Jazz Mass
Welcome to this house
Of Monk
Coltrane
And many more
Saintly-celebrating
Billie Holiday
Muddy Waters
Buddy Rich who sticks for
Ella
Sacred syncopated
Earth and all stars
Their music turns
A service
Into lifetime crazy, holy
Obligation
C L Couch
“Earth and all stars,” the first words of a hymn by Herbert Brokering composed for Saint Olaf College, Minnesota, first published in 1968
Jazz Mass
Syncopated praise
Offbeat words and rhythm
Liturgy and litany
We have our ways to get
Involved
Invocated presence in
Bright colors through the
Music that we see and
Feel as well as hear
All are especially welcome
Here, for come-as-you-are
Takes new meaning
That which is not day-by-
Day is especially
Welcome now and here
It’s all right, though, the
Day-by-day folk are
Welcome, too
Everything is solid, yes
Though with haze
Around the edges
A cloud of unknowing
Truths because all of
Us might not know
What note might be
Arriving next
What might be played
What might be heard
What might be
Received from God
Snapping fingers,
Tapping toes, humming
As if the tone were
Sitting right with us
Because it is
And we might be
Changed for this time
Of many times—6/8,
4/4, 5/4, 7/8—however
It Gospel-goes
Out of the blue
Out of the blues
(a contemporary form of
Christian worship)
clcouch123 
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