Easter Hymn // Humbly Kneeling, Now I Pray // I Will Endure
Lord, Lead the Way to Zion // Though My Trials // Walk Ye in the Spirit
When I Pray with Heart Sincere // FREEDOM

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Easter Hymn
Hymn Tune Name: RUSSIAN BREAD

Two disparate sources in 1992 led me to depict or represent in words and music The Last Supper. That event is the foundation of our ritual of the sacrament—also known as the "eucharist" and "communion" in other churches. I had been working on a major music project with a group of recent Russian immigrants who were devoutly Christian. During that time sequence I heard a sermon delivered in my own church about the origin and the meaning of the sacrament and the importance of the symbolism of the wine and the bread. In this particular sermon, emphasis was placed on the communal unity that comes from the breaking and sharing of the bread. Hence the tune name "Russian Bread." As taught and understood in our doctrine, the partaking of water (wine) and bread is a vicarious commemoration of the LORD's sacrifice, representing His blood and body.

Humbly Kneeling, Now I Pray
Hymn Tune Name: PRESTON

My daughter never adequately explained to me why she chose the names she did for her three children—except for their middle names. Preston is the name of a hamlet in very southern Idaho from which my daughter's maternal grandmother hailed, but that was not the source. As with her other two children, the names just came to her. Preston was born in 2021, and favourable circumstances allowed me to visit and help care for him early in his life; with the other children I had been last in line of the grandparents to visit.

One day, whilst it was my turn to feed this very new infant his bottle, I began humming a short phrase to him. He seemed to respond with a sense of comfort and assurance. Very soon, the remainder of the tune came to me, but not the words. I knew what the tune meant, but I had not the verbiage to fully express the intent. Then, as is typically of my lyric writing, a few words began to surface as I hummed the tune. Once the words came, I had very little editing to do to refine the harmonies. It is a simple tune, but one that continues to affect me deeply, as each time I hear it I relive that sacred moment with my third grandchild. 

I Will Endure
Hymn Tune Name: MATHIS

Don and Sara-Beth Mathis became quick and long-lasting friends shortly after I found and accepted religion and Jesus Christ. Theirs is a musical family and dedicated to living what our church preaches without themselves being "preachy." Both had served missions to England in their youth and had met there during their service. In their retirement years they served together on several missions in eastern European countries. They served and they endured throughout their lives and on all their missions.

It was for one of their missions (1996)—probably their second, in Bulgaria—that I felt inspired to compose this hymn. It was first performed during the church service on August 25th in which they both spoke, just before embarking on that mission.

While serving in Bulgaria one of the native church members in their mission field translated the text into the national language but did not have an appropriate translation for the words "I will endure." As a result, he used something equivalent in "I gave my word." A few years later I felt inspired to write a second version using the new phrase in a key place in the hymn. I like both. 

Lord, Lead the Way to Zion
Hymn Tune Name: BATTALION

My in-laws were life-long members of our church, with ancestry on both sides going back to the westward trek Salt Lake City, Utah in the 1840s. In 1998, there was a church-wide emphasis on its pioneer history and heritage, and this proved the main source of inspiration for this composition.

This hymn reflects our historical heritage but is not set in an historical perspective. Literally and figuratively the text recalls the past while encouraging us in our own contemporary time—what- and whenever that may be—to "press on" and for our LORD to "lead on" to our ultimate goal. To members in my church, "Zion" is not just a location, but an ideal state of mind and being, and the "pure in heart." 

Though My Trials
Hymn Tune Name: SCOTT

Richard G. Scott was a member of the Council of Twelve Apostles in my church. He was truly a humble man. His sermons always touched me to the core yet, ironically (perhaps that is the apposite word) from a technical assessment, his delivery was very staid and awkward and (seemingly) unemotional. He was not a stentorian orator. He had, however, a great spirit about him that superseded any negative criticism of his public speaking technique. This hymn from 2000 I also composed during a time of church-wide emphasis on its pioneer history and heritage. The focus had been on the sacrifices and struggles the early saints faced and overcame in their trek to the west. The idea struck me that although we no longer experience those physical hardships and pioneer challenges, we have our own trials to overcome today.

Walk Ye in the Spirit
Hymn Tune Name: UNCLE TOM

This hymn I composed for and dedicated to Tom Van Den Heuvel, and it was first performed at his Missionary Farewell on September 28, 1980. I met Tom when I was investigating the church into which I was baptized. We became good friends.

He also was a convert to our church and decided relatively late in age to commit and serve a full-time proselyting mission. I visualized him walking and preaching and faithfully serving the LORD. This is the first hymn I have composed.

When my daughter was born a few years later, Tom became like an uncle and oft times doted over her, hence the tune name "uncle" Tom. 

When I Pray with Heart Sincere
Hymn Tune Name: AVERY

For my only granddaughter, Avery Corene Ekins, this piece came to me early in February 2025.

It is rather straight forward, though the harmonies are a bit deceptively simple, as with most of my work. This is noticeable in the repeat of the first part of the verse.

Avery is very energetic and much different than what this music might suggest. I have composed a short piano piece (En Mouvement), that was inspired by watching the seemingly unrelenting vitality and goodness of her, as she was in continuous motion (with few exceptions) from first light to just moments before bedtime when her energy would gracefully subside like a deflating balloon.

This (hopefully) captures her thoughtful and reflective side; it is the way both music (and then) words came to me.

FREEDOM
Hymn Tune Name: FREEDOM

[For complete notes about this hymn, please see the PDF download for the complete score--which includes the notes.]

In June 2001 (three months before “911”), I was struck with the inspiration to write the music (just the music) to what quickly became a hymn tune. All I knew at that time was the title—FREEDOM—and the need to put that inspiration into some earthly musical form. Since that time, I had struggled intermittently to come up with the lyrics (the text or the “hymn).

Bits and pieces came to me sporadically throughout the years, but with a struggle each time. Sometimes I would receive a clause, or a snippet, or sometimes a full line, and often with no adequate rhyme. 

Then, in August of this year (2025), I started getting more glimpses into the purpose and direction of this hymn. The lyrics came in longer “chunks” so to speak, and the overall message became more clear.

A major breakthrough came with the idea to insert the message of one of my favourite scriptures, one that to me distills the essence of Christianity and that speaks universally to the heart of brotherly love, of mutual love within humanity. That scripture is found in the New Testament of the Holy Bible, 1 Corinthians 13—the entire chapter. The key components are “faith, hope, and charity.” Some translations use “love” instead of “charity,” and I have used such in earlier piano works in the set “…of a Child” which consist of The Faith of a Child, The Hope..., and The Love… “of a Child.”

In early September (2025), I felt the dam crack and the inspiration begin to flow more freely. Full sentences and complete thoughts became the new norm in the process of translating the essence of the inspiration into suitable and meaningful words—and with rhyme.

The final line in each verse is the same, drawing upon the message of 1 Corinthians 13 “Fight for freedom, pray for peace, live with faith, hope, and charity.”