Today’s thrilling moment

This is the song we performed before this morning’s (very inspiring) Spiritual Renewal Class. It’s one of my (many) favorite songs by Swamiji!

(Of course, our ensemble arrangement is a lot simpler than this version from Ramesha’s album — The Inner Temple!)

Today’s thrilling moment came when we invited the audience to join us on the final chorus.

What an amazing experience it is to be one of 300 or so people singing the words, “Dear God, my God, I am Thine for eternity! Dear God, my God, I am Thine eternally!”

And meaning every word.

Here are the complete lyrics:

I WILL ALWAYS THINK OF THEE

Every morning when I greet the sun,
When I move forth through crowded ways,
In my heart, Lord, ever so silently,
I will always think of Thee!

When I laugh, O, and when I cry with pain,
When my best friends misunderstand.
In my heart, Lord, ever so silently,
I will always think of Thee!

    Chorus:
    Dear God, my God, I am Thine for eternity!
    Dear God, my God, I am Thine eternally!

    Though my path lead me over desert sands
    Though it take me through bitter storms,
    In my heart, Lord, ever so silently,
    I will always think of Thee!

    When I’m working and when in earned repose,
    Let come vict’ry or low defeat,
    In my heart, Lord, ever so silently,
    I will always think of Thee!

      Chorus:
      Dear God, my God, I am Thine for eternity!
      Dear God, my God, I am Thine eternally!

      Choir’s back!

      It’s not the entire full choir yet, but what a huge step in the right direction!

      It was thrilling to hear voices joined in song once again. It was the first time since March 2020, and it sounded beautiful.

      It was both a profoundly joyful and a deeply moving experience.

      And I was struck once again by the realization of what a gift our music is, and how extremely important it is to the health and well-being of Ananda’s global network of communities.