A kind of hymn to the beauty and order of nature, written for the Taylor University Chorale for their fall 2024 concert. One of the most beautiful poems I have ever read; the implications about divine grace and providence were very challenging and poignant to me at the time I wrote this. Thinking about the grace of the woods, the grace of being, and the divine grace which sustains us… I knew I had to write something. Perhaps my favorite line of the poem is ‘Running or walking, the way / is the same. Be still. Be still.’ I set this as a winding, repetitive melody in the altos that pervades the whole piece.
SATB Choir (divisi), acapella; ~5:00
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Text
The woods is shining this morning
Red, gold and green, the leaves
lie on the ground, or fall,
or hang full of light in the air still.
Perfect in its rise and in its fall, it takes
the place it has been coming to forever.
It has not hastened here, or lagged.
See how surely it has sought itself,
its roots passing lordly through the earth.
See how without confusion it is
all that it is, and how flawless
its grace is. Running or walking, the way
is the same. Be still. Be still.
‘He moves your bones, and the way is clear.’
- Wendell Berry
Wendell Berry, “Grace” from New Collected Poems. Copyright © 1968 by Wendell Berry. Used with the permission of The Permissions Company, LLC on behalf of Counterpoint Press, counterpointpress.com. All rights reserved worldwide.
Performances
10/12/2025, Ratusz, Salka Wielka, Wrocław, Poland. Cantores Minores Wratislawienses, Dir. Małgorzata Sapiecha-Muzioł.
10/18/2024, Lembright Atrium, Euler Science Center, Taylor University, Upland, IN. Taylor University Chorale, dir. Dr. Reed Spencer.
10/13/2024, Akron United Methodist Church, Akron, IN. Taylor University Chorale, dir. Dr. Reed Spencer.
10/12/2024, First Reformed Church, Holland, MI. Taylor University Chorale, dir. Dr. Reed Spencer.
10/11/2024, Calvary Bible Chapel, Kalamazoo, MI. Taylor University Chorale, dir. Dr. Reed Spencer.
10/10/2024, Ancilla Domini Chapel, Plymouth, IN. Taylor University Chorale, dir. Dr. Reed Spencer.