TIME
OF THE HARVEST (Liturgical Press, St. John's Abbey, Collegeville,
MN, 1982)
About the Time of the Harvest Project
In the 6th century, St. Benedict (a cenobite monk and founder
of the Benedictine Order) encouraged his monks in their daily
round of prayer: "Sing wisely; and in sight of the angels
I will sing praise to you." (Rule of St. Benedict, 19).
In the 20th century, the revered Jewish scholar, poet, and
mystic, Abraham Joshua Heschel, wrote:"True
prayer is a song." (Man's Quest for God, p.44)
The songs of this album spring from a variety of traditions,
ranging from the ancient Jewish folk hymn of the Middle East
to the "deep South" gospel hymn of 20th century America.
More directly, each song was inspired by the atmosphere of "prayer
and work" (ora et labora) as experienced at St. John's
Benedictine Abbey, Collegeville, MN.
All songs composed and arranged by Neale Lundgren except "The
Smoke of the Incense" written by Henry Bryan Hays, OSB
and "Kol Dodi," a traditional Jewish folk hymn.
Neale Lundgren: vocals, guitar, synthesizer & percussion--solos
on "Sefirot," "Prelude to Joy," "Come," "The
Anointing," and "Intimacy."
Timothy Backous, OSB: vocals--solos on "Soul Dancing," "Time
of the Harvest," and "Kol Dodi."
Paul Richards, OSB: vocals.
Tom Kuhn: saxaphone on "Soul Dancing."
Produced by Peregrin Berres, OSB
Cover Painting by Clement Frischauf, OSB from the monastic
refectory, St. John's Abbey, photographed by John Dominik.
Track #1
The Smoke of the Incense (00.20)
The smoke of the incense rose
With the prayer of the saints
From the hand of the angel before God
Track #2
Sefirot (6:47)
The heart of the cloud of Sefirot is pierced
By the foot of the dancer who kisses the earth
The fissure unfolds fragrances, woods,
That ascend with the sage whose head rests in heaven.
The fruit of Sefirot full of the covenant
Abounds now like rivers in days of the reaping
Flooding her plains with her song of enlightenment.
Flooding her plains with her song of enlightenment.
Exalt now in joy, Israel be blessed!
Fair Zion is taken for En Sof's tent!
Sefirot takes root like the flourishing oak
Whose limbs illumine with grace set afire
Whose buds burst forth abundant with telling.
Whose buds burst forth abundant with telling.
Exalt now in joy . . .
Yet in the dark of the cloud of Sefirot
Deeper than mist, oak or great river
Seas of light break over a morning.
Seas of light break over a morning.
Exalt now in joy . . .
Flow like the Jordan, ahhh ahhh, the dancing Euphrates.
For ageless is the dance, ageless the Dancer.
Exalt now in joy . . .
(Sefirot: a Hebrew word used in Jewish mysticism meaning the "ways," "categories," or "garments" in
which the hidden Reality that is God reveals Itself;
Ensof: God understood as "the Most Hidden of all Hidden.")
Track #3
(3.46) Prelude to Joy (instrumental)
Track #4
Play, O Wondrous Awe!(2.43)
I stand in holy fear
Before the glory band
Enraptured by the lyric strand now weaving,
A coat that I would wear,
A song that I would bear,
Flower of Wisdom, play,
O wondrous Awe!
A shore whose sands reveal
The bed of a time-worn sea,
A rain, estranged, eternal spring still sounding,
Is a desert I have rendered,
A sea I have entered,
Flower of Wisdom, play,
O wondrous Awe!
Exalt not yourself lest you fall.
Lay the killing canticle down.
Prance not across the hallowed hall
Lest you darken the light,
Stumble over a fallen crown.
So lead me servant king
Through the course of fires to your home.
I see the beacons in the distance kindling
Like stars that never cease,
Blossoms bearing peace
Flower of Wisdom, play,
O wondrous Awe!
Track #5
Soul Dancing (3:57
All this talking about it
Has got a hold on me
Make we wanna sing
Gonna shout it,
Know that I'm bound to be
Raising my hands in glory for this
Soul Dancing in me.
Know that it's the man from Galilee
Know that it's the man from Galilee
Know he understands . . . how it is to be . . . .
You know the moon she held me
Deep in her darkening night.
Then she offered me to the morning,
She was the mother of my light.
So I'm raising my hands in glory for this
Soul Dancing in me.
Know that it's the man from Galilee . . .
Now that this life is beginning
I pick up the ones I left behind
the weight's now upon my shoulders,
la la la la la la la la . . . la la la la la la la la la . .
. . .
Track #6
Kol Dodi (2:39)
(instrumental)
Track #7
Kol Dodi (2:39)
(vocal)
Kol Dodi, Kol Dodi,
Kol Dodi Hineh Zeh Bah
May da le gal hay hareem
Meh ga petz al hag va ot
May da le gal hay hareem
Meh ga petz al hag va ot
Kol Dodi . . .
Hear the voice of my Beloved, He comes,
Leaping over the mountains, skipping over the hills!
(From the Song of Songs, melody based on a traditional Jewish
folk song)
Track #8
Time of the Harvest (4:59)
Pulsing earths ready, wet moons pulling up,
Leafless shoots steady, web a holy cup,
Time of the Harvest is the lover's time.
Time of the Harvest is the lover's time.
Inhale the bouquet, the birches unpeeled,
Behold they convey, what once lay concealed,
Time of the Harves is the lover's time.
Time of the Harvest is the lover's time.
The dying begins, much more the living,
Like transparent skins round trees reviving,
Time of the Harvest is the lover's time . . .
(for my mother & father)
Track #9
Come (3:10)
When you've been abused
For loving the people
When you've been refused by the people
Who you love,
That's alright, that's alright,
When you put on Jesus, Jesus . . . that's alright.
Keep on living and giving and caring
For the people in the world around you,
You'll realize it's for love that you die
And for love that you'll live for ever.
O come, maranatha my Jesus child
Be born in me, be born in me . . . .
O come, maranatha my Jesus child
Be born in me, be born in me . . . .
Keep on living . . .
Track #10
The Anointing (4:34)
Waiting for a sign, violet's in the vine,
Slow the final hour,
Between the arbor and the floor
Adagio of a flower.
Hold my head in your hands
I promise I won't look between the lines
But Jesus I can't help but see through the spaces,
All the golden faces . . . .
Human and divine, spirit in the spine,
Marriage of the powers,
Arrow and the angel band, temple and the tower.
Hold my head in your hands
I promise I won't look between the lines
But Jesus I cant' help but feel the graces,
All the glory races . . . .
So let me step inside, I'm too full to hide
My love any longer
Anoint me with your holy kiss,
A heart could never be stronger . . . .
Hold my head in your hands . . . .
Track #11
Intimacy (5:25)
Dancing on the shoreline of loss,
Looking for the love inside the cross,
I am breaking like these waters of the sea,
You are my intimacy, the one who knows me.
There is love in the leave-taking
When you live through the heart-breaking.
For every hello there is another goodbye.
When a baby is born you know that it's going to cry.
And when lovers linger sorrow laughs up her sleeve,
Knowing that all need to leave with the one who knows me.
There is love in the leave-taking
When you live through the heart-breaking.
The greeting and the leaving are one,
Like the wave and the wind, the daughter and the son,
Soon I'll be soaring like that heron above the tree.
Beyond the lilacs I see the one who knows me.
There is love in the leave-taking
When you live through the heart-breaking.
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