Song Weavings

On New Year’s day in 2005 I had a brief but memorable vision: Seeing the familiar blue book, A Course in Miracles, I was aware that it was full of music which I felt called to release. However, this did not take the form of more songs. Instead, as I began teaching the Course in March of that year at The Church Within, I found that the process of preparing for each class was identical to receiving new songs, only now the “compositions” were bigger and more complex. Each class was a weaving together of a melody — a particular set of ideas or principles from the Course — with “lyrics”: insights and discoveries from my personal journey, the stories and experiences of other group members, Course quotes, charts and graphics that illustrated the theme, and (most importantly), abundant laughter.

The Song Weavings offered on this website will be similar, except that the starting point will be one or more song lyrics, rather than the Course itself. Many of the Music of Christ songs have stories to tell or stories to evoke, and these will be interwoven with Course ideas. The eventual destination of these writings will be my next project: four books of song lyrics that will be companion volumes for the CD tri-
folds The Forgotten Song, Come Within, Angel Dream, and Healing Rain.

“Remember Me Gentle” (Volume 3, Track 5)

“Dream of your brother’s kindnesses instead of dwelling in your dreams on his mistakes.   Select his thoughtfulness to dream about instead of counting up the hurts he gave. Forgive him his illusions, and give thanks to him for all the helpfulness he gave. And do not brush aside his many gifts because he is not perfect in your dreams. . .Let all your brother’s gifts be seen in light of charity and kindness offered you.”  ACIM

Remember me gentle. Remember me kind.
Remember the sweet warmth of your hand in mine.
Remember me doing the best I could do.
Remember me feeling how much I love you.

Forget my impatience, the words that could hurt.
Forgive me my blindness, not seeing your worth.
My mistakes have been many but let them not hide
the goodness and blessings and joy in our lives.

Remember the laughter and smiles that we shared.
Remember that always within me I’ve cared.
Remember me thinking how precious you are.
Remember me holding you safe in my heart.

Forget the illusions of distance or years.
Our spirits are ageless and love brings us here
to share what our souls know has ever been true:
I love you.  I love you.  I deeply love you.

Remember me gentle. Remember me kind.
Remember the sweet warmth of your hand in mine.
Remember me doing the best I could do.
Remember me feeling how much I love you.

My mother Lillian lived to be 95. In the last seven years of her life she drifted into an Alzheimer’s world in which her children disappeared one by one, and then my father. He was still there in the house with her and they had been married 69 years at the time she passed in 2001. He didn’t have dementia, but he did have short term memory problems.

Before I explain further how this song came to be, let me say that my mother was my number one forgiveness teacher in this lifetime. I took all my self-hatred and unworthiness and saw it as coming from her. The first 15 years of intense inner work that began in 1976 were primarily about that relationship. In my mind, over and over: feeling the pain, breaking through to the love underneath, joining with her. Often I would visualize myself as a child in her arms. At other times she was the sad child that I held and comforted.

After years and years of work, one of these sessions ended with a remarkable vision: I was aware that she and I were both men in China centuries ago. S/he was my teacher to whom I was utterly devoted. What a shift in perception!! I reflected on what an amazing gift of love it is to show up in a beloved’s life as one who must be “forgiven”.

I was very much at peace with my mother in 1999 when “Remember Me Gentle” was written, although other family members were not. I had been thinking about my parents and wondering what they would say to their children if they had the awareness and desire to communicate with us. Immediately this song began flowing in my mind. At the time I was a member of New Thought Unity Center in Cincinnati, OH, and I shared this song one Sunday. I asked everyone to think about someone from the past with whom they were not completely at peace, possibly someone who had passed away, and I suggested that they visualize the person singing this song to them. Many were moved by the experience, and I loved the thought that my mother (teacher) and I had joined to bring healing to others.

When my mother died in May, 2001, I read the song lyrics at her funeral.