Psalm Offering 4, Opus 3
The shortest Psalm Offering of Opus 3 is a musical representation of the shepherds coming to see the new born, Jesus. The first melody, A, all in staccato, has almost a joyful sound of people skipping, running, bounding in a rush to see the Christ child. It segues to melody, B, as the shepherds delightfully look upon Mary, Joseph, and their newborn, son. Melody A returns more slowly and stately to conclude this Psalm Offering.
This Psalm Offering was a gift to Dr. Bob Conlin, a very dear friend of my sister, Mary Ruth, and my family. Were it not that Bob was homosexual and my sister heterosexual, they might have married. Indeed, they loved each other very much. Over the many years of my sister’s chronic illness, Bob would often show up, following one of my sister’s many surgeries, in the middle of the night to relieve my parents from their bedside vigil. He would keep vigil by her bedside to talk with her and comfort her if she were awake with pain, or to greet her in the morning when she would awaken. As my sister was in hospice, dying, as a family we discussed who we wanted to be with her in her last hours. The first name that came up was Bob’s name. He arrived about 2 hours before she died. I remember him sitting alongside her in her hospital bed and holding her head in his lap. She died in his arms. I am forever grateful for the love he extended to Mary Ruth, and to my family ever since.
Scripture passage: When the angels went away from them to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.
