In the middle of last week, after an exciting and exhausting South Dakota Synod Assembly at which we re-elected Rev. Constanze Hagmaier as our Bishop, and after resting well for a couple of days afterward I could not figure this out: why was I awake at three in the morning with a song from Huey Lewis and the News running through my head? It wasn’t even one of their really big “hits”. I hadn’t thought of it in decades. But here I was, wide awake and humming the melody to I Never Walk Alone.
Well I remember our old neighborhood
Everyone there, well they understood
You could wind up stranded in the lost and found
So you better stick together if you want to stick around…
After a solid 30 minutes of not being able to shake the melody, I moved from the bedroom to the living room and opened up my laptop. I found there was a newer recording of this song. It was re-recorded for the 2024 Broadway musical The Heart of Rock and Roll. In this version they combine I Never Walk Alone with Finally Found a Home.
So me and the crew got our own little plan
Somebody out there, well they’ll understand
And we’ll have the world in the palm of our hand.
I never walk alone. I never walk alone… but I’ve finally found a home!
I don’t know if it was the Spirit or that late piece of leftover birthday cake from Rev. Larry Peterson’s party that woke me up after only a few hours in bed, but my mind was wide awake now. Over the course of the next pre-dawn hour I assembled this list of 30 Huey Lewis and the News songs that (at least in my mind) connect me to the Spirit of Pentecost. I’ve been listening to it ever since that morning. It was my sound track for my drive up to St. John Lutheran Church in rural Ramona, SD last Sunday.
It’ll be my soundtrack for the drive this weekend to celebrate with Rev. David Lund and his congregations in Pollock on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his ordination. And while these may not serve you well as a soundtrack for this season of Pentecost, these songs from my youth are helping me reconnect with a younger, more joyful part of my journey. Songs like The Power of Love, Perfect World, and Thank you, No. 19 sing to me of what the Spirit can and does do with us because with the Spirit of Christ we never walk alone.
The above photo is from dawn over the Missouri River while at the First Call and SAM retreat this year. The four buttons below link to the various streaming services where you can listen to Huey Lewis and the News Play the Pentecost. And you can find this and all of my posts as the Director for Rural Ministries in the South Dakota Synod on the Food for the Journey Blog.
Looking forward, Joel
And if you haven’t yet watched the new Rustin movie based on the life of Bayard Rustin, check it out on Netflix.
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