calls me friend.
He’s my redeemer, defender, my counselor, and my God!
Love so amazing, love so divine!
And all that He asks from me, is to take my cross daily,
And to follow Him faithfully, and offer Him
All I have, all I am, All I will ever be,
just as He did for me.
He became like me, so I could be like Him.
©2017 – Robert Myers / Wheatmyer Music – All Rights Reserved