Take a favorite passage from scripture or a poem that inspires you. Select two or three lines and repeat them out loud, as a kind of singsong chant, until a melody emerges from the natural cadences of the words themselves. Play with the melody to tease out the music. In a short while, you will have a personal song. Sing it during the day whenever you need a quick dose of inspiration.
— Tom Cowan in The Way of the Saints