To Share with You
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Sound Recordings
Submitter Comments
Insomnia
The muse came to me during a sleepless night. Having been appointed to a team creating an introductory page to set the stage for presenting Threshold Choir songwriter profiles, I thought we had about wrapped it up. Alas, my collaborators were continuing to bring up unresolved perspectives, and I went to bed feeling “stuck” and despairing of ever coming to closure. Contributing to my distress was a lengthy and tenacious siege of laryngitis – a perfect storm for being startled awake around 2:00am.
A spark
And the first verse of “To Share With You” emerged, a blenderized melange of words that took four hours to arrange themselves into a structure and a melody. I croaked a laryngitic version into my phone, then managed to sleep. Alternate verses and harmonies entered seamlessly within a day or two; that was the easy part. When the muse shows up, I tend to receive her with gratitude and without many questions. Songs and paragraphs often reveal themselves before their birth parent is aware of where they are coming from or what form they will eventually take; I didn’t yet see that this song was about the very issues that had been keeping me awake.
A revelation
Weeks after completion of the song, something surprising and humbling was revealed to me: the various offerings expressed in the lyrics (a word, a smile, my presence, my song, a hand, a prayer, my blessing, my heart, my truth, my trust, my spirit, my love) – in order to be offered/given/shared/received – require nothing to be given away. Each offering is like a candle whose light is not diminished by lighting another candle from its flame. Such are the gifts that our team members had shared with each other in the form of input to the spirit and text of the “Songwriter Profiles” page – not unlike the songs that find their way into the Threshold Choir repertoire.
Ignition
Suddenly gifted with the ignition of such a flame, I had the energy to pull together the loving contributions of the team members, and “Songwriter Profiles: Preface” is the result. Perhaps the song “To Share With You” is my muse’s paraphrasing of that page.
Sharing
I had the opportunity to share facets of my newly birthed song when some beloved out-of-town friends supported me in singing the song into life, as my laryngitis continued to heal. The “ensemble” recording was made when we presented it to a roomful of close friends, who responded with tears and hugs, affirming that my muse had invited me to peer through a window into sacred spaces that we all share. May there be many more opportunities “To Share With You” at bedsides and other gatherings.
See Marcia’s Songwriter Profile
Lyrics
What have I to offer you in this moment?
May I offer you a word? May I offer you a smile?
As we touch this sacred space we share,
As we share this sacred space we touch,
May I offer you my presence… and my song?
Examples of word substitutions:
What have I to honor you in this moment?
May I offer you a hand? May I offer you a prayer?
As we touch this sacred space we share,
As we share this sacred space we touch,
May I offer you my blessing… and my heart?
What have I to hold you close in this moment?
May I offer you my truth? May I offer you my trust?
As we touch this sacred space we share,
As we share this sacred space we touch,
May I offer you my spirit… and my love?