It started out innocently enough. Well, sort of.

Years and years ago I was staying at a certain Lutheran camp that shall remain nameless and found myself “lonely for the Bible,” as the thought formulated itself in my mind. A reflection, I suppose, of the reception the Bible got in the preaching at said camp.

My remedy was to start sketching out what would become the Exodus Matins, which was followed in due course by the II Corinthians Vespers. The former is probably the more usable of the two (and was even sung once at the Luther Seminary chapel), though I still like the latter quite a bit. I just don’t expect many people will get into a hymn entitled “The Aroma of Christ,” however scriptural it may be (II Corinthians 2:15).

These in turn led to the idea for a “Matthew Mass,” which for various reasons I never finished. But I did compose a hymn text based on the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount, set to a Tanzanian Easter tune I especially love…