Pie Jesu

I found a video on the iPad I'd nearly forgotten about. I took it in a sneaky way, I'm not even sure I should have done it. But I will never erase it. It's a precious, if devious memory.

Andrew Lloyd Webber's setting for Pie Jesu has been one of my favorite pieces for many years. Jenny Oaks Baker recorded a version that caught Robert's ear, and we played it many times at home. He always asked the name, and I would reply, "Pie Jesu" which I interpreted as Sweet Jesus (Pie is Latin, meaning Pious). The melody is sweet and simple, and spoke to both of us.

There's another song, "Sweet Jesus", that happens to be my little grandson's favorite song, from a Kenneth Cope album. The music is more contemporary, less sacred, yet the words match the message of Pie Jesu: Sweet Jesus, please won't you catch us, save us. I know it sounds desperate, but...sometimes we feel desperate, and this really is what we say to our Savior in those times.

The Mayo Clinic Hospital offers music therapy, in the form of three wonderful musicians who bring instruments and play in patient rooms. It's well known that musicians often perform in the lobbies at Mayo, but these special private performances bring peace and comfort to many people in a more personal way. Robert was visited by a talented harpist, Paula, who asked what we would like to hear. This particular day, she offered to play some Andrew Lloyd Weber and Robert said to me, "What is that song I like?" Sure enough, Paula was able to play it. And because I had the iPad handy, I recorded it. It's beautiful. "Sweet Jesus, Give us rest". Sweet was the peace that entered our hospital room that day. Paula couldn't have known, but she surely felt the need for peace, as Robert sobbed while she played. I can hear him, even though I never turned the camera toward him. I mark that day as the day we knew, or felt in our hearts, how very little time on earth together we had left. And we both cried, "Sweet Jesus, please catch us," in our prayers that entire week. Sweet is His peace. Sweet is His rest. Sweet is the peace of the Gospel, the Good News of the resurrection. We sat together later, reading words of solace from the scriptures and our hearts were filled with peace. "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." Pie Jesu.




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