Fill My Cup

Fill My Cup  –  In 1953 the Rev. Richard Blanchard (1925-2004) was waiting for a couple to arrive for pre-marital counseling at Wesley Church in Coral Gables, Florida. They were late, and he was annoyed. He told his secretary he would wait thirty minutes, then he would leave. Instead of fuming, he went to a Sunday school classroom and began to doodle on the piano to kill time.  Quite often I will play around with a song idea in my mind,” he said in a newspaper interview for the Miami Herald. “All of a sudden it will gel. A few of my songs have been given to me by the Lord. It took only six minutes to think up the words of ‘Fill my Cup, Lord.’ I was finished with the music in another 20 minutes. There have been a few moments in my life when things have come from God. There is no other way to explain them.”   Blanchard’s method of composition was to write the words to his pieces after developing a thought or reading Scripture, and then to write the music “by ear” to fit the words rather than composing the melody on paper. His music combines the chords and harmonies of the Big Band era with the Christian message of southern gospel music.  Moral of the Story  Don’t be late to see the preacher – a song may be written while you are late