The Blizzard Doxology Snowballs

Posted on March 18, 2019 by Linda Bonney Olin

My new verse “Praise God from Whom All Blizzards Flow” was born on January 18, 2019. Two months later, winter has not yet relinquished its icy grip. We’ve run through the alphabet of storm names all the way to Winter Storm Ulmer. And that light-hearted blizzard doxology has been shared many thousands of times on social media, hopefully brightening the long, snowy season.

Snow in the air, and Linda on the air

Viral postings of the blizzard doxology led to an invitation from WWIB FM in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin to join their Wake-Up Show host Caleb Svendsen for a radio interview. (My segment starts at the 2:00 mark, with Caleb’s brother Josh singing his own version of the blizzard doxology.) It was 25 below at their location when I called in, and only a little warmer here in the Susquehanna Valley. Brrr! But we had a fun chat, and we warmed up one lucky giveaway winner with a signed copy of Now Sings My Soul: New Songs for the Lord.

Singing the faith in all circumstances

God only knows how many chilly church choirs and congregations have sung the blizzard doxology, but Googling the hymn title produced a few hints.

Here’s a nice rendition by Pastor David Hewitt at King of Glory, Carmel, Indiana.

2019.01.20 | Pastor David Hewitt | Praise God From Whom All Blizzards Flow from KOGCarmel on Vimeo.

And from the little congregation of Holy Cross in Burlington, Ontario Canada:

Edit: Just found a video on Facebook from a very well-rehearsed youth choir at St. Ann Catholic Church in Fayetteville, North Carolina:

Here’s the choir of West Lebanon Congregational Church, one of the few churches in New Hampshire that braved the blizzard to hold a Sunday worship service on January 20, 2019:

And the Sanctuary Choir of All Saints Lutheran Church, ELCA in Cottage Grove, Minnesota:

A different faith song

Meanwhile, areas farther south have sung a different tune. Melting snow, heavy rain, and driving winds and tornados have caused widespread devastation. No laughing matter there. But people of faith continue to call upon the Lord to hold them close through the storm and walk with them as they struggle through the aftermath. Let’s raise prayers for their safety, still praising the God of strength and compassion.

Blessings,
Linda

Faith Songs with Andrew Remillard

Posted on May 12, 2018 by Linda Bonney Olin

I’m tremendously excited to announce that pianist Andrew Remillard has completed the project of recording the hymns and faith songs in Now Sings My Soul: New Songs for the Lord. One hundred sixteen in all!

The recordings are posted as videos in a special playlist on Andrew’s popular YouTube channel. (A playlist is a collection of videos that YouTube will automatically play one after the other if the viewer selects the autoplay option.)

Andrew’s recordings are strictly instrumental, no singing. However, he displays the score (music + lyrics) as the visual on his videos, as you can see in the screenshot of his video for “Now Sings My Soul a New Song.”

In this way, my lyrics are being presented along with the music to a worldwide audience they never could have reached otherwise. Andrew’s Now Sings My Soul playlist has attracted more than a thousand views already. What a gift!

3,000 Hymn Milestone

Incredibly, Andrew Remillard recently passed the milestone of 3,000 (yes, three thousand!) hymn recordings, encompassing seven full hymnals:

To celebrate, Andrew and I decided to share a conversation with you all here on Faith Songs.

Chat with Andrew Remillard

Linda: First of all, Andrew, tell us how you got started on the path of recording hymns for YouTube.

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Faith and Freedom ~ Veterans Day

Posted on November 11, 2012 by Linda Bonney Olin

Photo of Corporal Clarence Bonney in uniform

Corporal Clarence Bonney at Camp Crowder, Missouri, before deployment to Burma

My father, Clarence Bonney, served his country for four years during World War II, much of it at a jungle airfield in Burma. As the man in charge of maintaining the field’s electric generators, he worked under dangerous circumstances to support airplanes “flying the hump” to deliver supplies to our troops in China.
Today I want to thank Dad and all the other veterans of our armed forces, who sacrificed their time, their health, and in some cases their lives, that others might live in freedom.

Faith and Freedom

As a Lay Speaker/Servant in the United Methodist Church, I had the opportunity to lead Sunday worship services this morning at my home church and our sister church a few miles away. Preparing for my Veterans Day message, I was struck by the parallel between the service men and women who put their lives on the line so the rest of us can live in freedom, and Jesus Christ, who gave up his own life so that we might live eternally in freedom from sin. Workers in Christian missionary service, as well as those in the military service, can be called into harm’s way, even to death.

To make that point more personal, in place of the traditional Gospel reading and sermon I chose to portray the Apostle John speaking as a traveling preacher in the year 44 A.D., eleven years after the crucifixion of Jesus. In this dramatic monologue, John reflects on the recent execution of his brother James, the first of the twelve apostles to be martyred, and on what James’s death meant to their family’s faith.

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