I always loved music. I liked to go to church because I liked to sing the hymns.
Sometimes I, as a public official, turn to Scripture or hymns - especially hymns, because sometimes we Catholics don't have the Scriptures memorized like we should - to help me explain a public policy position or an idea or to be able to articulate it better when you're talking about justice or mercy or compassion.
One of my first public performances was singing hymns at a funeral for a friend of our family.
Love songs are kind of like hymns if you think about it. Gospel songs are basically songs of adoration about God, or whatever you want to call Him.
Like civil-rights protesters who sang rousing hymns as they were carried off to jail, Twitterers are bearing witness to what's happening around them, and calling out into the darkness of cyberspace for confirmation. I'm here. You're here, too. We are present.
I never force myself to be devout except when I feel so inspired, and never compose hymns of prayers unless I feel within me real and true devotion.
Growing up in Jamaica, the Pentecostal church wasn't that fiery thing you might think. It was very British, very proper. Hymns. No dancing. Very quiet. Very fundamental.
The Catholic theatrics are pretty high quality, but the Protestants have better hymns.
By singing the Guru's hymns, I, the minstrel spread the Lord's glory. Nanak, by praising the True Name, I have obtained the perfect Lord.
When I first began to learn to sing, it took me from three to four months to learn two simple hymns.
