A treat for the early service...

This Sunday's lectionary text focuses on Jacob - and includes the story of his dream about the ladder reaching up to heaven, with angels ascending and descending on it.

Craig Courtney, a composer with hundreds of publications and an impressive resume - including a six-year stint on the piano faculty of the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria - published a choral anthem last year galled The Gate of Heaven. It was written in memory of Burke Rice, a young man who was preparing to enter the police force. Burke's family requested the song be based on Genesis 28:15-18, which includes the text:

 Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!” And he was afraid, and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

Lyricist Susan Bental Boersma took this request - as well as the family's wishes to incorporate the spiritual Jacob's Ladder and a cello part (in honor of Burke's best friend, a cellist) in the piece - and fashioned a sublime text, which begins:

God of the cloud and fire, my heart is in your hand.

This is a stunningly beautiful piece. The piano accompaniment, played with exquisite musicianship by Dr. Mary Newton, could stand on its own for a solo, as could the cello part, presented molto espressivo by WHS senior Maggie Matejcek. The anthem has already become a favorite of many in the choir, and I think you may well agree.

We are Climbing Jacob's Ladder arose as an African-American spiritual in the antebellum South. The words reflect confidence and hope in the face of difficult, horrible circumstances:

We are climbing Jacob’s ladder,
We are climbing Jacob’s ladder,
We are climbing Jacob’s ladder,
Soldiers of the cross.

Every round goes higher, higher,
Every round goes higher, higher,
Every round goes higher, higher,
Soldiers of the cross. 

The story of Jacob’s ladder, found in Genesis, is told in all three of the Abrahamic faith traditions. Though it might be interpreted differently in Judaism, Christianity or Islam, its basic message of connecting with God and aspiring to ascend to some higher meaning for our lives runs through the three traditions.


In his novel, The Oath, Elie Wiesel tells the story of a Jewish survivor of a pogrom, and at one point Wiesel writes:

“Through song,” said the Rebbe,“ man climbs to the highest palace.  From that palace he can influence the universe and its prisons. Song is Jacob’s ladder, forgotten on earth by the angels.  Sing and you shall defeat death, sing and you shall disarm the foe.”

Amen, and amen.