Monthly Playlist: God Is Good
happy easter / first of april, everybody!
Yes, I am taking action to break out of my writing hiatus and to let the creative juices flow again. But yes, today is the first of April aka April Fools (sorry, I got no pranks for you today). It is also Easter Sunday, for those who celebrate either religiously or secularly. For me, I spent the afternoon with my family at Mass and dim-sum lunch, and then completed a special project I've been working on for the last little while. I became motivated following my church community's retreat to curate a playlist of songs that have inspired my spiritual journey thus far - and even more so when I accepted the position of being a music team co-leader at this HUGE retreat later on in the year (I'm talking hundreds of retreatants); I needed to become more familiar with Christian music. So with this, I would like to share my monthly playlist for April, titled 'God Is Good: Songs for Praise and Worship' - what better day to release it than on Easter, right?
The first song - Drawn To You - is currently one of my favourites. I found it fitting to place it first, as the lyrics speak of feeling that undying connection to and yearning for God. The songs then grow from praising God, to asking Him for help, opening and softening the heart. You Are Mine is one of the only hymns in this playlist, but is probably my favourite one, because it is God telling me that I am not alone, I am loved despite all the sins I have made and the brokenness that I am, and that I am a child of God; He's got my back. This thread runs for a little bit more, and then transforms into songs of worship. Following that, the songs speak of surrendering (the theme for the retreat I went to recently) everything to God and to trust in Him completely, and then committing and continuing to strengthen the relationship with Him. The last two songs represent the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament at Adoration - I know many can agree with me that Adoration is such a special experience - specifically the last two verses of Pange, Lingua Gloriosi. Typically, the ceremony concludes with Holy God, We Praise Thy Name, but O God Beyond All Praising (to the tune of Holst's Jupiter) can be an appropriate substitution, and a grand one at that too. I also love the tune so...
I thought I would create a booklet for my own purposes of meditating and reflecting upon the lyrics. I also included two prayers that I like, as an opener and closer to this spiritual activity - 2h worth! Below is a sample of the booklet (I also included the Spotify code on the cover, if you want to scan the playlist to your device):
CLICK HERE to download the full PDF version for FREE (on Google Drive) - if you could leave a comment on this post that you did, that would be appreciated
“He has rescued us from the power of darkness
and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son,
in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
