The Welcome Wagon, Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices (Asthmatic Kitty Records, 2012)

C.S. Lewis argued that novelty undermines worship: "There is really some excuse for the man who said, 'I wish they'd remember that the charge to Peter was Feed my sheep; not Try experiments on my rats, or even, Teach my performing dogs new tricks.'" (Letters to Malcolm Chiefly on Prayer). With a familiar order of service parishioners can more easily focus on worship. Being protestant to the bone, one of my two favorite parts of Sunday worship is the sermon. Our pastor always begins with the same words, "Dear friends of Jesus Christ". I find great comfort in that simple salutation. The time of mutual greeting is the other high point of the service for me. This is when I make the rounds and see the children I've come to love, inquiring about the stuffed animal Asa has brought along, startling Jillian by picking her up, getting a high five from Lovell, asking how Jo Jo's puppy is doing. I am old enough to be a member of AARP and young enough to play with a puppet, and both selves come for spiritual nourishment each Sunday.

I find that sort of rare spiritual sustenance in The Welcome Wagon's Precious Remedies. Perhaps that is not surprising, for the husband-wife duo, Vito and Monique Aiuto, is one part preschool teacher and one part pastor. The CD begins with a direct and emphatic proclamation: "I'm not fine; you're not fine; we're not fine together." Vito sings the confession and when the tempo slows down Monique comes in with "Lamb of God you take away the sin." The proclamation hits home; there's no theological refinement. Just admit it: individually and collectively we're a mess. The simplicity of "not fine" sung repeatedly conveys a sense of desperation and immediate need. Monique's softy sung "Lamb of God you take away the sin" gets us to stop and listen; there is a way out.

A metrical paraphrase of Psalm 22 in two parts comes next. This a meditative commentary on "take away": "my helpless hands and feet they pierce." "I Know that My Redeemer Lives" follows Psalm 22 but then the focus changes with a tribute to friendship in hard times that could fit on a Raffi CD, "Rice and Beans (But no Beans)." After that, a rendition of The Cure's "High" takes us from friendship to romantic love.

Then we reach the highest form of love, agape; The Welcome Wagon covers David Crowder's "Remedy." This is the center of the CD: Christ is the Remedy. Our "not fine" is finely done away with. And, then another change of direction, a heartfelt plea for a visit, "Won't You Come and See Me in New York?" After that, until the very last song, "Nature's Goodnight," we are treated to some traditional gems, set to music by Vito, e.g. John Donne's Holy Sonnet XIX and 7th century call to communion, "Draw Nigh & Take the Body of the Lord."

In the press release from Asthmatic Kitty Records, Vito Aiuto states that the CD's structure is loosely liturgical. Some might say that songs like "Rice and Beans (But No Beans)," "High" and "I'm not Fine" stretch "loosely" pretty far. I'd prefer to say that they reflect the richness of Scripture. The library that is Scripture is often "less religious" than some of our liturgies and some of these could do with more beans and less religion. If they did, they might be far more nourishing.