Songs
Song for Dr. Drew
Dr. Longineu Parsons, Jr., composed this beautiful music in honor of Dr. Charles R. Drew, an African-American physician who was a leader in the establishment of blood banks. As the director of a Red Cross program serving the U.S. military in the 1940s, Dr. Drew argued that the U.S. Armed Services’ policy of segregating blood by the race of the donor was contrary to science. He was alone in being able to see that truth. I wrote these lyrics thinking about one person who saw that people could save each other’s lives through blood donation, while fearful leaders insisted that people could only save each other within their designated racial groups.
Strangers in Egypt
In the United States, many of us have neighbors who came into the country without the appropriate documents for legal entry. Over the years they become our schoolmates, co-workers, neighbors, and friends. This song quotes a Bible verse, Leviticus 19:34, which for centuries has told Jews and Christians how to treat the stranger who lives among us.
Red Irma
Some dogs seem to be trying to tell us something. They bring people out of their shell, make them smile, cause them to forget for a few minutes the think that had them so worried. They seem to be saying, "This is a really good time to be happy." Red Irma is that kind of dog.
Come with Me to Amsterdam
The light, the water, the easiness, the capacity for leisure make Amsterdam enchanting. So many of my friends love it, that I wrote an invitation for them.
The Song the Mountains Sing to Me
Sometimes I picture all the people who sang life-long in the mountains—for the joy of it, for praise, to ease sorrow, to sound good—all gathered as a hillside choir singing astonishing melodies.
So Long Ago
When people say, “That was then, and this is now,” I wonder how they can be so sure. Was Shakespeare right—only one chance—or was Rumi—it’s always new?
Love’s a Lasting Light
The expression, “Love never fails,” doesn’t mean that love will get you what you want. It means that selfless love never dies. It goes from one person to another like a continuous beam of light.
Slow Down and Walk with Jesus
As Jesus walked about, he knew what people needed and he helped them. His disciples might have thought he should be too busy to see about a particular person, but he always had the time.
Junior King
Not long after the dot com bubble burst, the man sitting next to me at a lunch counter in uptown Charlotte said, “The next bubble will be in housing.” It sounded like fun, but he foretold great suffering.