Sweet Tea is two years old this week! Can you believe it? A lot has happened since this time last year:
We learned how to make homemade piecrust and then used that knowledge to make an apple pie.
We watched the Atlanta Braves win the World Series and learned how to care for pearls.
I shared my sweet mother-in-law’s Kentucky Derby Pie recipe. You’ll want to have that one bookmarked for Thanksgiving in a few weeks.
We visited Key West, and we talked about kudzu (and the proper way to pronounce it).
And I had cancer—had being the key word. It’s gone, and we caught it so early I didn’t have to do chemotherapy or radiation. In the midst of all the pain and anxiety, there was good news, and for that I am thankful.
As I was looking back through the posts from last year, I found one that I had not remembered writing. I published it on March 4th, and it’s titled O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go. It’s a ode to one of my favorite hymns of the same name written by George Matheson in 1882 during a time of his own intense personal suffering. He wrote it in one sitting, and he says it came out of him as if it were being dictated straight into his brain. It truly is a lovely and uplifting hymn.
I wrote that post in the context of the beginning of Russia’s attack on Ukraine and all the uncertainty and suffering that brought to the world. Looking back at the date, however, it turns out I published this post the week before I was diagnosed with cancer. The diagnosis plunged me into my own season of personal suffering, and I believe that song was rattling around in my head that week to prepare me for what was coming. It has continued to be a comfort over the past few months.
Music is like that. When I’m feeling at my lowest, hymns come back to me, and their meaty nourishment is good for the soul. Secular songs can do that for me as well, and I bet every single person reading this can point to the song or songs they go back to when they need comfort or a pick me up.
I recently found a new (to me) song I love during one of my Peloton rides. Robin Arzon used it in a cool down ride and talked about playing it on repeat after her daughter Athena’s birth in March 2021 as she was getting her mojo back post partum. I started listening to it on Spotify and now pull it out whenever I needed a little extra oomph for the day. It’s called “Rise Up” by Andra Day.
I’m such a geek I’ve created a whole playlist around it. The playlist has U2’s “Beautiful Day” and Natasha Bedingfield’s “Unwritten.” The Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun” and “When I’m Sixty-Four” are on it, as well as “Wait For It” and “My Shot” from Hamilton. My neighbor, who had breast cancer 17 (!) years ago, said she listened to “Defying Gravity” from Wicked on repeat as she drove to her radiation appointments, so that’s on there as well. Of course, “O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go” is included—the Chris Rice version. I even have “Touch the Sky” from Brave because Merida with the unruly hair (like mine) is my favorite Disney princess.
The playlist has become my soundtrack for physical therapy as I work to unstick a partially frozen shoulder, a not uncommon side effect of breast cancer surgery (no one knows why), and get my own mojo back. I’m always on the lookout for new songs to add to it. I’ve been picky with this playlist adding new songs that seem to fit and dropping others when they don’t entirely meet the vibe I’m going for.
What would you guys recommend I add? Spiritual or secular, they are all good. Drop suggestions in the comments, and I’ll try them out on my playlist as I work out next week.
Until next time,
Karla
I’m so glad you’re feeling well! Time to pull out that Kentucky Derby pie recipe again!
Here are a few songs I really love:
Feeling Good - Nina Simone
Christmas TV - Slow Club
85 - Andy Grammer
500 Miles - The Proclaimers
My workout playlists include Matt Maher's "All The People Said Amen".
"We are all the same, in need of mercy, to be forgiven and be free. It's all you got to lean on, but thank God it's all you need."