Monday Memories gives me a chance to look back at the music and moments that have been part of my journey. Today’s Monday Memories is especially meaningful as I revisit the song I played for my very first public performance—a song that takes me all the way back to where my musical journey began.
“This Little Light of Mine”
I started playing piano as a young child. By the age of 4, my parents had me taking piano lessons, and my very first “public performance” came when I was just 4½ years old. I was in Children’s Church when I walked over to the piano and started playing “This Little Light of Mine.” It wasn’t fancy, but it was well received, and I knew from that moment that I was on to something special.
This song—and its glorious meaning—has stayed with me throughout the years. It has always been a part of me, and I have always tried to do anything and everything I could to let my light shine. It was with me through high school and college, as I played piano and keyboards and performed music in church and Christian settings whenever I could. It was with me as I served in church staff positions as Worship Leader, Music Minister, and Music/Youth Pastor. It was even with me during my “heathen years,” when I was engineering Top 40 cover bands and programming and sequencing music for party and dance bands. And it remains with me today. So, for this Monday Memories, I want to take a look back at some of the more notable performances of this timeless song: “This Little Light of Mine.”
Caleb & Kelsey – “This Little Light of Mine”
Caleb & Kelsey bring a beautiful and deeply personal feel to “This Little Light of Mine.” Sitting together in an intimate setting, they strip the song down to its heart, allowing their voices and the simple message to take center stage. There’s something especially powerful about hearing this familiar childhood song performed with such sincerity and warmth. Their performance is a wonderful reminder that the message of letting our light shine never really grows old—it simply takes on new meaning as we grow older.
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One Night in Dublin
The next performance takes “This Little Light of Mine” in a completely different direction. This is Bruce Springsteen and the Sessions Band performing the song live at The Pointe Theater in Dublin, Ireland. Bruce is certainly not who most people would expect to find performing a song that has its roots so deeply embedded in Christian faith, but that is precisely part of what makes this performance so fascinating to me. I have spent much of my life around music in all kinds of settings, and I don’t believe a song’s significance is diminished simply because it crosses musical or cultural boundaries. In fact, sometimes hearing a familiar song in an unexpected setting can make its message stand out even more clearly.
And make no mistake—this is the most electrifying performance of “This Little Light of Mine” that I have ever seen. The energy is absolutely incredible, and the audience is swept up in it from beginning to end. But beyond the music itself, I take great joy in something else: if only for a brief moment on a Sunday night at The Pointe Theater in Dublin, Ireland, the full attention of that room was turned toward a song that exists purely to honor God. Whatever else was happening that night, whatever brought those people through the doors, for those few minutes they were singing along with a song whose simple message has been shining for generations. And I find something genuinely beautiful about that.
Apple Music subscribers: Sign in above to hear the full song.
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AI-Created 90s Rock Ballad
And now, just for fun, I wanted to imagine what “This Little Light of Mine” might have sounded like as a ’90s rock ballad. This AI-created version takes the familiar song and gives it a completely different musical identity, with soaring guitars, big drums, and the kind of emotional intensity that defined many of the great rock ballads of that era. It may be a long way from the little boy sitting at a piano in Children’s Church, but the message remains exactly the same: this little light is still meant to shine.
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What about a TikTok Dance?
What if you made a TikTok dance out of “This Little Light of Mine”? Well, folks, this is about as close as you can get! Steve Fee took the basic idea of the classic song and turned it into a brand-new song called “This Little Light,” complete with an energetic, contemporary sound and choreography that feels tailor-made for the TikTok generation. It may not be the traditional version I grew up with, but the spirit of the original is unmistakable – and watching this, I can’t help but think that my four-year-old self would have loved it!
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Thanks for taking this walk down memory lane with me and spending a little time with one of the most important songs of my life. From a four-year-old boy sitting down at a piano in Children’s Church to the many places, people, performances, and seasons of life that followed, “This Little Light of Mine” has been there through it all. After all these years, its message remains as simple—and as powerful—as ever: let your light shine!
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