He must have been studying one of the minor prophets the day he was moved to write this song, don’t you think? Blaine Morris, like so many songwriters who see themselves in God’s shadow, evidently did not make a very effective effort to promote himself, but instead is a signpost. What he saw and he experienced puts the emphasis in the wrong spot when you’re considering the song “The Lord Thy God” that Morris wrote in 1986. His name is practically all we know, similar to the prophet Zephaniah (shown here), with whom he may be identifying with the words he recorded for us to sing.
Blaine Morris apparently wrote many songs, as suggested by a comment someone posted on a YouTube video of Morris’ song “The Lord Thy God” as it’s sung by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir (see link below). He and his wife Junel were traveling musicians and may have recorded some of their songs in a studio in Wenatchee, Washington. The words of his music’s first line were recorded centuries ago by Zephaniah (3:17), who stood in the shadows of others of his time, like Jeremiah around 625 B.C. So, Zephaniah and Blaine may have had similar egos too, in addition to the words they shared. Both were evidently content to remain relatively anonymous, perhaps a conscious decision so that the light shone more directly on the One whom they laud with their words. Why would someone shrink from the light…aren’t all musicians, including the travelling, perhaps struggling songwriter-types, looking for promotion? Maybe something more powerful called out to Blaine Morris. Did he call upon God with this song from a particular circumstance? What caused him to see Him that day? Was it just a bible study passage that moved him?
I have a friend, who when he prays calls upon ‘His Mighty Name’; I believe he's seen Him ‘high and lifted up’, and I think I know why. You see, my friend is confined to a chair, yet he’s not debilitated. People who’ve seen Him, and experience His power, don’t feel weak. And, the connection to Him is fortified the more I throw at Him the attention that otherwise might come my way. Want to know more of what Blaine Morris was trying to accomplish here? It seems that here, maybe what the song’s story doesn’t say may be part of the message. Maybe when you sing his and Zephaniah’s words, you’ve completed his mission, despite not hearing any of his personal testimony about “The Lord Thy God”. When I meet Blaine someday, I’ll thank him for the lesson, shake his hand, and then return my attention toward Him. I suspect that’s what Blaine’s doin’ today.
Someone, who says he met Blaine and wife Junel Morris in Wenatchee, Washington at a recording studio, posted a message at this YouTube video site: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX73DI1-pMY
6 comments:
We are but passing shadows, vapors that vanish and if we leave so sweet and lingering a fragrance as this song, we have done well.
This is my uncle Blaine and aunt Junel your talking about, both wonderful people
people of God, they made me who I am today. I grew up listening to their music and love it still, and to all the critics out there, if you don't like it, who says you have to listen to it?!
Blane Morris has a degree, Ministry of Music. Junel, not June, is his wife. I'm one of Blane's cousins. I have just listened to his newest cd, but does not appear to have been released on the new website yet. New site looks to be a work in process, as Junel and many others, wanted him to preserve his music. Right now there is no way to contact either of them on this site, but I will be sure to have them check out this blog when I call tonight thanking them for sending this cd to me. I love it, then I've listened to his music since we were 12.
Maybe you can help promote this.
http://blanemorrismusic.com/
I'm calvin, their grandson, I didn't know we had any cousins like that.
Blaine and Junel are my aunt and uncle too. They made a song called "Remebering The Times" i think it was called, after my mother passed away. Wish i could hear that again.
I was a member of the SF four square church in the 80s Greg Romine Pastor, it was there that I met Blane Morris, at the time his recording His Mercy Endures was out for the listening, and Yes one of the songs was called (remembering the times) I helped Blane with his equipment was a roadie in SF for him during the many out reach events.(Holy Place) was one of my favorite songs by Blain Morris I haven`t seen Blain in many years.He was a brother to me,a fellow christian, I still have the tape I bought when he was in SF playing music, what a great song writer he is. I miss him very much.
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