Voices Found: Maundy Thursday WLWC Year C, VF 15, 74
Miriam the prophet took the timbrel in her hand
and all the women followed her
just as she had planned.
And Miriam raised her voice in song,
she sang with praise and might:
"We've just lived through a miracle,
we're going to dance tonight."
And the women dancing with their timbrels
followed Miriam as she sang her song.
Sing a song to the one whom we've exalted
Miriam and the women danced
and danced the whole night long.
Words and music: Deborah Lynn Friedman (1951-2011)
Exodus 15:11-21, Hebrews 11:23-28, and Matthew 26-17-56 are appointed for Maundy Thursday in the Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church
These lessons emphasize the leadership and salvation by women in the Exodus. Jocheved, Moses's mother hid him when he was born and then set him afloat in the Nile, followed by his sister Miriam, saving him from execution by Pharaoh. Later, Miriam, the prophet, joined her brother to lead the Hebrews through the Red Sea; then she led the women dancing, singing, and drumming as they rejoiced in the Indomitable God.
Then the prophet Miriam, Aaron's sister, took a hand drum in her hand, and all the women went out with her with hand-drums and with dancing. And Miriam sang to them, women and men:
"Sing to the Indomitable God who has triumphed triumphantly:
horse and rider God has thrown into the sea."
Exodus 15 :20-21, tr. Gafney
Hebrews 11:23-28 Here St. Paul recounts the same story from Exodus: the faithful Jocheved, (with Miriam) saves her son from Pharaoh's harsh and ugly decree: death to Hebrew boys.
By faith Moses was hidden after his birth by his mother (Jocheved) and father(Amram) for three months because they saw that the child was beautiful; and they were not afraid of the King's commandment. Hebrews 11:23. tr. Gafney
Voices Found # 19 is the lullaby that Jocheved sings to her baby as she sends him off in a basket, caulked with bitumen and pitch. She sings to the river of tragedy, "to save his life, I must crush my soul. So I cast off the seed that I once did sow!" Miriam followed her brother in the basket to see what would become of him. Jocheved's poignant lullaby expresses the fear, the dread, yet the hope of a mother who must let her child go, trusting in the Wind that Blows, the Living, Loving, Mothering God.
Voices Found # 19, (chorus only)
O wind that blows on the river of reeds
blow Moshe his mother's sweet melodies,
rock him in your watery womb
and keep him safe and warm.
Words: Sandy Shanin
Music: Andrea Clearfield
In the pew edition of Voices Found we published this chorus for congregation to sing; it is the refrain to Jocheved's Song. In the full aria, the story is told by a narrator and soloist. The full score is published in the Leader's Guide to Voices Found. A congregation or small group sings the chorus in response to the narrator and the recitative and aria sung by a soprano. Clearfield's dramatic piece is recorded on the CD "Magdalene and the Other Mary," available from Church Publishing. This unique recording features the composer, as narrator. The powerful aria and recitative is part of a larger work, Women of Valor by Clearfield, an oratorio that celebrates women in the Hebrew Scriptures: faithful women of Salvation history.
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