Hymns of the Spirit Three

The hymn lyrics constitue a paraphrase of Psalm 148; see also Pslam 29. The hymn does not appear in Singing the Living Tradition nor in The New Century Hymnal.

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March 05, 2005

5R O Holy Angels Bright

Original Title: "Ye Holy Angels Bright," Richard Baxter (1681), DARWALL'S 148TH, 6.6.6.6.4.4.4.4., John Darwall (1770); New Title: "O Holy Angels Bright," rev. REH (2006), same hymn tune. Baxter was a 17th century Anglican "Nonconformist." John Darwall's tune is called simply DARWALL in Hymns of the Spirit Two, a frequently used alternative title for the same piece of music. The hymn does not appear in Singing the Living Tradition nor in The New Century Hymnal. See Revelation 5:11, "the voice of many angels."

DARWALL'S 148TH (6.6.6.6.4.4.4.4.)

1. O ho-ly an-gels bright,
who wait at God's sure hand,
or through the realms of light
fly on di-vine com-mand,
as-sist our song,
for else the theme
too high does seem
for mor-tal tongue.

2. Let not the prais-es grow
on pros-perous heights a-lone,
but in val-leys be-low,
let the great love be known.
Let no dis-tress
curb and con-trol
my wing-ed soul
and praise sup-press.

3. My soul, O bear your part,
tri-umph in God a-bove,
and with a well-tuned heart,
O sing the songs of love.
Let all your days
till life shall end,
what-ever is sent,
be filled with praise. A-men.

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March 06, 2005

6R O Worship Thy God

Original Title: "O Worship Thy King," Robert Grant, LYONS, 10.10.11.11., attributed to Johann Michael Haydn, New Title: "O Worship Thy God," rev. REH (2006), OLD 104TH, 10.10.11.11, Thomas Ravenscroft (1621). As a paraphrase of Psalm 104, a recast version of Robert Grant's hymn is offered here set to OLD 104TH, a tune with which it is sometimes paired. Other versions of Grant's hymn, with inclusive language and set to LYONS, may be found in Singing the Living Tradition as "We Worship Thee, God," as no. 285, and in the New Century Hymnal as "We Worship You, God" as no. 26.

OLD 104TH (10.10.11.11)

1. O wor-ship thy God, all glor-ious a-bove,
and grate-ful-ly sing that pow-er and love;
Our shield and de-fend-er, the An-cient of Days,
pa-vil-ioned in splen-dor, and gird-ed with praise.

2. O tell of that might, and sing of that grace,
whose robe is the light, whose ca-no-py space,
whose char-iots of jus-tice deep thun-der-clouds form,
and dim is the path on the wings of the storm.

3. The earth with its store of won-ders un-told,
al-migh-ty, thy power hath found-ed of old;
Es-tab-lished it fast by a change-less de-cree,
and round it hath cast, like a man-tle, the sea.

4. Thy boun-ti-ful care, what tongue can re-cite?
It breathes in the air, it shines in the light;
It streams from the hills, it des-cends to the plain,
and sweet-ly dis-tills in the dew and the rain.

5. Frail child-ren of dust, and fee-ble as frail,
by thy end-less trust we fear not to fail.
Thy wing with its shelt-er-ing touch does us mend,
for thou art our mak-er, re-deem-er and friend.

Original verses composed by William Kethe (1561) that do not appear in Hymns of the Spirit (1937):

a. My soule praise the Lord, speake good of his Name,
O Lord our great God how doest thou ap-peare,
So pass-ing in glor-ie, that great is thy fame,
Hon-our and maj-es-tie, in thee shine most cleare.

b. His cham-ber beames lie, in the clouds full sure,
Which as his char-iot, are made him to beare.
And there with much swift-ness, his course doth en-dure:
Up-on the wings rid-ing, of winds in the aire.

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March 07, 2005

7R Praise Be to God, the Almighty

Original Title: "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty," Joachim Neander (1680) trans. Catherine Winkworth (1858), LOBE DEN HERREN, 14.14.4.7.8., Straslund Gesangbuch (1665); New Title: "Praise Be to God, the Almighty," rev. REH (2006), same hymn tune.

LOBE DEN HERREN (14.14.4.7.8.)

1. Praise be to God, the Al-migh-ty, who rules o'er cre-a-tion!
O my soul praise the One who is our health and sal-va-tion!
Join the great throng, wake harp and psal-ter and song;
Sound forth in glad a-dor-a-tion.

2. Praise be to God, who o'er all things is won-drous-ly reign-ing,
Who, as on eag-le's wings, is us so gent-ly sus-tain-ing!
Have you not seen all that is need-ed has been
Set by a gra-cious or-dain-ing?

3. Praise be to God, who has fear-less-ly, joy-ful-ly, made you;
Health has vouch-safed and, when heed-less-ly fall-ing, has stayed you.
What need or grief ev-er has failed of re-lief?
Wings of true mer-cy have shade you.

4. Praise be to God, who does pros-per your work and de-fend you;
Sure-ly such good-ness and mer-cy here dai-ly at-tend you.
Pon-der a-new what the Al-migh-ty can do,
Who with great love does be-friend you.

5. Praise be to God, who, when tem-pests their war-fare are wag-ing,
Who, when the el-e-ments mad-ly a-round you are rag-ing,
Bids them to cease, turns then their fu-ry to peace,
Whirl-winds and wa-ters as-suag-ing.

6. Praise be to God, O join all in sin-cere de-di-ca-tion;
All that has life and breath, come now in deep con-tem-pla-tion!
Let the A-men sound from all peo-ple a-gain,
Gather-ed in true a-dor-a-tion.

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The hymn is a recasting of Psalm 105, though there are echoes of other many other psalms in the hymn as well. "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it," Isaiah 55:10-11 (NRSV).

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7S Sing Songs to God, the All-loving

Original Title: "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty," Joachim Neander (1680) trans. Catherine Winkworth (1858), LOBE DEN HERREN, 14.14.4.7.8., Straslund Gesangbuch (1665); New Title: "Sing Songs to God, the Almighty," rev. REH (2006), same hymn tune. Neander was pastor of the Reformed Church in Düsseldorf; this constitutes in essence a recasting of Psalm 105, though there are echoes of other many other psalms in the hymn as well. "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it," Isaiah 55:10-11 (NRSV). It appears with four stanzas as "Praise Be to God, the Almighty," as no. 278 in Singing the Living Tradition, and with four stanzas as well at no. 22 in The New Century Hymnal under the name "Sing Praise to God, Who Has Shaped;" the latter retranslated by Madeleine Forell Marshall.

LOBE DEN HERREN (14.14.4.7.8.)

1. Sing songs to God, the All-lov-ing, who sus-tains cre-a-tion!
O my soul praise the Life who is our health and sal-va-tion!
Join the great throng, wake harp and psal-ter and song;
Sound forth in glad a-dor-a-tion.

2. Prais-ed be Love, still with all things so won-drous-ly work-ing,
and as on eag-le's wings, is us so gent-ly up-lift-ing!
Have you not seen all that Earth need-ed has been
moved by Life's gra-cious or-dain-ing?

3. Re-mem-ber Truth, that has fear-less-ly, joy-ful-ly, freed you;
Chains has reclaimed and, when heed-less-ly fall-ing, has stayed you.
What need or grief ev-er has failed of re-lief?
Wings of true mer-cy have shade you.

4. Sing now God's praise, who does pros-per your work and de-fend you;
Life's com-mon mi-ra-cles dai-ly with mer-cy at-tend you.
Pon-der a-new what the Al-migh-ty can do,
who with great love does be-friend you.

5. Thanks now to Peace, when the tem-pests their war-fare are wag-ing,
and when the el-e-ments mad-ly a-round you are rag-ing,
bids them to cease, turns then their fu-ry to ease,
whirl-winds and wa-ters as-suag-ing.

6. Praise the Di-vine, O join all in one true de-di-ca-tion;
all that has life and breath, come now in deep con-tem-pla-tion!
Let the A-men sound from all peo-ple a-gain,
gather-ed in true a-dor-a-tion.

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7T Alma, bendice a Dios

Título: "Alma, bendice a Dios," Joachim Neander, trad. Fritz Fliedner, rev. REH (2006); LOBE DEN HERREN, 14.14.4.7.8., Straslund Gesangbuch (1665), arm. William Sterndale Bennett. Paráfrasis del Salmo 105, pero con toques de otros salmos también. "Porque como desciende de los cielos la lluvia y la nieve, y no vuelve allá, sino que riega la tierra, y la hace germinar y producir, y da semilla al que siembra, y pan al que come, así será mi palabra que sale de mi boca; no volverá a mí vacía, sino que hará lo que yo quiero, y será prosperada en aquello para que la envié," Isaías 55:10-11 (Reina-Valera 1960). No. 21, "Alma, bendice a Dios," en El Himnario (Church Publishing, Inc. 1998), la editorial de la Iglesia Episcopal (Anglicana) en los Estados Unidos; no. 28 en Mil voces para celebrar.

LOBE DEN HERREN (14.14.4.7.8.)

1. Al-ma, ben-di-ce a Dios, a-mor al-to de glo-ria;
de sus mer-ce-des es-té vi-va~en ti la me-mo-ria.
¡Oh, des-per-tad, ar-pa~y sal-ter-io~en-ton-ad
him-nos de~ho-nor y vic-tor-ia.

2. Al-ma, ben-di-ce a Dios, que~a los or-bes go-bier-na,
y te con-du-ce pa-cien-te con ma-no ma-ter-na;
y te guar-dó co-mo me-jor le~ag-ra-dó,
por-que su gra-cia~es e-ter-na.

3. Al-ma, ben-di-ce a Dios, de tu vi-da la fuen-te,
que te cre-ó, y~en sa-lud te sos-tie-ne cle-men-te;
tu de-fen-sor en to-do tran-ce~y do-lor,
su dies-tra~es om-ni-po-ten-te.

4. Al-ma, ben-di-ce a Dios por su a-mor in-fi-ni-to;
con todo~el pue-blo de Dios su~a-la-ban-za re-pi-to.
¡Dios, mi sa-lud, de to-do bien ple-ni-tud,
se-as por siem-pre ben-di-to! A-mén.

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7U Alma, bendice Amor

Título original: "Alma, bendice a Dios," Joachim Neander, trad. Fritz Fliedner; LOBE DEN HERREN, 14.14.4.7.8., Straslund Gesangbuch (1665), arm. William Sterndale Bennett; Título nuevo: "Alma, bendice Amor," rev. REH (2006), la misma tonada. Paráfrasis del Salmo 105, pero con toques de otros salmos también. "Porque como desciende de los cielos la lluvia y la nieve, y no vuelve allá, sino que riega la tierra, y la hace germinar y producir, y da semilla al que siembra, y pan al que come, así será mi palabra que sale de mi boca; no volverá a mí vacía, sino que hará lo que yo quiero, y será prosperada en aquello para que la envié," Isaías 55:10-11 (Reina-Valera 1960). No. 21, "Alma, bendice a Dios," en El Himnario (Church Publishing, Inc. 1998), la editorial de la Iglesia Episcopal (Anglicana) en los Estados Unidos; no. 28 en Mil voces para celebrar.

LOBE DEN HERREN (14.14.4.7.8.)

1. Al-ma, ben-di-ce A-mor, po-der al-to de glo-ria;
de sus mer-ce-des es-té vi-va~en ti la me-mo-ria.
¡Oh, des-per-tad, ar-pa~y sal-ter-io~en-ton-ad
him-nos de~ho-nor y vic-tor-ia.

2. Al-ma, ben-di-ce Ra-zón, que~a los or-bes go-bier-na,
y te con-du-ce pa-cien-te con ma-no ma-ter-na;
y te guar-dó co-mo me-jor le~ag-ra-dó,
por-que su gra-cia~es e-ter-na.

3. Al-ma, ben-di-ce a Dios, de tu vi-da la fuen-te,
que te cre-ó, y~en sa-lud te sos-tie-ne cle-men-te;
tu de-fen-sor en to-do tran-ce~y do-lor,
su dies-tra~es om-ni-po-ten-te.

4. Al-ma, ben-di-ce Ver-dad por su a-fán in-fi-ni-to;
con todo~el pue-blo de paz su~a-la-ban-za re-pi-to.
¡Dios, mi sa-lud, de to-do bien ple-ni-tud,
se-as por siem-pre ben-di-to! A-mén.

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March 08, 2005

8R Bring, O Morn, Your Music

Original Title: "Bring, O Morn, Thy Music," William Channing Gannett (1893), NICAEA, John Bacchus Dykes (1861); New Title: "Bring, O Morn, Your Music," rev. REH (2005), same hymn tune. William Channing Gannett, born in Boston, served Unity Church (Unitarian) in St. Paul, and the Unitarian Church in Rochester, where Susan B. Anthony was amongst his congregants. The last line of each verse echoes Revelations 1:8 (which see), but the hymn as a whole personifies and praises nature, bordering on panentheism (although the lyrics textually have nature worshiping God as well, as "Our Creator" and "Mighty Giver"). See also Wisdom of Solomon 1:13-14, "God did not make death, and he does not delight in the death of the living. For he created all things that they might exist." Gannett wrote the hymn as a summary of the 1893 World Parliament of Religions in Chicago. It appears in Singing the Living Tradition as "Bring, O Morn, Thy Music, as no. 39, but does not appear in The New Century Hymnal. This version of NICAEA is in F-sharp, although NICAEA in Hymns of the Spirit Two is in E-flat. See No. 17R herein for a version of NICAEA in E-flat.

NICAEA (12.13.12.10.)

1. Bring, O Morn, your mus-ic! Night,~your star-lit si-lence!
O-ceans, laugh the rap-ture to the storm winds cours-ing free!
Suns and pla-nets cho-rus: you are our Cre-a-tor,
who was, and is, and ev-er-more shall be!

2. Life and death, your crea-tures, praise~you, Migh-ty Gi-ver!
Praise and prayer are ris-ing in your beast and bird and tree:
Lo! they praise and van-ish, van-ish at your bidd-ing,
who was, and is, and ev-er-more shall be!

3. Light us! lead us! love us! cry~your grop-ing na-tions,
speak-ing in a thou-sand tongues, your name a-lone the plea;
weav-ing free-ly out your ho-ly, hap-py pur-pose,
who was, and is, and ev-er-more shall be!

4. Life nor death can part us, you~O Love E-ter-nal,
shep-herd of the wan-dering star and souls that way-ward flee!
Home-ward draws the spir-it to your spir-it yearn-ing,
who was, and is, and ev-er-more shall be! A-men.

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8S Desde a aurora

Title: "Desde a aurora," William Channing Gannett (1893), Portuguese translation, Daniel Borges (2005), NICAEA, John Bacchus Dykes (1861). Daniel Borges, born in 1959, attends a Baptist church in São Paulo, Brazil. He has translated a number of English-language hymns into Portuguese, and appears to have composed new hymns as well. This is a translation of "Bring, O Morn, Thy Music," described in detail in the entry under 8R. It may be the only extant Portuguese-language translation (or adaptation) of a Unitarian or Universalist hymn.

NICAEA (12.13.12.10.)

1. Des-de a au-ro-ra à noi-te es-tre-la-da!
Jor-ra do rio a á-gua e ven-tos de a-mor!
Os pla-ne-tas can-tam Tuas ma-ra-vi-lhas,
Foi, É e sem-pre se-rá o Sal-va-dor!

2. A vi-da e a mor-te a Ti re-fle-tem!
Lou-vor e o-ra-ção pe-la Tua per-mis-são;
Tu-do o que e-xis-te foi por Ti cri-a-do
E a nós deu Sua e-ter-na Sal-va-ção!

3. An-da-mos no es-cu-ro, gui-e-nos oh! Je-sus,
Em to-da e qual-quer lín-gua te da-mos lou-vor,
Ce-ga-men-te e bem fe-liz se-gui-mos,
Foi, É e sem-pre se-rá o Cri-a-dor!

4. Es-tar se-pa-ra-dos! Nem pe-la mor-te,
Pa-ra to-das as al-mas er-ran-tes, és Pas-tor!
Com o Ce-les-tial Lar es-ta-mos a so-nhar,
Fui, sou e sem-pre se-rei so-nha-dor!

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March 09, 2005

9R Our God, Our God, Thou Shinest Here

Original Title: "Our God, Our God, Thou Shinest Here," Thomas Hornblower Gil (1846), CORONATION, 8.6.8.6.8.6., Oliver Holden (1793); New Title: Same hymn title, rev. REH (2005), MORNING SONG, 8.6.8.6.8.6., at­trib­ut­ed to Elkan­ah K. Dare (1782-1826), arranged by C. W. Douglas. Thomas Hornblower Gil was a lay English Unitarian hymn writer, who later joined the Congregational Church. He wrote nearly 200 hymns, and had definitive ideas about what a hymn should be: "Hymns are not meant to be theological statements, expositions of doctrine, or enunciations of precepts; they are utterances of the soul in its manifold moods of hope and fear, joy and sorrow, love, wonder, and aspiration. ... Hymns are meant and made to be sung. The best and most glorious hymns cannot be more exactly defined than as divine love songs." The lyrics here seem to speak of the Gospel of John: "The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world." John 1:9. "[John] came as a witness to testify to the light." John 1:7a. The hymn does not appear in either Singing the Living Tradition or in The New Century Hymnal.

MORNING SONG (8.6.8.6.8.6.)

1. Our God, our God, thou shin-est here,
thine own this lat-ter day.
To us thy ra-diant steps ap-pear,
here goes thy glo-rious way!
To us thy ra-diant steps ap-pear,
here goes thy glo-rious way!

2. We shine not on-ly with the light
thou shed-dest down of yore.
On us thou stream-est strong and bright,
thy com-ings are not o'er.
On us thou stream-est strong and bright,
thy com-ings are not o'er.

3. All op-en to our souls shall be
thy glo-ry's hi-ding-place.
Our mo-thers had not all of thee,
new births are in thy grace;
Our fa-thers had not all of thee,
new births are in thy grace.

4. Thou come-est here, thou stand-est by,
our work be-gins to shine.
Thou dwell-est with us migh-ti-ly,
on comes the years di-vine!
Thou dwell-est with us migh-ti-ly,
on comes the years di-vine!

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March 10, 2005

10R Ruler and Power On High

Original Title: "Come, Thou Almighty King," Anonymous (before 1757), ITALIAN HYMN, 6.6.4.6.6.6.4., Felice Giardini (1769); New Title: "Ruler and Power on High," rev. REH (2007), same hymn tune. The hymn first appeared in George Whitefield's Collection of Hymns for Social Worship (1757); some attribute the hymn to Charles Wesley. The tune ITALIAN HYMN was written specifically for the hymn. "God reigneth over the nations; God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness." Psalm 47:8; see also Revelation 19:6, Isaiah 52:7. "Wisdom has built her house . . .She has sent out her servant-girls, she calls from the highest places in the town," Proverbs 9:1-3. The hymn does not appear in Singing the Living Tradition, but it does appear in The New Century Hymnal as "Come Now, Almighty God," as no. 275.

ITALIAN HYMN (6.6.4.6.6.6.4.)

1. Rul-er and power on high,
to you our prais-es fly;
Your name we raise,
Fa-ther all-glo-ri-ous,
Mo-ther vic-to-ri-ous,
come and reign o-ver us,
An-cient of Days.

2. Come now all-gra-cious Lord,
by heaven and earth a-dored;
our prayer at-tend;
Wis-dom, your chil-dren bless,
give your good word suc-cess;
Make your own ho-li-ness
on us des-cend.

3. Ne-ver from us de-part,
but rule in ev-ery heart;
hence, e-ver-more.
Your sove-reign ma-jes-ty
may we in glo-ry see,
and to e-ter-ni-ty,
love and a-dore. A-men.

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10S ¡Oh santo, eterno Dios!

Título: ¡Oh santo, eterno Dios!, autor anónimo, traductor Vicente Mendoza ("Come Thou Almighty King," en inglés), alt. REH (2007), ITALIAN HYMN, 6.6.4.6.6.6.6.4., Felice de Giardini (1769). "Como aquel a quien consuela su madre, así os consolaré yo a vosotros," Isaías 66:13 (Reina-Valera 1960), veáse también 2 Esdras 1:28-30, Eclesiástico 15:1-3. "¡Jerusalén, Jerusalén, ... cuántas veces quise juntar a tus hijos, como la gallina a sus polluelos debajo de sus alas!," Lucas 13:31-35. "La sabiduría [sofía, en griego] clama en las calles, alza su voz en las plazas," Proverbios 1:20. Aparece sin revisiones como número 11 en el himnario metodista Mil voces para celebrar (Abingdon Press: 1996), sin derechos de autor indicados en ese tomo.̆̆̆

English speakers should note that revised stanzas two and three make references to the feminine divine. These include "motherly redeemer" in stanza two (echoing Jesus' reference to God as a mother hen in Luke, and to Isaiah's image of God as a consoling mother), and "heavenly Sophia" in stanza three, meant to resonate with Proverbs' God of Wisdom.

ITALIAN HYMN (6.6.4.6.6.6.4.)

1. ¡Oh, san-to,~e-ter-no Dios!
Al-za-mos nues-tra voz
en gra-ti-tud
por lo que tú nos das
con sin i-gual ar-dor
han-llan-do nues-tra paz
en tu am-or.

2. ¡Ma-ter-no re-den-tor!
Te da-mos con a-mor
el co-ra-zón;
y tú nos pue-des ver
que~hu-mil-des a tu~al-tar,
ve-ni-mos a tra-er
pre-cio-so don.

3. ¡So-fí-a* ce-les-tial!
O-í-mos tu se-ñal
y tu bon-dad
de-rra-me~en nues-tro ser
di-vi-na cla-ri-dad,
pa-ra po-der vi-vir
en li-ber-tad.

* Es decir, Sabiduría.

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March 11, 2005

11R Our Mothering Father

Original Title: "Our Father, Unto Thee," Byron G. Russell, OLIVET, 6.6.4.6.6.6.4., New Title, "Our Mothering Father," rev. REH (2006), same hymn tune. Russell was a 19th century Universalist minister, born in 1850. The hymn in some respects represents a reworking of the Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6:9-13, Luke 11:2-4. The hymn appears in neither Hymns of the Spirit Two nor in The New Century Hymnal. "Mothering" in the revised hymn title is a translation of what is normally translated from the Hebrew as "merciful," or literally "womb-like." The phrase occurs in a number of hymns in the various versions of Music For Liturgy and other elements of worship produced by St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church (typically for unrestricted local reproduction) in San Francisco, California.

OLIVET (6.6.4.6.6.6.4.)

1. Our Mothe-ring Fa-ther be
with us now joy-ous-ly,
as voi-ces raise
for all your love has wrought,
our lives with bless-ings fraught
trans-cend-ing all our thought,
we speak your praise.

2. O God, no lips a-lone
could our joy-ful-ness own,
and wor-ship you,
but may our lives ex-press
that which our hearts con-fess,
and we in ho-li-ness
our souls re-new.

3. And may our hands reach out
to those who round a-bout
de-mand our love.
In ev-ery hour of need
may we their plead-ings heed,
til earth be-comes in-deed
like heaven a-bove. A-men.

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March 12, 2005

12R We Lift Our Hearts In Thanks Today

Original Title: "We Lift Our Hearts in Thanks Today," Percival Chubb (1860-1960), PRAETORIUS, C.M., Harmoniae Hymnorum Scholae Gorlicensis (1599); New Title: Same hymn title, ELLACOMBE, 7.6.7.6. D, Gesangbuch der Herzogl W. k. Hofkapelle (Wurttemberg 1784). Percival Chubb was an English Ethical Culturist who later moved to the United States. The hymn appears as no. 355 in Singing the Living Tradition, but does not appear in The New Century Hymnal.

ELLACOMBE (7.6.7.6. D).

1. We lift our hearts in thanks~to-day
for all the gifts of life;
And, first, for peace that turns~a-way
the en-mi-ties of strife.
And, next, the beau-ty of~the earth
its flowers and love-ly things,
the spring's great mir-a-cle~of birth
with sound of songs and wings.

2. Then, har-vests of its teem~ing soil
in or-chard, croft and field;
But, more, the ser-vice and~the toil
of those who helped them yield.
And, most, the gifts of hope~and love,
of wis-dom, truth and right,
the gifts that shine like stars~a-bove
to chart the world by night.

3. As we re-ceive, so let~us give
with rea-dy, gene-rous hand;
rich fruit-age from the lives~we live
to bless our home and land.
We lift our hearts in thanks~to-day
for all the gifts of life;
And e'er for peace that turns~a-way
the en-mi-ties of strife.

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March 13, 2005

13R Rejoice, You Pure In Heart

Original Title: "Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart," Edward Hayes Pulmptre (1865), MARION, 6.6.8.6.4.6., Arthur Henry Messiter (1883); New Title: "Rejoice You Pure in Heart," rev. REH (2006), ICH HALTE TREULICH STILL, S.M.D., attributed to Bach (1736). The hymn does not appear in Singing the Living Tradition, but does appear in revised form as "Rejoice, You Pure in Heart," as no. 55 to MARION and as no. 71 to VINEYARD HAVEN in The New Century Hymnal. Pulmptre was a 19th century English Anglican. One hears Psalm 20 in lyrics about the "festal banner," the first line of Psalm 147 in the refrain, and Phillipians 4:4 in the title line and the refrain, "Rejoice . . . rejoice."

ICH HALTE TREULICH STILL (S.M.D.)

1. Re-joice, you pure in heart,
re-joice give thanks and sing;
your fes-tal ban-ner wave on high--
the cross of Christ rais-ing.

Refrain.
Re-joice, give thanks and sing; Re-joice, give thanks and sing;
Re-joice, re-joice, re-joice, and sing; Re-joice, give thanks and sing!

2. With all the an-gel choirs,
with all the saints of earth,
pour out the strains of joy and bliss,
true rap-ture, nob-lest mirth. Refrain.

3. Your clear ho-san-nas raise;
And al-le-lu-ias loud;
While an-swer-ing ech-oes up-ward float,
like wreaths of incense cloud. Refrain.

4. With voice as full and strong
as o-cean’s surg-ing praise,
send forth the hymns an-ces-tors loved,
the psalms of an-cient days. Refrain.

5. At last the toil shall end,
the wear-ied ones shall rest,
the pil-grims find the ho-ly home,
where saints are tru-ly blest. Refrain.

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March 14, 2005

14R Unto Thy Temple, Lord, We Come

Original Title: "Unto Thy Temple, Lord, We Come," Robert Collyer (1873), DUKE STREET, L.M., John Hatton (1793), New Title: Same hymn title, rev. REH (verse 5), same hymn tune. Coll­yer was born in England and later moved to the United States; he first served Methodist churches, then Unitarian congregations. He wrote this hymn for the ded­i­ca­tion of Un­i­ty Church (Unitarian) in Chi­ca­go. He became the first pastor of that church in 1859. "I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys," Isaiah 41:18, see also Isaiah 43:20. "Where two or more are gathered in my name, there I am." Matthew 18:20. The hymn under the same name appears with verses 1, 2 and 4 in Singing the Living Tradition; it does not appear in The New Century Hymnal.

DUKE STREET (L.M.)

1. Un-to thy tem-ple, Lord, we come
with thank-ful hearts to wor-ship thee;
And pray that this may be our home
un-til we touch e-ter-ni-ty.

2. The com-mon home of rich and poor,
of bond and free, and great and small;
large as thy love for-ev-er more,
and warm and bright and good to all.

3. And dwell thou with us in this place,
thou and thy Christ, to guide and bless!
Here make the well-spring of thy grace
like foun-tains in the wil-der-ness.

4. May thy whole truth be spo-ken here;
Thy gos-pel light for-ev-er shine;
Thy per-fect love cast out all fear,
and hu-man life be-come di-vine.

5. Mo-ther-ing Spir-it gath-'ring all,
thy gen-tle arms do us em-brace;
O Womb of time, life heeds thy call;
Thy frame holds strong this ho-ly space.

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March 15, 2005

15R O God to Whom in Ancient Time

Original Title: "O Thou to Whom in Ancient Time," John Pierpont (1824), LUTON, L.M., George Burder (1760); New Title: "O God to Whom in Ancient Time," rev. REH (2005), ST. BARTHOLOMEW, L.M., Ed­ward H. Thorne, Se­lect­ion of Psalm and Hymn Tunes (1858). A Unitarian, Pierpont wrote this hymn for the dedication of the 1824 dedication of the In­de­pend­ent Con­gre­ga­tion­al Church in Bar­ton Square, Sa­lem, Mass­a­chu­setts. "[W]orship the Father in spirit and in truth," John 4:23. "Praise Him with the Lute and Harp," Psalm 150:3b. Genesis 26:15-18, Isaac re-digs Abraham's wells. The hymn does not appear in Singing the Living Tradition nor in The New Century Hymnal.

ST. BARTHOLOMEW (L.M.)

1. O God to whom, in an-cient time,
the lyre of He-brews' bards was strung,
whom roy-als praised in song sub-lime,
and pro-phets praised with glow-ing tongue.

2. Not now in Zi-on's height a-lone
the fa-vored wor-ship-er may dwell,
nor where, at sul-try noon, thine own
sat wea-ry by the el-ders' well.

3. From eve-ry place be-low the skies,
the grate-ful song, the fer-vent prayer,
the in-cense of the heart, may rise
to heaven, and find ac-cep-tance there.

4. O God to whom, in an-cient time,
the lyre of pro-phet bards was strung,
to whom at last in ev-ery clime,
shall tem-ples rise and praise be sung!

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March 16, 2005

16R Bearer of Being

Original Title: "Lord of All Being," Oliver Wendell Holmes (1859), TRANSYLVANIA, Hungarian chorale (16th Century); New Title: "Bearer of Being," rev. REH (2006), same hymn tune. The hymn appears in neither The New Century Hymnal nor in Singing the Living Tradition. Holmes, a 19th century Unitarian from Massachusetts, taught at Har­vard, was a writer, father of Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., and founder of Atlantic Magazine, where the lyrics of this hymn first appeared. "There before was a throne." Revelation 4:2; see also Psalm 103:19. Ephesians 4:25, 5:2, "Let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors . . . and live in love."

TRANSYLVANIA (L.M.)

1. Bear-er of be-ing, throned a-far,
Thy glo-ry flames from sun and star;
Cen-ter and soul of ev-ery sphere,
Yet to each lo-ving heart how near!

2. Sun of our life, thy quick-ening ray,
Sheds on our path the glow of day;
Star of our hope, thy soft-ened light,
Cheers the long watch-es of the night.

3. Our mid-night is thy smile with-drawn;
Our noon-tide is thy gra-cious dawn;
Our rain-bow arch, thy mer-cy’s sign;
All, save the clouds of sin, are thine.

4. Life of all life, be-low, a-bove,
Whose light is truth, whose warmth is love,
Be-fore thy ev-er blaz-ing throne:
We ask no lus-ter of our own.

5. Grant us thy truth to make us free,
And kind-ling hearts that burn for thee,
Till all thy liv-ing al-tars claim
One ho-ly light, one heaven-ly flame. A-men.

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March 17, 2005

17R Holy, Holy, Holy

Original Title: "Holy, Holy, Holy, (Lord God Almighty)," Reginald Heber (arr.)(1826), NICAEA, 11.12.12.10, John Bacchus Dykes (1861); New Title: "Holy, Holy, Holy," arr., same hymn tune. Heber was an Anglican bishop, and the hymn tune name, NICAEA, gives a clue as to the trinitarian impulses of his original words. Unitarians have rearranged his words, omitting references to the Trinity, since at least 1848. Even the 1917 Universalist hymnal, Hymns of the Church, includes, as does Hymns of the Spirit Two, only three verses of Heber's original, with no trinitarian references. Singing the Living Tradition recasts the same three verses as no. 26, "Holy, Holy, Holy, (Author of Creation)," while The New Century Hymnal in four verses gives us "Holy, Holy, Holy, (God the Almighty). The verse regarding "cherubim and seraphim," excised from Unitarian and Universalist hymnody for centuries now, has been restored here. "Holy, holy, holy," are words addressed above in Isaiah 6:3, Revelation 4:8, and in communion prayers in many settings.

NICAEA (11.12.12.10)

1. Ho-ly, ho-ly, ho-ly! O God Al-migh-ty!
Ear-ly in the morn-ing our song shall rise to thee;
Ho-ly, ho-ly, ho-ly, mer-ci-ful and migh-ty!
Per-fect in power, in love, and pu-ri-ty.

2. Ho-ly, ho-ly, ho-ly! All the saints a-dore thee,
Cast-ing down their gol-den crowns a-round the glass-y sea;
Che-rub-im and se~raph-im fall-ing down be-fore thee,
Who was, and is, and ev-er-more shall be.

3. Ho-ly, ho-ly, ho-ly! though the night-fall hide thee,
hin-dered by our va-ni-ties we have not eyes to see;
On-ly thou art ho-ly; there is none be-side thee,
Per-fect in power, in love, and pu-ri-ty!

4. Ho-ly, ho-ly, ho-ly! O God Al-migh-ty!
All thy works shall praise thy name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Ho-ly, ho-ly, ho-ly; mer-ci-ful and migh-ty!
Who was, and is, and ev-er-more shall be.

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17S ¡Santa, santa, santa!

Título original: "¡Santo, santo, santo!," Reginald Heber (1826), trad. Juan B. Cabrera, NICAEA, 13.12.13.12., John B. Dykes (1861); Título nuevo: "¡Santa, santa, santa!," rev. REH (2006), la misma tonada. No. 24 en El Himnario; no. 4 en Mil voces para celebrar. NICAEA here is in F-sharp, as it is in El Himnario, not E-flat, as it is in Hymns of the Spirit Two.

NICAEA (13.12.13.12.)

1. ¡San-ta, san-ta, san-ta! Fuer-za re-den-to-ra,
siem-pre~el la-bio mí-o lo-or-es te da-rá,
¡San-ta, san-ta, san-ta! Tú, Sa-bi-du-rí-a,
an-te ti que~has si-do, que er-es y se-rás.

2. ¡San-ta, san-ta, san-ta! Aun-que~es-tés ve-la-da
e~im-po-si-ble se-a tu glo-ria~a con-tem-plar,
san-ta tú~er-es só-lo, san-ta~y ex-al-ta-da,
en po-der per-fec-to, pu-re-za~y ca-ri-dad.

3. ¡San-ta, san-ta, san-ta! La gran mu-che-dum-bre
de~án-ge-les que cum-plen la san-ta vo-lun-tad.
¡San-ta, san-ta, san-ta! El mun-do te~a-do-re,
Tú de mu-chos nom-bres, ben-di-ta U-ni-dad.

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March 18, 2005

18R O Friend, You Are Calling

Original Title: "Father, Thou Art Calling," James Vila Blake (1880), BROMLEY COMMON, 12.13.12.10, Martin Shaw (1915) (alternative tune: NICAEA, Irregular, John Bacchus Dykes (1861)); New Title: "O Friend, You Are Calling," rev. REH (2006), NICAEA. The revised lyrics do not banish "Father," which one still finds in the body of the hymn. The holy is in addition addressed, however, as "Lady Wisdom." James Vila Blake was an American Unitarian. Neither Singing the Living Tradition nor The New Century Hymnal contains it. "The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over many waters." Psalm 29:3; see also Job 38:1-41.

NICAEA (Irregular)

1. O Friend, you are call-ing, call-ing to us plain-ly,
to the spir-it comes your lov-ing mes-sage ev-er-more;
Ho-ly One up-lift us, nor for-ev-er vain-ly, stand call-ing us
and wait-ing at the door.

2. In the whirl-ing tem-pest, and the storm you've lived in,
in the rain, and in the sweet-ness of the af-ter-glow;
sum-mer's gold-en boun-ty, win-ter's snow you've giv-en,
and bloom-ing mea-dows where sweet wat-ers flow.

3. Clear-er still and dear-er is your voice ap-peal-ing,
deep with-in the spir-it's se-cret be-ing speak-ing low.
En-ter La-dy Wis-dom, now the truth re-veal-ing:
From all van-i-ty free us as we go.

4. In you, liv-ing, mov-ing, un-to you up-lift-ing
all your joy-ous, hope-ful trust that gives our
hearts re-pose; Fa-ther, we a-dore you, ask-ing naught
nor fear-ing; Far we wan-der not from your Soul of souls. A-men.

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March 19, 2005

19R How Lovely Is Your Dwelling Place

Original Title: "How Lovely Are Thy Dwellings Fair," John Milton (1645), CAITHNESS, C.M., Melody in Scottish Psalter (1635); New Title: "How Lovely Is Your Dwelling Place," rev. REH (2005), same hymn tune. Milton was an English Puritan (Congregationalist) and poet, best known for Paradise Lost. The hymn is a recast of Psalm 84. It does not appear in either Singing the Living Tradition or The New Century Hymnal.

CAITHNESS (C.M.)

1. How love-ly is your dwell-ing place,
O God of heaven; how dear
the pleas-ant ta-ber-na-cles' space
where you do dwell so near!

2. The spar-rows have long sought to fly
sky-ward, and your courts view;
the swal-lows in their nests still cry,
O Ho-ly One, for you.

3. Hap-py, who in your house re-side,
where they to you sing praise!
Hap-py, whose strength with you do side,
and in their hearts your ways!

4. They jour-ney on from strength to strength
with joy and glad-some cheer,
till all be-fore our God at length
in Zi-on does ap-pear.

5. O God of heaven that reigns on high,
that we are tru-ly blest
who tru-ly on you do re-ly,
and in you tru-ly rest. A-men.

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March 20, 2005

20R As Pants the Hart for Cooling Streams

Original Title: "As Pants the Hart for Coolings Streams," Nahum Tate and Nicholas Brady (1696), MARTYRDOM, C.M., Hugh Wilson, arr. R. A. Smith (1825); New Title: Same hymn title, rev. REH (2006), same hymn tune. The hymn does not appear in Singing the Living Tradition, but does appear as no. 481 in The New Century Hymnal. The hymn is a recast of Psalm 42.

MARTYRDOM (C.M.)

1. As pants the hart* for cool-ing streams,
when heat-ed in the chase,
so longs my soul, O God, for you
and your re-fresh-ing grace.

2. Why rest-less, why cast down, my soul?
Hope still; and you shall sing
the praise of one who is your God,
your health's e-ter-nal spring.

3. Deep calls to deep, and o-ceans roar;
For God my soul does pine;
O when shall I be-hold your face,
O ma-jes-ty di-vine?

4. Why rest-less, why cast down, my soul?
Trust God who will em-ploy
all aid for you and change these sighs
to thank-ful hymns of joy. A-men

* deer

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March 21, 2005

21R Great God, the Followers of Your Child

Original Title: "Great God, the Followers of Thy Son," Henry Ware, Jr. (1819), HEBRON, L.M., Lowell Mason (1830); New Title: "Great God, the Followers of Your Child," rev. REH (2006), SEWALL, L.M., Frank Sew­all, The Magnificat (New York 1910). Henry Ware, Jr., was a Unitarian minister, and pastor of Second Church in Boston; Sewall was pastor of the Swedenborgian National Church in Washington, D.C. "God's feet," Exodus 24:10; "The truth will set you free," John 8:32. John 3:21, "[W]ho lives by the truth will come to the light." Mark 10:52 (NRSV), "Jesus said to him,, 'Go; your faith has made you well.' Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way." "When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him," Luke 5:11 (NRSV). The hymn appears neither in The New Century Hymnal nor in Singing the Living Tradition.

SEWALL (L.M.)

1. Great God, the fol-lowers of your child,
we bow be-fore your ho-ly seat,
to wor-ship you, O Mer-cy Mild,
and pour our wish-es at your feet.

2. O grant your bless-ings here to-day!
O give your peo-ple joy and peace!
The to-kens of your love dis-play,
and fa-vor that shall ne-ver cease.

3. We seek the truth that Je-sus brought;
the path of light we long to tread;
here are the ho-ly teach-ings taught;
and their pur-est in-flu-ence shed.

4. May faith and hope and love a-bound;
ev-ils and er-rors be for-given;
and all on your great day be found
child-ren of God and heirs of heaven!

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March 22, 2005

22R In This Peaceful House of Prayer

Original Title: "In This Peaceful House of Prayer," from Hymns of the Spirit One (1864), SONG 13, 7.7.7.7., Orlando Gibbons, adapted (1623); New Title: Same hymn title, rev. REH (2005), CALVARY (MONK), 7.7.7.7., William Henry Monk (1875). Monk edited Hymns Ancient and Modern, which has sold over 60 million copies. The lyrics appear in the first Hymns of the Spirit, edited by Samuel Longfellow in 1864. It does not appear in Singing the Living Tradition nor in The New Century Hymnal. "God's feet," Exodus 24:10. "The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!" 1 Kings 8:27. "Where is the House you will build me?" Isaiah 66:1. "Mothering" in the lyrics is a translation of what is normally translated from the Hebrew as "merciful," or literally "womb-like." The phrase occurs in a number of hymns in the various versions of Music For Liturgy and other elements of worship produced by St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church (typically for unrestricted local reproduction) in San Francisco, California.

CALVARY (MONK) (7.7.7.7.)

1. In this peace-ful house of prayer,
strong-er faith, O God, we seek;
Here we bring each earth-ly care,
you, the strength'-ning mes-sage speak!

2. In our great-est tri-als, we calm,
through you, the way have trod;
In the small-est, may we feel
you are still our hel-per, God.

3. Of your pres-ence and your love,
we more stead-fast feel-ing need,
Till the high and ho-ly thought
hal-low ev-ery sim-ple deed.

4. Mothe-ring Fa-ther, at your feet,
we would lay our earth-born care;
Help us in our need, for you know
the weight that each must bear.

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March 23, 2005

23R Enter In the Holy Temple

Original Title: "God Is In His Holy Temple," from Hymns of the Spirit One (1864), edited by Samuel Longfellow, STUTTGART, 8.7.8.7., Chrisitian Friedrich Witt, adapted (1715)(alternatively AUTUMN, 8.7.8.7., published by Françoise Barthélémon (before 1793)); New Title: "Enter In the Holy Temple," rev. REH (2006), PORTSEA, William Boyce, A Collection of Melodies for the Psalms of David According to the Version of Christopher Smart A.M. ­(circa 1765). The lyrics echo Psalm 122. The hymn appears neither in Singing the Living Tradition, nor in The New Century Hymnal.

PORTSEA (8.7.8.7.)

1. En-ter in the ho-ly tem-ple,
earth-ly thoughts be si-lent now,
while in rev-erence we as-sem-ble,
and be-fore the Pre-sence bow.

2. O Love is with us for-ev-er,
when we call up-on the Name,
aid-ing ev-ery good en-deav-or,
guid-ing ev-ery up-ward aim.

3. God is in the ho-ly tem-ple,
in the pure and ho-ly mind,
in the reve-rent heart and sim-ple,
in the soul from sense re-fined.

4. Then let ev-ery low e-mo-tion
ban-ished far and sil-ent be,
and our souls in pure de-vo-tion,
Sove-reign, wor-thy tem-ples be!

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April 01, 2005

24R Peace Be To This Congregation

Original Title: "Peace Be To This Congregation," adapted from Charles Wesley, LOBT DEN HERRN, DIE MORGENSONNE, 8.7.8.7., from Naue's Choralbuch (1829); New Title: Same hymn title, rev. REH (2005), ST. MABYN, 8.7.8.7., Arthur H. Brown. Brown was a figure in the Oxford Movement, and led the way for the return of plainchant and Gregorian music in Anglican worship services in the late 19th century. The lyrics here echo Phillipians 4:7, Isaiah 48:18, 66:12. They do not appear in either The New Century Hymnal nor in Singing the Living Tradition.

ST. MABYN (8.7.8.7.)

1. Peace be to this con-gre-ga-tion!
Peace be to each heart there-in!
Peace, the earn-est of sal-va-tion;
peace, the fruit of for-given sin.

2. Peace, that speaks the heaven-ly giv-er;
peace, to world-ly minds un-known;
peace, so flow-ing as a riv-er
from th'e-ter-nal source a-lone.

3. O God of Sweet Peace be near us,
fix with-in our hearts your home;
With your bright ap-pear-ing cheer us,
in your bless-ed free-dom come.

4. Come with all your re-ve-la-tions,
truth which we so long have sought;
Come with your deep con-so-la-tions;
Peace of God which pass-es thought!

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April 02, 2005

25R Sovereign and Transforming Grace

Original Title: "Sovereign and Transforming Grace," Frederic Henry Hedge (1829), ORIENTIS PARTIBUS, 7.7.7.7., Pierre de Corbeil (died 1222) (second tune GOTTSHALK, 7.7.7.7., (adapted from Louis Moreau Gottshalk)); New Title: Same hymn name, rev. REH (2005), ORIENTIS PARTIBUS. Hedge served as the President of the American Unitarian Association, and edited the 1853 Unitarian hymnal, Hymns for the Church of Christ (Boston). He wrote this hymn for the ordination of a friend. "[J]ust as sin exercised dominion in death, so grace might also exercise dominion . . . leading to eternal life," Romans 5:21. "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God." Romans 12:2. The hymn appears in Singing the Living Tradition as no. 33 and in The New Century Hymnal as no. 512, both to the tune MANTON.

ORIENTIS PARTIBUS (7.7.7.7.)

1. Sove-reign and trans-form-ing grace,
we in-voke your quick-ening light;
Reign the spir-it of this place,
bless the pur-pose of this hour.

2. Ho-ly and cre-a-tive light,
we in-voke your kind-ling ray;
Dawn up-on our spir-its' night,
as the dark-ness turns to day.

3. To the anx-ious soul im-part
hope, all o-ther hopes a-bove;
Stir the dull and hard-ened heart
with a long-ing and a love.

4. Work in all; In all re-new
day by day the life di-vine.
All our wills to you sub-due,
all our hearts to you in-cline. A-men

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April 03, 2005

26R O Source Divine and Life of All

Original Title: "O Source Divine and Life of All," John Sterling (1839), SONG 34 (GIBBONS), L.M., Orlando Gibbons, Rhythm altered (1623); New Title: Same hymn title, rev. REH (2005), same hymn tune. The version of SONG 34 here differs slightly from the version of the tune that appears in Hymns of the Spirit Two. Sterling was born on the Isle of Bute, in Scotland. "For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light. O continue thy lovingkindness unto them that know thee; and thy righteousness to the upright in heart." Psalm 36:10-11 (KJV). The hymn appears neither in Singing the Living Tradition nor in The New Century Hymnal. This is particularly notable given the line in the third stanza, "through the ceaseless web to trace," words so redolent of the so-called "Seventh Principle" of the Unitarian Universalist Association's Principles and Purposes.

SONG 34 (GIBBONS)

1. O Source di-vine, and Life of all,
the Fount of be-ing’s won-drous sea!
Thy depth does ev-ery heart e'er call
that we may see love's dream in thee.

2. We shrink be-fore thy vast a-byss,
where worlds on worlds e-ter-nal brood.
We know thee tru-ly but in this--
That thou be-stow-est all our good.

3. And so, mid bound-less time and space,
O grant us still in thee to dwell,
and through the cease-less web to trace
thy pre-sence work-ing all things well.

4. Nor let thou life’s de-light-ful play
thy truth’s trans-cend-ent vi-sion hide;
Nor strength and glad-ness lead a-stray
from thee, our na-ture’s on-ly guide.

5. Be-stow on all our joy-ous thrills
thy deep-er tones of reve-rent awe:
Make free thy child-ren’s world-ly wills,
and in-cline hearts toward hol-ier law.

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April 04, 2005

27R Where Ancient Forests Round Us Spread

Original Title: "Where Ancient Forests Widely Spread," Andrews Norton (1833), WAINWRIGHT, L.M., Richard Wainwright; New Title: "Where Ancient Forests Round Us Spread," rev. REH (2005), AGINCOURT (DEO GRATIAS), Traditional English Melody (1415). Andrews Norton, an American Unitarian, is famous for having said that Ralph Waldo Emerson’s [Harvard] Divinity School Address represented "the newest form of infidelity." As beloved a figure as Emerson is for many, Norton's provocation takes nothing away from his own place in Unitarian Universalist hymnody. The full form of the hymn was anthologized in 1900 by Edmund Clarence Stedman (1833-1908) in his An American Anthology 1787-1900, as no. 51, where it is called "Hymn for the Dedication of a Church." In that collection, it began "Where ancient forests round us spread," as does the revised version here. Compare 2 Kings 19:22-24. Genesis 28:17, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven." The Universe is filled by God, in God "we live and move and have our being." Acts 17:28.; see also Psalm 84. "The Lord has blessed the household of Obededom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God," 2 Samuel 6:12, suggesting, as in the lyrics, there are places where "human thought burns clearer" given their chosen status. Tradition has it that the AGINCOURT was written to laud the victory of the English at Normandy. The hymn appears in neither Singing the Living Tradition, nor in The New Century Hymnal.

AGINCOURT (DEO GRATIAS) (L.M.)

1. Where an-cient for-ests round us spread,
where bends~the cat'-ract's o-cean fall,
on the lone moun-tain's si-lent head,
there are your tem-ples, God of all!

2. Be-neath the dark-blue, mid-night arch,
whence my~riad suns pour down their rays,
where pla-nets trace their cease-less march,
O Life! we praise you as we gaze.

3. All space is ho-ly, for all space
is filled~by you; And hu-man thought
burns clear-er in some chos-en place,
where your own words of love are taught.

4. May we be taught, and may we know
a faith~your ser-vants knew of old
which on-ward bears through weal and woe,
till Death the gates of heaven un-fold.

5. Nor we a-lone, may those whose brow
shows yet~no trace of hu-man cares,
here-aft-er stand where we do now,
and raise to you still hol-ier prayers!

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April 05, 2005

28R God of the Earth, the Sky, the Sea

Original Title: "God of the Earth, the Sky and the Sea," Samuel Longfellow (1864), WINCHESTER NEW, L.M., Hamburger Musikalisches Handbuch (1690); New Title: Same hymn title, alt. REH (2005), ST. CATHERINE, 8.8.8.8.8.8., Henri F. Hemy (1865). Psalm 24:1-2, "The earth is the Lord's, and all it contains . . . For He has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the rivers." Genesis 1:27, "[I]n the image of God . . . male and female [God] created them;" see also Genesis 9:6. "God's likeness," 2 Corinthians 3:18, 1 Corinthians 15:49. The Indwelling God, John 15:4. Proverbs 22:2, "The rich and the poor have this in common: the Lord is the maker of them all." The hymn is not contained in The New Century Hymnal, but is found in Singing the Living Tradition as no. 25, to the tune DUKE STREET, L.M.

ST. CATHERINE (8.8.8.8.8.8.)

1. God of the earth, the sky, the sea,
Mak-er of all a-bove, be-low,
cre-a-tion lives and moves in thee,
thy pre-sent life in all doth flow.
We give thee thanks, thy name we sing;
O Ho-ly One, our praise we bring!

2. Thy love is in the sun-shine’s glow,
thy life is in the quick-ening air;
When light-ning flash-es and storm winds blow,
there is thy power; thy law is there.
We give thee thanks, thy name we sing;
O Ho-ly One, our praise we bring!

3. We feel thy calm at even-ing’s hour,
thy grand-eur in the march of night;
And when thy morn-ing breaks in power,
we hear thy word, “Let there be light.”
We give thee thanks, thy name we sing;
O Ho-ly One, our praise we bring!

4. But high-er far, and far more clear,
thee in our spir-its we be-hold;
Thine im-age and thy-self are there—
Th’in-dwell-ing God, pro-claimed of old!
We give thee thanks, thy name we sing;
O Ho-ly One, our praise we bring!

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April 06, 2005

29R You Hide Within the Lily

Original Title: "He Hides Within the Lily," William Channing Gannett (1873), MUNICH, 7.6.7.6.7.6.7.6., Meiningen Gesangbuch (1693); New Title: "You Hide Within the Lily," rev. REH (2007), KING'S LYNN, 7.6.7.6.7.6.7.6., Traditional English Melody, arranged Ralph Vaughan Williams (1906). "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not." Matthew 6:28; see also Luke 12:27. "A mortal ... comes up like a flower." Job 14:1-2. It should be noted, of course, that the Song of Songs (the Song of Solomon) discusses flowers and lilies throughout. Micah 6:8 (KJV), "He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?," see also Proverbs 2:13, Proverbs 11:1, 1 Kings 3:11-12, Ecclesiastes 5:8, Jeremiah 22:15. The hymn does not appear in Singing the Living Tradition, nor in The New Century Hymnal.

KING'S LYNN (7.6.7.6.7.6.7.6.)

1. You hide with-in the li-ly a strong and ten-der care
that wins the earth-born a-toms to glo-ry of the air;
You weave the shin-ing garm-ents un-ceas-ing-ly and still
a-long the qui-et wa-ters, in ni-ches of the hill.

2. We lin-ger at the vi-gil with one who bent the knee
to watch the an-cient li-lies in dis-tant Gal-i-lee;
And still the wor-ship deep-ens and quick-ens in-to new,
and bright-ening down the a-ges God's se-cret thrills us through.

3. O Toi-ler of the li-ly, with you the heart e'er sings;
No leaf that dawns to pe-tal but hints of an-gel wings.
The flower hor-i-zons o-pen, the blos-som vast-er shows;
We hear your wide worlds e-cho, 'See how the li-ly grows.'

4. The yearn-ings of the na-tions, un-fold-ing, thought by thought,
to hol-ier lives are lift-ed, to vi-sions clear are wrought:
May all ad-vance in jus-tice, while e-vils fade and fall,
till cha-os blooms to beau-ty, your pur-pose crown-ing all.

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April 07, 2005

30R Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise

Original Title: "Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise," Walter Chalmers Smith (1876), ST. DENIO, 11.11.11.11., Welsh Melody (1839); New Title: Same hymn title, rev. REH (2007), same hymn tune. Smith was Scottish. The tune and hymn appear as "Immortal, Invisible" in Singing the Living Tradition as no. 273, with the exception of the final stanza; it appears here. The hymn appears without parental metaphors in The New Century Hymnal as no. 1. The lyrics resonate with some of the images in Psalm 139, as well as Psalm 36:5-6, 103:14-17, and 104:27-39; but most directly the lyrics are based on 1 Timothy 1:17. The webdesigner graciously thanks Haruo for his assistance with the minor revisions to Smith's lyrics below.

ST. DENIO (11.11.11.11.)

1. Im-mort-al, in-vi-si-ble, God on-ly wise,
in light in-ac-ces-si-ble hid from our eyes,
most bles-sèd, most glo-rious, the An-cient of Days,
Al-migh-ty, vic-tor-ious, thy great Name we praise.

2. Un-rest-ing, un-hast-ing, and si-lent as light,
nor want-ing, nor wast-ing, thou rul-est in might;
thy jus-tice, like moun-tains, high soar-ing a-bove
thy clouds, which are foun-tains of good-ness and love.

3. To all, life thou giv-est, to both great and small;
In all life thou liv-est, the true life of all;
We blos-som and flour-ish as leaves on the tree,
and with-er and per-ish— but naught chang-eth thee.

4. Great Fath-er, Great Moth-er, O Light of all light,
thine an-gels a-dore thee, all veil-ing their sight;
All laud we would rend-er; O help us to see
’tis on-ly the splen-dor of light hid-eth thee.

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April 08, 2005

31R Thou Art O God the Life and Light

Original Title: "Thou Art, O God, the Life and Light," Thomas Moore (1816), MACH'S MIT MIR, GOTT, 8.8.8.8.8.8., Johann Hermann Schein (1645), harmony by J. S. Bach; New Title: Same hymn title, rev. REH (2005), OLD 113TH, 8.8.8.8.8.8., Matthäus Greiter (1500-1552). Thomas Moore was a Roman Catholic and Irish Nationalist. The hymn does not appear in Singing the Living Tradition or in The New Century Hymnal. "With thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light," Psalm 36:9. "The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come," The Song of Songs 2:12. "Clouds of heaven," Daniel 7:13, Matthew 26:64, Mark 14:62.

OLD 113TH (8.8.8.8.8.8.)

1. Thou art, O God, the Life and Light
of all this won-drous world we see;
Its glow by day, its smile by night,
are but re-flec-tions caught from thee;
Wher-e'er we turn, thy glo-ries shine:
all things beau-teous and bright are thine.

2. When day, with fare-well beam, de-lays
a-mong the open-ing clouds of even,
and we can al-most think we gaze
through gold-en vis-tas in-to heaven,
those hues, that make the sun's de-cline
so soft, so ra-diant, God, are thine.

3. When budd-ing spring a-round us breathes
thy spir-it warms a fra-grant sigh,
and eve-ry flower the sum-mer wreathes
is born be-neath that kind-ling eye--
Wher-e'er we turn, thy glo-ries shine:
all things beau-teous and bright are thine.

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April 09, 2005

32R For the Beauty of the Earth

Original Title: "For the Beauty of the Earth," Folliott Sandford Pierpoint (1864), DIX, 7.7.7.7.7.7., Conrad Kocher (1838); New Title: Same hymn title, rev. REH (2006), same hymn tune. Pierpoint was English and Anglican. Isaiah 6:3b, "The Earth is full of [God's] glory." The hymn appears in The New Century Hymnal as no. 28 with the refrain "God of all;" it appears in Singing the Living Tradition as no. 21 with "Source of all." The original in Hymns of the Spirit Two is "Lord of all" in each verse.

DIX (7.7.7.7.7.7.)

1. For the beau-ty of the earth
for the glo-ry of the skies,
for the love which from our birth
ov-er and a-round us lies.
Light of all, to thee~we raise,
this our hymn of grate~ful praise.

2. For the beau-ty of each hour,
of the day and of the night,
hill and vale, and tree and flower,
sun and moon, and stars of light.
Love of all, to thee~we raise,
this our hymn of grate~ful praise.

3. For the joy of ear and eye,
for the heart and mind’s de-light,
for the mys-tic har-mo-ny
link-ing sense to sound and sight.
Life of all, to thee~we raise,
this, our hymn of grate~ful praise.

4. For the joy of hu-man love,
broth-er, sist-er, pa-rent, child,
friends on earth and friends a-bove,
for all gen-tle thoughts and mild.
Lord of all to thee~we raise,
this, our hymn of grate~ful praise. A-men.

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April 10, 2005

33R The Spacious Firmament On High

Original Title: "The Spacious Firmament On High," Joseph Addison (1712), CREATION, L.M.D., Franz Joseph Haydn (1798); New Title: Same hymn title, rev. REH (2006), same hymn tune. Paraphrase of Psalm 19:1-6. Addison was English and Anglican. The version of CREATION here is in a different key from the version in Hymns of the Spirit Two. The hymn appears in a version remarkably akin to this in Singing the Living Tradition as no. 283; it does not appear in The New Century Hymnal.

CREATION (L.M.D.)

1. The spa-cious fir-ma-ment on high,
with all the blue e-the-real sky,
and spang-led heavens, a shin-ing frame
their great O-rig-i-nal pro-claim.
Th’un-wea-ried sun, from day to day,
does its Cre-a-tor's power dis-play,
and pub-li-shes to eve-ry land
the work of an al-might-y hand.

2. Soon as the eve-ning shades pre-vail
the moon takes up the won-drous tale,
and night-ly to the liste-ning earth
re-peats the sto-ry of its birth;
While all the stars that round it burn
and all the pla-nets in their turn,
con-firm the ti-dings as they roll,
and spread the truth from pole to pole.

3. What though in sol-emn si-lence all
move round the dim ter-res-trial ball?
What though no re-al voice nor sound
a-mid the ra-diant orbs be found?
In rea-son's ear they all re-joice,
and ut-ter forth a glo-rious voice,
for-ev-er sing-ing as they shine,
"The hand that made us is di-vine."

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April 11, 2005

34R Heaven and Earth and Sea and Air

Original Title: "Heaven and Earth and Sea and Air," Joachim Neander (1680), trans. James Drummond Burns, POSEN, 7.7.7.7., Georg Christoph Strattner (1691); New Title: Same hymn title, rev. REH (2006), GOTT SEI DANK, 7.7.7.7., Johann A. Freylinghausen (1704). Psalm 57:7-11, 108:1-5; see also Psalm 19. The hymn does not appear in Singing the Living Tradition, but it does appear in a version translated by Madeleine Forrell Marshall (1993) as no. 566, in five stanzas, also to the tune GOTT SEI DANK, in The New Century Hymnal. For Joachim Neander, see the entry under no. 7R.

GOTT SEI DANK (7.7.7.7.)

1. Heaven and earth, and sea and air,
all their mak-er’s praise de-clare;
Wake, my soul, a-wake and sing:
Now thy grate-ful prais-es bring.

2. See the glo-rious orb of day
break-ing through the clouds a-way;
Moon and stars with sil-very light
sing praise through the si-lent night.

3. O God's love hath eve-ry-where
made this earth so rich and fair;
hill and vale and fruit-ful land,
all life bears a ho-ly hand.

4. God, great won-ders work-est thou!
To thy sway all crea-tures bow;
Write thou deep-ly in my heart
what I am, and what thou art.

a. Him-mel, Er-de, Luft und Meer
zeu-gen von des Schöp-fers Ehr;
mei-ne See-le, sin-ge du,
bring auch jetzt dein Lob her-zu.

b. Seht das gro-ße Sonn-en-licht,
wie es durch die Wol-ken bricht;
auch der Mond, der Ster-ne Pracht
jauch-zen Gott bei still-er Nacht.

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April 12, 2005

35R Let the Whole Creation Cry

Original Title: "Let the Whole Creation Cry," Stopford Augustus Brooke, VIENNA, 7.7.7.7., Justin Heinrich Knecht (1799); New Title: Same hymn title, rev. REH (2006), same hymn tune. Brooke was a 19th Century Irish writer and churchman, first ordained in the Chruch of England, but later he officiated as a Unitarian minister at Bedford chapel, Bloomsbury. Psalm 148:5, "On the glorious splendor of your majesty,and on your wondrous works, I will meditate." (ESV). Neither Singing the Living Tradition nor The New Century Hymnal contains the hymn. The website maintained by St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church includes a paraphrase of Psalm 148 called "The Furthest Depths of Outer Space" with words by Matthew Priest, to the tune KISSLING, 8.8.6.8.8.6., which may be locally reproduced.

VIENNA (7.7.7.7.)

1. Let the whole cre-a-tion cry:
Glo-ry be to God on high!
Sun and moon, up-lift your voice,
night and stars, in God re-joice!

2. Chant out ho-nor, o-cean fair!
Earth, soft rush-ing through the air!
Sun-shine, dark-ness, cloud and storm,
rain and snow high praise per-form.

3. Let the blos-soms of the earth
join the u-ni-ver-sal mirth;
Birds, with morn and dew e-late,
sing with joy at heav-en's gate.

4. All souls on the side of right,
pro-phets speak-ing words of might;
Po-ets, fight-ers, ar-ti-sans:
Raise the anth-em once a-gain!

5. And let chil-dren's hap-py hearts
in this wor-ship bear their parts:
Ho-ly, ho-ly, ho-ly, cry,
Glo-ry be to God on high!

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April 13, 2005

36R O God Whose Smile Is In the Sky

Original Title: "O God Whose Smile Is In the Sky," John Haynes Holmes (1907), MARTYRDOM, C.M., Hugh Wilson, adapted by H. A. Smith (1825); New Title: Same hymn title, rev. REH (2006), same hymn tune. A graduate of Harvard, Holmes first served as minister of the Unitarian Third Congregational Church, Dorchester, Massachusetts. In 1907, he became junior minister at the Church of the Messiah in New York City (now known as the Community Church, Unitarian Universalist). "What a relief it is to see your friendly smile. It is like seeing the smile of God," Genesis 33:10. "May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you," Numbers 6:25. "Come unto me . . . and I will give you rest," Matthew 11:28. The hymn is not in The New Century Hymnal, nor is it in Singing the Living Tradition.

MARTYRDOM (C.M.)

1. O God, whose smile is in the sky,
whose path is in the sea,
once more from earth’s tu-mul-tuous strife
to you we turn glad-ly.

2. Now all the myr-iad sounds of earth
in so-lemn still-ness die;
while wind and wave u-nite to chant
their an-them to the sky.

3. We come as those with toil far spent
who crave your rest and peace,
and from the care and fret of life
would find in you re-lease.

4. Su-stain-er, soothe all troubl-ed thought,
dis-pel all id-le fear;
O purge each heart of se-cret sin,
and ba-nish ev-ery care.

5. Un-til, as shine up-on the sea
the si-lent stars a-bove,
there shines up-on our trust-ing souls
the light of your own love.

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April 14, 2005

37R Thou Rulest, God, the Lights On High

Original Title: "Thou Rulest, God, the Lights On High," Theodore Chickering Williams (1911), MELCOMBE, L.M., Samuel Webbe (1782); New Title: Same hymn tune, rev. REH (2006), ERHALT UNS, HERR, L.M., Geisliche Lieder (Wittenberg 1543). "[W]isdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy." James 3:17. "Does not Wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice?" Proverbs 8:1; see also Proverbs 1:20-25. "O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures," Psalm 104:24. Williams served as pastor of All Souls Church (Unitarian) in New York City for 13 years. The hymn does not appear in Singing the Living Tradition, nor in The New Century Hymnal.

ERHALT UNS, HERR (L.M.)

1. Thou rul-est, God, the lights on high;
Sun, moon and stars thy ser-vants be.
Yet eve-ry glo-ry of the sky
is bright-er still when I have thee.

2. How vast the mar-vel of the mind,
how far the beams of rea-son go!
Yet all wis-dom of hu-man-kind
burns deep-er still when thee I know.

3. Wher-e'er I look is light and joy:
A bloom-ing flower, an eag-le's wing;
their sin-less ju-bi-lee em-ploy,
and to thy praise full tri-bute bring.

4. Thy gifts to us be-yond com-pare,
like roy-al crowns and em-blems shine;
yet bring us nev-er to des-pair
when we hold these grand gifts as thine.

5. De-light and wis-dom, peace and power,
a heart of hope, se-rene and free,
through life's dim dream and tran-sient hour
I find, O God, tru-ly in thee.

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April 15, 2005

38R The Harp at Nature's Advent Strung

Original Title: "The Harp at Nature's Advent Strung," John Greenleaf Whittier, EVAN, C.M., William Henry Havergal, arranged by Lowell Mason (1850); New Title: Same hymn title, rev. REH (2006), LLANGLOFLAN, 8.6.8.6., Welsh Hymn Melody. Whittier was an anti-slavery Quaker and poet, who was secretary of the American Anti-Slavery Society. Though born in Boston, he lived in Philadelphia where he edited the Pennsylvania Freeman. The complete, original poem, called "The Worship of Nature" contains ten verses, rather than the six below, or the five in Hymns of the Spirit Two and the five in Singing the Living Tradition as no. 74 (It is not contained in The New Century Hymnal). Though anthologized in The Complete Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier, (Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1894), the poem was first published in 1867. "All the earth . . . make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, . . . Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it." Psalm 98:4-7 "You have kept the good wine until now," John 2:10, Nehemiah 8:10.

LLANGLOFLAN (8.6.8.6.)

1. The harp at Na-ture's ad-vent strung
has never ceas-ed to play;
the song the stars of morn-ing sung
has ne-ver died a-way.
And prayer is made, and praise is given,
by all things near and far;
the o-cean look-eth up to heaven,
and mirr-ors eve-ry star.

2. Its waves are kneel-ing on the strand,
as kneels the hu-man knee,
their white locks bow-ing to the sand,
the priest-hood of the sea!
The green earth sends its in-cense up
from many a moun-tain shrine;
from fold-ed leaf and de-wy cup
and pours a sacr-ed wine.

3. The blue sky is the tem-ple's arch,
its tran-sept earth and air,
the mu-sic of its star-ry march
the cho-rus of a prayer.
So Na-ture keeps the re-verent frame
with which the years be-gan,
and all the signs and voi-ces shame
the prayer-less heart a-gain.

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April 16, 2005

39R There Is a Book

Original Title: "There Is a Book (Who Runs May Read)," John Keble (1819), DEDHAM (C.M.), William Gardiner (1812); New Title: "There Is a Book (Which All May Read)," rev. REH and Jim Clark (2005), KINGSFOLD (8.6.8.6.), arr. Ralph Vaughan Williams (1906). Keble was English, an exponent of the Oxford Movement, an Anglo-Catholic current within the Church of England. Gardiner and Vaughan Williams were both English. The original line from the hymn "who runs may read," is nothing if not obscure to modern speakers of English; it comes from Habakkuk: "Yahweh answered me, 'Write the vision, and make it plain on tablets, that he who runs may read it.'" Habakkuk 2:2. At least one modern reading renders it this way: "Then the Lord replied: 'Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.'" The latter suggests that the purpose of running with the revelation in hand is so that the herald may read it to those whom he meets along the way; the lyrics here have been recast to capture this sense of the words in even broader terms-- that revelation is available to all, without mediation, and likewise may be interpreted by all. "The word of God is living and active," Hebrews 4:12. "They read from the book, from the law of God," Nehemiah 8:8 (NRSV). Those wishing to limit the hymn to singing about the Hebrew scriptures, given the grounding of the original quotation in Habakkuk, may wish to substitute "Christ" with "Love."

KINGSFOLD (8.6.8.6.)

1. There is a book, which all may read,
which heaven-ly truth im-parts;
and all the tools its read-ers need,
broad minds and lov-ing hearts.
The lives of proph-ets here be-low,
and works of Christ all 'round,
are pa-ges in that book to show
how God is free-ly found.

2. The glor-ious sky, em-brac-ing all,
is like the Mak-er's love,
en-com-pass-ing the great and small,
with-in and high a-bove.
The dew of heaven is like your grace,
it steals in si-lence down;
But where it lights the fa-vored place,
its rich fruits spell re-nown.

3. The rag-ing sea, the roar-ing wind,
your bound-less power dis-play.
But in the gent-ler breeze un-dinned:
your spir-it's free-ing way.
To us you give [the faith] to doubt,
and love this earth with care;
Give us a heart to seek you out,
and read you eve-ry-where.

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April 17, 2005

40R Seek Not Afar For Beauty

Original Title: "Seek Not Afar For Beauty," Minot Judson Savage, LANGRAN, 10.10.10.10, James Langran (1863); New Title: Same hymn title, rev. REH (2006), YORKSHIRE, 10.10.10.10.10.10., John Wainwright (1750). Langran and Wainwright were both English Anglicans; Savage was a 19th Century American, associated at various times with Congregational and Unitarian churches. The world-weary Hebrew prophet Ecclesiastes is faintly echoed here, the idea being that there is "nothing new under the sun," such that it is in life's simple pleasures where we might find meaning and transcendence: "What do mortals get from all the toil and strain with which they toil under the sun? For all their days are full of pain, and their work is a vexation; even at night their minds do not rest. This also is vanity." Ecclesiastes 2:2-23. "He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil." Ecclesiastes 3:11-13. Three verses make up a version that appears to COOLINGE in Singing the Living Tradition; the hymn does not appear in The New Century Hymnal.

YORKSHIRE (10.10.10.10.10.10)

1. Seek not a-far for beau-ty. Lo! it glows
in dew-wet grass-es all a-bout your feet;
in birds, in sun-shine, child-ren's fac-es sweet,
in stars and moun-tain sum-mits topped with snows.
Go not a-broad for hap-pi-ness. For see,
it is a flow-er that here blooms free-ly.

2. Bring love and jus-tice home, and then no more
will you won-der where peace and joy are taught.
Dream not of no-ble ser-vice else-where wrought.
The sim-ple du-ty now waits at your door;
God's voice speaks ev-er hol-i-er com-mands:
Life's saint-ly deeds are done by com-mon hands.

3. In won-der-work-ings, or some bush a-flame,
we look for Truth, and fan-cy it con-cealed;
But in earth's com-mon things, Life stands re-vealed,
while grass and flowers and stars spell out God's Name.
Seek not a-far for beau-ty. Lo! for see
it is a flow-er that here blooms free-ly.

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April 19, 2005

41R O God, Your Wonders

Original Title: "Father, Thy Wonders Do Not Singly Stand," Jones Very (1839, 1846), OLD FIRST, 10.10.10.10., later form of melody in Genevan Psalter (1542); New Title: "O God, Your Wonders (Do Not Singly Stand)," rev. REH (2007), TOULON, 10.10.10.10., abridged from Genevan Psalter (1551). The hymn is based on two poems, both called "The Spirit-Land," one written in 1839 and which begins "Father, thy wonders do not singly stand; the second, written in 1846 of the same title, begins "Open our eyes . . ." Very was a Unitarian minister, and Transcendentalist poet, contemporary of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, who is said to have "gone mad" at an early age. "Spirit land" seems to be an invocation (albeit infrequent) of heaven even in conventional Christian hymns. For example, Samuel Greg's 1854 hymn, "Stay, Master, Upon This Heavenly Hill," entreats Jesus to "let us linger a little longer . . . and catch a glimpse into spirit land." Very seems, by contrast, to place this spirit land not somewhere distant or obscure, but rather somewhere "richly . . . displayed," in an "enchanted land" that lies ever around us. God gave us inspiration and intuition; Very seems to tell us we should not waste these precious gifts that are "at hand;" that is, available to us. Such is the language Jesus used too in speaking of the Kingdom of God, in images so often misunderstood by his followers. Matthew 3:2; 4:17; Mark 1:15. "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?,” Mark 10:17. "When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him," Luke 5:11 (NRSV). The hymn does not appear in Singing the Living Tradition or in The New Century Hymnal.

TOULON (10.10.10.10.)

1. O God! your won-ders do not sing-ly stand,
nor far re-moved where feet have sel-dom strayed;
A-round us ev-er lies th'en-chant-ed land;
Rich mar-vels to your child-ren thus dis-played.

2. In find-ing you are all things round us found;
In los-ing you are all things lost be-side;
Ears have we but in vain strange voic-es sound,
and to our eyes the vi-sion is de-nied.

3. O-pen our eyes that we that world may see,
o-pen our ears that we your voice may hear,
and in the spir-it-land may ev-er be,
and feel your pre-sence with us al-ways near.

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April 20, 2005

42R Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee

Original Title: "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee," Henry Van Dyke (1908), JOY, 8.7.8.7.8.7.8.7., arranged from Ludwig van Beethoven; New Title: Same hymn title, rev. REH (2005), same hymn tune. Van Dyke was an American Presbyterian. The hymn tune is known as HYMN TO JOY in Singing the Living Tradition; no. 29 is a three-verse version of "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee;" no. 327 in the 1993 hymn is entitled "Joy, Thou Goddess," with original German lyrics for two stanzas of "Freude, schöner Götterfunken." The latter hymn, by Friedrich Schiller, constitutes the "original" lyrics insofar as they inspired Beethoven's composition. The New Century Hymnal has four verses (without sibling references) as no. 4, "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore You." See Psalm 145:10, "All your works shall give thanks to you," see also Psalm 71:23; Isaiah 49:13, "Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing!"

JOY (8.7.8.7.8.7.8.7.)

1. Joy-ful, joy-ful, we a-dore thee, God of glo-ry, God of love;
Hearts un-fold like flowers be-fore thee, open-ing to the sun a-bove.
Melt the clouds of sin and sad-ness; drive the dark* of doubt a-way;
Giv-er of im-mort-al glad-ness, fill us with the light of day!

2. All thy works with joy sur-round thee, earth and heaven re-flect thy rays,
stars and an-gels sing a-round thee, cent-er of un-brok-en praise.
Field and for-est, vale and moun-tain, flow-ery mead-ow, flash-ing sea,
sing-ing bird and flow-ing foun-tain call us to re-joice in thee.

3. Thou art giv-ing and for-giv-ing, ev-er bless-ing, ev-er blessed;
Well-spring of the joy of liv-ing, o-cean depth of hap-py rest!
Lov-ing Sove-reign, Moth-er, Fath-er, all who live in love are thine;
teach us how to love each oth-er, lift us to the joy di-vine.

4. Mor-tals, join the hap-py chor-us, which the morn-ing stars beg-an;
Christ our Bro-ther reigns a-mongst us; Sis-ter Wis-dom seals the plan.
Ev-er sing-ing, march we on-ward, vic-tors in the midst of strife,
Joy-ful mus-ic leads us sun-ward in the tri-umph song of life.

*or 'storms'

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April 21, 2005

43R O God, Our Dwelling Place

Original Title: "O God, Our Dwelling Place," Lewis Gilbert Wilson (1912), ST. EDMUND, 6.4.6.4.6.6.6.4., Arthur Seymour Sullivan (1872); New Title: Same hymn title, rev. REH (2005), DOWN AMPNEY, 6.6.11.6.6.11., Ralph Vaughan Williams (1906). Lewis Gilbert Wilson was an American Unitarian. He wrote about Hopedale, Massachusetts, a 19th cenutry communal experiment in "Practical Christianity," founded by Universalist Adin Ballou. He likewise edited "The Christian Doctrine of Non-Resistance," written by Adin Ballou and Leo Tolstoi. Arthur Seymour Sullivan, an Englishman, was one-half of the musical team of Gilbert and Sullivan. The hymn appears in neither Singing the Living Tradition nor in The New Century Hymnal. The hymn echoes many psalms, including in the last stanza Psalm 51:10, 15, "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. . . . O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise." Verse 2 resonates with Psalm 36:9, "For with you is the fountain of life." Verse One, 'From his dwelling place [God] watches all who live on earth . . . the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love," see Psalm 33:14, 18; Psalm 148. Psalm 32:7, "You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble."

DOWN AMPNEY (6.6.11.6.6.11.)

1. O God, our dwell-ing place,
our times are ev-er thine;
Through all our years we trace love's large de-sign.
Lure us to high de-sire
and with ce-les-tial fire
in all our souls in-spire thy love di-vine.

2. O Fount, un-spent and pure,
the faint-ing hu-man soul
thou canst from death re-store, its grief con-sole.
Health thou a-lone canst give;
O let all hearts re-ceive!
Bid us a-rise and live, by thee made whole.

3. Bless thou our thought of thee,
to err-or weak-ly prone;
in hol-ier song may we thy name en- throne.
By widen-ing du-ties cast
with-in thy pur-pose vast,
may we know thee at last as we are known.

4. In ser-vice strong and fair
forth may we brave-ly go;
Thy grand realm to pre-pare, thy truth to know.
For tem-ples let us raise;
Pure hearts that sing thy praise;
And un-to end-less days thy glo-ry show.

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April 22, 2005

44R True Stewards, Earth

Original Title: "Thou, Earth, Art Ours, and Ours to Keep," Mary Howitt, GASTORIUS, 8.8.8.8.8., adapted from Severus Gastorius (1681); New Title: "True Stewards, Earth" rev. REH (2007), SUSSEX CAROL, 8.8.8.8.8.8., Traditional English melody, arranged by Ralph Vaughn Williams (1919). Mary Howitt was an English Quaker and poet, who wrote extensively on nature themes. Perhaps her best-known poem is "The Spider and the Fly." Here the lyrics clearly echo Genesis: "And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good," Genesis 1:11-22; see also Genesis 1:29, Genesis 8:22, Genesis 27:28. In the Christian scriptures, seed and harvest are sometimes metaphors for the God's word, e.g., Luke 8:11, Matthew 13:3, 32, John 12:24, see also Luke 13:6-9 (the parable of the fig treet). That the earth is "ours" is echoed in the Psalms, e.g., Psalm 115:16; the likeness of "darkness and light" in Psalm 139:12; God gives grain/corn in Psalm 65:9. Trees and wind are mentioned specifically in Isaiah 7:2; the first and latter rain in Deuteronomy 11:14. The hymn appears in neither Singing the Living Tradition nor The New Century Hymnal.

SUSSEX CAROL (8.8.8.8.8.8.)

1. True stew-ards, earth, we are for thee,
who in faith la-bor in thy reign;
the green-ing grass, the corn, the tree,
spring-time and har-vest come from thee,
the ear-ly and the lat-ter rain,
the ear-ly and the lat-ter rain.

2. O earth, the earth, thy sum-mer-time,
fresh with the dews, the sun-shine bright,
with gold-en clouds in eve-ning hours,
with sing-ing birds and fra-grant flowers,
crea-tures of beau-ty and de-light,
crea-tures of beau-ty and de-light.

3. Thou, earth, our earth, when light is dim,
and leaf-less stands the state-ly tree,
when from the north the fierce winds blow,
when fall-eth fast the mant-ling snow.
O earth, thou speak-est still to me,
O earth, thou speak-est still to me.

4. The earth is yours and mine, all life!
Ours is all worlds, all suns that shine,
sha-dow and light, and life and death,
what-e'er all space in-ha-bi-teth:
Life's im-age bears the true di-vine,
Life's im-age bears the true di-vine.

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April 25, 2005

45R Morning, So Fair to See

Original Title: "Morning, So Fair to See," Vincent Brown Silliman (1934), ST. ELIZABETH, 6.6.9.6.6.8., Silesian Folksong; New Title: Same hymn title, rev. REH (2006), same hymn tune. ST. ELIZABETH is also unhappily (albeit for fanciful reasons) known as CRUSADER'S HYMN. Silliman was a Unitarian and humanist, and one of the editors of the Hymns for the Celebration of Life, published in 1964, the first hymnal produced by the Unitarian Universalist Association after consolidation in 1961. As the giver of the "Berry Street Address" at UUA's 1977 General Assembly in Ithaca, Silliman said "hymn tinkering is a long-standing practice. Some tinkers have spread so widely that the original is all but forgotten." Another recast version of Silliman's hymn can be found in Singing the Living Tradition, at no. 42; it does not appear in The New Century Hymnal. Morning's beauty is a topic in Genesis; e.g., Genesis 1:5-31. Morning is a time when people went to the temple; e.g., Luke 21:38, John 8:2; morning also bespeaks glory; e.g., Song of Solomon 6:10 ("Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun"); see also Isaiah 58:8.

ST. ELIZABETH (6.6.9.6.6.8.)

1. Morn-ing, so fair to see,*
Night, veiled in mys-ter-y,
Glo-rious the earth and res-plen-dent skies!
Pil-grims, we march a-long,
Sing-ing our Pil-grim song,
As through an earth-ly par-a-dise.

2. Green are the grow-ing trees;
Blue are the flash-ing seas;
Glo-rious each won-der the sea-sons bring.
Bright-er is faith's sur-mise
shin-ing in Pil-grims' eyes:
Bright-er the com-mon-weal we sing.

3. Age af-ter age we rise,
'Neath the e-ter-nal skies,
In-to the light from the sha-dowed past:
Still shall our Pil-grim song,
Bou-yant and brave and strong,
Re-sound while life and moun-tains last.

*Or 'shines so brightly.' A version of the hymn less reticient about the word "fair," and thus much closer to the original text, might read as follows:

1. Morn-ing, so fair to see,
Night, veiled in mys-ter-y,
Glo-rious the earth and res-plen-dent skies!
Pil-grims, we march a-long,
Sing-ing our Pil-grim song,
As through an earth-ly par-a-dise.

2. Fair are the verdant trees;
fair are the flash-ing seas;
Fair is each won-der the sea-sons bring.
Fair-er is faith's sur-mise
shin-ing in Pil-grims' eyes:
Fair-er the com-mon-weal we sing.

3. Age af-ter age we rise,
'Neath the e-ter-nal skies,
In-to the light from the sha-dowed past:
Still shall our Pil-grim song,
Bou-yant and brave and strong,
Re-sound while life and moun-tains last.

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April 26, 2005

46R God of All Majesty and Might

Original Name: "Lord of All Majesty and Might," George Wallace Briggs (1933), VATER UNSER, 8.8.8.8.8.8., later form of melody in V. Schumann’s Gesangbuch (1539), harmony by J.S. Bach; New Name: "God of All Majesty and Might," rev. REH (2005), same hymn tune. Briggs was an English Anglican priest, born in 1875. The title echoes "In thine hand is power and might," 1 Chronicles 29:12; the "unfathomed deep" of the lyrics seems to correlate with Psalm 95:4, "In [God's] hand are the deep places of the earth." The last verse seems to take from Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:9, "for we know in part, and we prophesy in part." The Imago Dei is echoed in verse four, from Genesis 1:27. The discussion of wisdom in verse 2 resonantes with the passages "Behold, God is mighty, and despiseth not any: he is mighty in strength and wisdom," Job 36:5 and "God only wise," Romans 16:27a. The hymn appears in neither Singing the Living Tradition nor The New Century Hymnal.

VATER UNSER (8.8.8.8.8.8.)

1. God of all maj~es-ty and might,
Whose pres-ence fills th'un-fathom-ed deep,
Where-in un-count-ed worlds of light
through count-less a-ges vi-gil keep;
E-ter-nal One, can such as we,
Frail mor-tal souls, know aught of thee?

2. Be-yond all know~ledge thou art wise,
With wis-dom that trans-cends all thought;
Yet still we seek with strain-ing eyes,
Yea, seek as our an-ces-tors sought;
Nor will we from the quest de-part,
Til we shall know thee as thou art.

3. Frail though our form,~and brief our day,
Our mind has bridged the gulf of years,
Our pu-ny ba-lan-ces can weigh,
The mag-ni-tude of star-ry spheres:
With-in us is e-ter-ni-ty;
Whence come this, O God, but from thee?

4. For when thy wond~rous works we scan,
And mind gives ans-wer back to mind,
Thine im-age shines in the hu-man;
And seek-ing we shall sure-ly find.
Mor-tals, our her-i-tage we claim;
Shall not thy child-ren know thy name?

5. We know in part;~e-nough we know
to walk with thee, and walk a-right;
And thou shalt guide us as we go,
And lead us in-to full-er light,
Til when we stand be-fore thy throne,
We know at last as we are known. A-men.

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April 27, 2005

47R Come Thou Almighty Will!

Original Title: "Come Thou Almighty Will," Hymns of the Spirit One (1864), ITALIAN HYMN, 6.6.4.6.6.4., adapted from Felice Giardini (1769); New Title: Same hymn title, alt. REH (2005), same hymn tune. Hymns of the Spirit One (1864) was edited by Samuel Longfellow. The hymn recites numerous names and titles for the spirit of God; "Almighty Will," echoing the spirit that blowest "where it listeth," John 3:8 (KJV); "Calm of faith's confidence," recalling the title "Comforter" from John 4:16 and John 15:26; "most Tender Love," suggesting the "Love of God" in 1 John 4:9 and the equivalence of "God is Love" from 1 John 14:16; see also Romans 5:5, "Light serene," remembering too that "God is light," 1 John 1:5; Psalm 27:1. "Quickener," as quicken is now in most translations "revive," suggests the "giver of life" from the historic creeds, or the "spirit of life," Romans 8:2 (NRSV); Revelations 11:11 (KJV) and the "breath of the almighty," Job 33:4. The hymn appears in neither Singing the Living Tradition nor The New Century Hymnal.

ITALIAN HYMN (6.6.4.6.6.6.4.)

1. Come, thou Al-might-y Will!
Our faint-ing bos-soms fill
with thy great power:
Strength of our good in-tents,
our tempt-ed hour's de-fense,
calm of faith's con-fi-dence,
come, in this hour!

2. Come, thou most ten-der Love!
With-in our spir-its move,
their sweet-est guest:
Ex-alt each low de-sire,
trans-form-ing pas-sion's fire,
to deeds of love in-spire,
Quicken-er and Rest!

3. Come, Light ser-ene and still!
Our gloom-y spir-its fill
with thy clear day:
Guide of the fee-ble sight,
Star of grief's low-est night,
re-veal the path of right,
show us thy way! A-men.

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April 28, 2005

48R Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart

Original Title: "Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart," George Croly (1854), first tune, SONG 12, 10.10.10.10., rhythmed altered from Orlando Gibbons, second tune, MORECAMBE, 10.10.10.10., ascribed to Federick Cook Atkinson (1870); New Title: Same hymn title, no changes to lyrics, SONG 12, 10.10.10.10. Croly was a graduate of Dublin University; he later took holy orders. He left Ireland in 1810 for London. His works include Scenes from Scripture and Other Poems (1851) and Psalms and Hymns for Public Worship (1854). The original version consisted of five verses; the fourth verse was not included in Hymns of the Spirit Two. "Live by the spirit, I say ... If you are led by the spirit, you are not subject to the law," Galatians 5:16; see also 18-25. "Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes, your defenses are defenses of clay," Job 13:12. Matthew 3:16, "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him," see also John 1:32; Matthew 22:37, Acts 8:17. Proverbs 1:28, "Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me." The hymn does not appear in Singing the Living Tradition, but does appear, in revised form in five stanzas, to the tune MORECAMBE, as no. 290, in The New Century Hymnal.

SONG 22 (10.10.10.10.)

1. Spir-it of God, de-scend up-on my heart;
Wean it from earth; through all its puls-es move;
Stoop to my weak-ness, might-y as thou art;
And make me love thee as I ought to love.

2. I ask no dream, no pro-phet ec-sta-sies,
no sud-den rend-ing of the veil of clay,
no an-gel vi-si-tant, no open-ing skies;
But take the dim-ness of my soul a-way.

3. Teach me to feel that thou art al-ways nigh;
Teach me the strug-gles of the soul to bear.
To check the ris-ing doubt, the re-bel sigh,
teach me the pa-tience of un-an-swered prayer.

4. Teach me to love thee as thine an-gels love,
one ho-ly pas-sion fill-ing all my frame;
The kind-ling of the heaven-de-scend-ed dove,
My heart an al-tar, and thy love the flame. A-men.

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April 30, 2005

49R Come, Mighty Spirit, Penetrate

Original Title: "Come, Mighty Spirit, Penetrate," Horatius Bonar (1861), TALLIS' ORDINAL, C.M., Thomas Tallis (1567); New Title: Same hymn title, no changes to lyrics, same hymn tune. Bonar (1808-1889) was a Presbyterian, who eventually joined the Free Church of Scotland. He wrote of 600 hymns, and thus is aptly called "the prince of Scottish hymnwriters." At his memorial service, it was said "His hymns were writ­ten in very var­ied cir­cum­stances, some­times timed by the tink­ling brook that bab­bled near him; some­times at­tuned to the or­dered tramp of the ocean, whose crest­ed waves broke on the beach by which he wan­dered; some­times set to the rude mu­sic of the rail­way train that hurried him to the scene of du­ty; some­times mea­sured by the si­lent rhy­thm of the mid­night stars that shone above him." 2 Timothy 1:7 (NRSV), "God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline." "Uphold me with thy free spirit," Psalm 51:12 (KJV). "Spirit of might," Isaiah 11:2. Psalm 68:9, "Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary," see also Psalm 72:6, Hebrews 6:7, Psalms 104:8. Psalms 4:6, "Lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us," see also Isaiah 2:5. Matthew 5:8, "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." Psalm 51:10, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." The hymn is not included in Singing the Living Tradition nor in The New Century Hymnal.

TALLIS' ORDINAL (C.M.)

1. Come, Migh-ty Spir-it, pe-ne-trate
this heart and soul of mine,
and my whole be-ing with thy grace
per-vade, O Life Di-vine!

2. As this clear air sur-rounds the earth
thy grace a-round me roll
as the fresh light per-vades the air,
so pierce and fill my soul.

3. As from these clouds drops down in love
the pre-cious sum-mer rain,
so from thy-self pour down the flood
that fresh-ens all a-gain.

4. Thus life with-in our life-less hearts
shall make its glad a-bode,
and we shall shine in beau-teous light,
filled with the light of God. A-men.

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May 01, 2005

50R Love Divine, All Loves Excelling

Original Title: "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling," Charles Wesley (1747), first tune, HYFRYDOL, 8.7.8.7.8.7.8.7., Rowland Hugh Pritchard (1855), second tune, BEECHER, 8.7.8.7.8.7.8.7., John Zundel (1870); New Title: Same hymn title, rev. REH (2006), HYFRYDOL, 8.7.8.7.8.7.8.7. The hymn first appeared in Hymns For Those That Seek, and Those That Have Redemption (1747). Charles Wesley, father of the Methodist movement, who wrote over 6,500 hymns, is said to have been inspired by the song "The Song of Venus" from John Dryden's play King Arthur. The hymn originally had four verses, and suggested that one could be completely cleansed of sin in this life. This prompted Charles' brother John Wesley to change the lyrics. It appeared with two verses only in Hymns of the Spirit Two (1937). In that version, "Jesus, thou art all compassion," became "Father, thou art all compassion." Here "Wisdom" has been substituted; see 50S for a version in which "Jesus" has been restored. Below, as in 50S, lines from the original third and fourth verses have been combined to create a third verse. Charles Wesley himself might rank "Wisdom" at least over "Father" as here, explaining in his Notes on Proverbs that "Christ, under the name of Wisdom, invites us to his entertainment;" i.e., "Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn her seven pillars . . . 'Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine I have mixed,'" Proverbs 9:1, 5. The hymn does not appear in Singing the Living Tradition (that said, the tune HYFRYDOL should be well known in most Unitarian Universalist congregations all the same, as it is used for no. 140, "Hail the Glorious Golden City," and no. 166, "Years Are Coming," and no. 207, "Earth Was Given As a Garden"). The hymn does appear in The New Century Hymnal to the tune BEECHER (though HYFRYDOL is suggested as an alternative) as no. 43, with four stanzas. 1 John 4:16, "God is Love," Malachi 3:1, "The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts." "And all of us ... seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another," 2 Corinthians 3:18. 2 Corinthians 5:17, "So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation." "All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always be there to help you come through it," 1 Corinthians 10:13b (The Message). "[N]ew creation," 2 Corinthians 5:17.

HYFRYDOL (8.7.8.7.8.7.8.7.)

1. Love di-vine, all loves ex-cell-ing,
Joy of heaven to earth come down;
Fix in us a hum-ble dwell-ing;
All your faith-ful mer-cies crown!
Wis-dom, you are all com-pas-sion;
Pure, un-bound-ed love im-part;
Vis-it us with your sal-va-tion;
En-ter eve-ry trem-bling heart.

2. Breathe, O breathe your lov-ing spir-it,
In-to eve-ry trou-bled breast!
Let us all in you in-her-it;
Let us find your prom-ised rest.
We would you be al-ways bless-ing,
Al-pha and O-me-ga be;
We would praise you with-out ceas-ing;
Set our hearts at li-ber-ty.

3. Come, E-ter-nal, to de-liv-er,
Let us all your life re-ceive;
Gra-cious-ly re-turn and ne-ver,
Ne-ver more your tem-ples leave.
Her-ald-ing a new cre-a-tion;
Heaven and earth take now their place;
Let us see your great sal-va-tion;
Lost in won-der, love, and praise.

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May 02, 2005

50S Love Divine, All Loves Excelling

Original Title: "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling," Charles Wesley (1747), first tune, HYFRYDOL, 8.7.8.7.8.7.8.7., Rowland Hugh Pritchard (1855), second tune, BEECHER, 8.7.8.7.8.7.8.7., John Zundel (1870); New Title: Same hymn title, rev. REH (2006), BEECHER, 8.7.8.7.8.7.8.7. The hymn first appeared in Hymns For Those That Seek, and Those That Have Redemption (1747). Charles Wesley, father of the Methodist movement, who wrote over 6,500 hymns, is said to have been inspired by the song "The Song of Venus" from John Dryden's play King Arthur. The hymn originally had four verses, and suggested that one could be completely cleansed of sin in this life. This prompted Charles' brother John Wesley to change the lyrics. It appeared with two verses only in Hymns of the Spirit Two (1937). In that version, "Jesus, thou art all compassion," became "Father, thou art all compassion." Here, "Jesus" has been restored, and lines from the original third and fourth verses have been combined to create a third verse. The hymn does not appear in Singing the Living Tradition (that said, the tune HYFRYDOL should be well known in most Unitarian Universalist congregations all the same, as it is used for no. 140, "Hail the Glorious Golden City," and no. 166, "Years Are Coming," and no. 207, "Earth Was Given As a Garden"). The hymn does appear in The New Century Hymnal to the tune BEECHER (though HYFRYDOL is suggested as an alternative) as no. 43, with four stanzas. 1 John 4:16, "God is Love," Malachi 3:1, "The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts." "And all of us ... seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another," 2 Corinthians 3:18. 2 Corinthians 5:17, "So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation." Luke 7:13, "Jesus had compassion on her;" see also Matthew 14:14; Matthew 20:29-34. "All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always be there to help you come through it," 1 Corinthians 10:13b (The Message). "[N]ew creation," 2 Corinthians 5:17.

BEECHER (8.7.8.7.8.7.8.7.)

1. Love Di-vine, all loves ex-cell-ing,
Joy of heaven to earth come down;
Fix in us a hum-ble dwell-ing;
All your faith-ful mer-cies crown!
Jes-us, life of all com-pas-sion,
Pure un-bound-ed love all taught;
Let that love be our sal-va-tion,
En-ter-ing each trem-bling heart.

2. Breathe, O breathe a lov-ing spir-it,
In-to eve-ry trou-bled breast!
Let us all in you in-her-it;
Let us find a prom-ised rest.
Give to us your love of lov-ing,
Al-pha and O-me-ga be;
End of faith, as its be-gin-ing;
Set our hearts at li-ber-ty.

3. Come, al-migh-ty to de-liv-er,
Let us all your life re-ceive;
Gra-cious-ly re-turn and ne-ver,
Ne-ver more your tem-ples leave.
Her-ald-ing a new cre-a-tion;
Heaven and earth take now their place;
Let us see that great sal-va-tion;
Lost in won-der, love, and praise.

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50T Sólo excelsa, verdad divina

Título original: "Sólo excelso, amor divino," traducción de "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling," Charles Wesley (1747), traductores, Elida G. Falcón, Juanita R. Ballock, Luis Olivieri, BEECHER, 8.7.8.7.8.7.8.7., John Zundel; Título nuevo: "Sólo excelsa, verdad divina," alterado REH (2006), HYFRYDOL, 8.7.8.7.8.7.8.7., Rowland Hugh Pritchard (1855). El original aparece con cuatro estribillos en El Himnario (1998) de la Iglesia Episcopal de los Estados Unidos como no. 212, con la tonada BEECHER. Proverbios 8:12, 14-15 (LBLA), "Yo, la Sabiduría, habito con la prudencia, y he hallado conocimiento y discreción . . . Mío es el consejo y la prudencia, yo soy la inteligencia, el poder es mío. Por mí reinan los reyes, y los gobernantes decretan justicia."

HYFRYDOL (8.7.8.7.8.7.8.7.)

1. Só-lo ex-cel-sa, ver-dad di-vi-na,
don ce-les-te ven a nos;
fi-ja en-tre los hu-mil-des
co-ro-nan-do~a-sí tu don.
E-res tú, Sa-bí-du-ri-a,
to-do~a-mor y com-pa-sión;
ven a to-dos co-ra-zon-es.
trá-e-nos tu ben-di-ción.

2. Con tu~es-pí-ri-tu a-lien-ta
a quien su-fre~en su pe-nar;
que la~he-ren-cia~en ti ten-ga-mos
y po-da-mos des-can-sar.
Tú el Al-fa y O-me-ga
sé de to-do nues-tro ser;
que tu gra-cia nos pro-te-ja
y sos-ten-ga nues-tra fe.

3. Oh, a-mor, no te se-par-es
de tu~i-gle-sia te-rre-nal;
ú-ne-la es-tre-cha-men-te
con el la-zo ma-ter-nal.
Ven, Al-tí-si-ma, a li-brar-nos
dó-ta-nos de tu fa-vor;
nues-tro a-fán tan só-lo se-a
siem-pre pro-cla-mar tu~a-mor. A-mén.

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May 04, 2005

51R O Love Divine, of All That Is

Original Title: "O Love Divine, of All That Is," arranged from John White Chadwick (1865), BANGOR, C.M., William Tans'ur's Compleat Melody (1734); New Title: Same hymn title, no change in lyrics here, same hymn tune. Chadwick was a 19th Century American Unitarian minister, who was graduated from Harvard Divinity in 1864, and ordained at Second Unitarian in Brooklyn; he wrote for both the AUA publication The Christian Register and Harper's. Psalm 139:2, 4, 23, "Thou . . . understandest my thought afar off . . .For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo . . . thou knowest it altogether . . . Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts." Romans 5:8, "But God commendeth [God's] love toward us." "Keep on asking . . . Keep on looking . . . Keep on knocking," Matthew 7:7-8; see also Mark 11:24. The hymn is not included in Singing the Living Tradition, and is not included in The New Century Hymnal.

BANGOR (C.M.)

1. O Love Di-vine, of all that is,
the sweet-ness still and best,
ea-ger I come and rest my heart
up-on thy faith-ful breast.

2. I pray thee turn me not a-way,
for sin-ful though I be,
thou know-est eve-ry-thing I need,
and all my need of thee.

3. I do not pray be-cause I would,
I pray be-cause I must:
There is no mean-ing in my prayer
but thank-ful-ness and trust.

4. And thou wilt hear the thought I mean
and not the words I say;
Wilt hear the thanks a-mong the words
that on-ly seem to pray.

5. Thou dost not wait un-til I urge
my way-ward steps to thee;
But in the dark-ness of my life
art com-ing still to me.

6. And while it hea-vy sighed, my heart
has sung it-self to rest,
O Love Di-vine, for-ev-er near,
up-on thy faith-ful breast. A-men.

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May 05, 2005

51S O Love Divine, of All That Is

Original Title: "O Love Divine, of All That Is," arranged from John White Chadwick (1865), BANGOR, C.M., William Tans'ur's Compleat Melody (1734); New Title: "O Love Divine, of All That Is," rev. REH (2005), ELLACOMBE, C.M.D., Gesangbuch der Herzogl, Wirtermbergischen Katholischen Hofkapelle (1784). Chadwick was a 19th Century American Unitarian minister, who was graduated from Harvard Divinity in 1864, and ordained at Second Unitarian in Brooklyn; he wrote for both the AUA publication The Christian Register and Harper's. Psalm 139:2, 4 (The Message), "God, . . . I'm an open book to you; even from a distance, you know what I'm thinking . . . You know everything I'm going to say before I start the first sentence." Romans 5:8, "God put [God's own] love on the line for us." "Don't bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need," Matthew 7:7; see also Mark 11:24. The hymn is not included in Singing the Living Tradition, and is not included in The New Century Hymnal.

ELLACOMBE (C.M.D.)

1. O Love Di-vine, of all that is,
the sweet-ness still and best,
ea-ger I come and rest my heart
up-on your faith-ful breast.
I pray you turn me not a-way,
what-e'er my va-ni-ty,
you know well eve-ry-thing I need;
My needs to you I plea.

2. I do not pray be-cause I wish,
I pray be-cause I must:
There is no mean-ing in my prayer
but thank-ful-ness and trust.
And you will hear the thought I mean
and not the words I say;
You hear the thanks a-mong the words
that on-ly seem to pray.

3. You do not wait un-til I move
my way-ward steps toward you;
And through the sor-rows of my life
you still my soul pur-sue.
And while it hea-vy sighed, my heart
has sung it-self to rest,
O Love Di-vine, for-ev-er near,
up-on your faith-ful breast.

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May 06, 2005

52R O Thou Whose Spirit Witness Bears

Original Title: "O Thou Whose Spirit Witness Bears," Frederick Lucian Hosmer (1891), STRACATHRO, C.M., alterantive tune, ST. AGNES (not shown), CHARLES HUTCHESON (1832); New Title: Same hymn title, alt. REH (2005), STRACATHRO, C.M. Frederick Lucian Hosmer was a Unitarian minister in the United States and a graduate of Harvard Divinity School. Romans 8:2 (NIV), "the Spirit of life set me free." "The Spirit Itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God," Romans 8:16 (KJV). "The written code killeth, but the Spirit giveth life," 2 Corinthians 3:6 (RSV) "We have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe," 1 Timothy 4:10. 1 Corinthians 13:13, "And now there doth remain faith, hope, love -- these three; and the greatest of these is love." Galatians 5:1, 5-6, "For freedom Christ has set us free . . . For through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness . . . the only thing that counts is faith working through love." Ephesians 4:25, 5:2, "Let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors . . . and live in love." The hymn does not appear in Singing the Living Tradition nor in The New Century Hymnal (though it should, on both counts).

STRACATHRO (C.M.)

1. O Thou whose Spir-it wit-ness bears
with-in our spir-its free,
that we thy chil-dren are and heirs
of thine e-ter-ni-ty.

2. Here may this sim-ple faith sub-lime,
o’er-arch us like the sky;
Se-cure be-low the drift of time
its firm foun-da-tions lie.

3. Our thought o’er-flows each writ-ten scroll,
our creeds a-rise and fall;
The life of God with-in the soul
lives and out-lasts them all.

4. Here may that wit-ness clear-er grow,
each wait-ing heart with-in
the way of fil-ial du-ty show
and glad o-be-dience win.

5. Here be life’s sor-row sanc-ti-fied,
here truth its ra-diance pour;
While hope and faith and love a-bide
for-ev-er more and more! A-men.

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May 07, 2005

52S O You Whose Spirit Witness Bears

Original Title: "O Thou Whose Spirit Witness Bears," Frederick Lucian Hosmer (1891), STRACATHRO, C.M., alterantive tune, ST. AGNES (not shown), CHARLES HUTCHESON (1832); New Title: "O You Whose Spirit Witness Bears," rev. REH (2005), NORWICH (OLD 137TH), C.M.D., Daye's Psalter (1563). Frederick Lucian Hosmer was a Unitarian minister in the United States and a graduate of Harvard Divinity School. Romans 8:2 (The Message), "The Spirit of life . . . like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from . . . brutal tyranny." "God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are," Romans 8:16. "The plan wasn't written out with ink on paper, with pages and pages of legal footnotes, killing your spirit," 2 Corinthians 3:6. "We're banking on the living God, Savior of all men and women, especially believers," 1 Timothy 4:10. 1 Corinthians 13:13, "Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love." Galatians 5:1, 5-6, "Christ has set us free to live a free life . . . We expectantly wait for a satisfying relationship with the Spirit . . . neither our most conscientious religion nor disregard of religion amounts to anything. What matters is something far more interior: faith expressed in love." Ephesians 4:25, 5:2 (NRSV) "Let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors . . . and live in love." The hymn does not appear in Singing the Living Tradition nor in The New Century Hymnal (though it should, on both counts).

NORWICH (OLD 137TH)(C.M.D.)

1. O You whose Spir-it wit-ness bears
with-in our spir-its free,
that we your chil-dren are and heirs
of your e-ter-ni-ty.
Here may this sim-ple faith sub-lime,
shel-ter us like the sky;
Se-cure be-low the drift of time
its firm foun-da-tions lie.

2. Our thoughts flood out each writ-ten scroll,
our creeds a-rise and fall;
The life of God with-in the soul
lives and out-lasts them all.
Here may that wit-ness clear-er grow
each wait-ing heart with-in,
the way of ci-vic du-ty show
and faith-ful liv-ing win.

3. May life’s sor-rows be sanc-ti-fied,
may truth its ra-diance pour,
while hope and faith and love a-bide
for-ev-er more and more.
O You whose Spir-it wit-ness bears
with-in our spir-its free,
that we your chil-dren are and heirs
of your e-ter-ni-ty!

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May 08, 2005

53R Life of All That Lives Below!

Title: "Life of All That Lives Below!," Charles Wesley, Samuel Longfellow, alt. REH (2005); PLEYEL (7.7.7.7.), Ignaz Joseph Pleyel (1791). "For while we life, we are always being given up ... so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you," 2 Corinthians 4:11-12. "Be filled with the Spirit," Ephesians 5:18. See also Song of Songs 2:8-13, where the divine is reckoned as "all that lives below," such that the holy is seen as "leaping over mountains, bounding over the hills." Neither Singing the Living Tradition nor The New Century Hymnal includes the hymn.

PLEYEL (7.7.7.7.)

1. Life of all that lives be-low! Let thy spi-rit in us flow;
Let thy life on us out-pour; from thee, in thee, ev-er-more.

2. O for full-er life we pine! Let us more re-ceive of thine;
Still for more on thee we call, thou who fill-est all in all!

3. Live we now in thee; be fed, dai-ly with the liv-ing bread;
in-to thee our spir-its grow, in-to us thy spir-it flow.

4. While we feel the vi-tal blood, while thy full and quicken-ing flood,
through life's eve-ry chan-nel rolls, Soul of all be-liev-ing souls!

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May 09, 2005

54R From Heart to Heart

Original Title: "From Heart to Heart, Creed to Creed," William Channing Gannett (1875), ST. FLAVIAN, C.M., John Day's Psalter (1562), alternative tune, ARLINGTON, C.M., Thomas Augustine Arne (1762); New Title: "From Heart to Heart," rev. REH (2005), ST. FLAVIAN, C.M. Neither Singing the Living Tradition nor The New Century Hymnal includes the hymn. Isaiah 43:19, "A way will I make in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert!" Jeremiah 31:32-33, "But this shall be the covenant . . . I will put my law within them and write it in their hearts." "I will give them a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within them," Ezekiel 11:19. Psalm 1:3, "And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water;" see also Jeremiah 17:8, Psalm 46:4. Pray for one another, so that you may be healed," James 5:16. The hymn does not appear either in Singing the Living Tradition, nor in The New Century Hymnal.

ST. FLAVIAN (C.M.)

1. From heart to heart, from faith to faith,
the hid-den riv-ers run,
and quick-en all the a-ges down,
which binds us, eve-ry-one.

2. The streams of faith, whose source is God,
whose source, the sound of prayer,
whose mead-ows are the ho-ly lives
up-spring-ing eve-ry-where.

3. And still they move, a broad-ening flood,
and fresh-er, full-er grow.
A sense as if the sea were near,
towards which the ri-vers flow.

4. O you who are the se-cret Source
that ris-es in each soul,
who are the O-cean, too, and yours,
that ev-er deep-ening roll! A-men.

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May 10, 2005

55R Spirit of Life, Attend Our Prayer

Original Title: "Spirit Divine, Attend Our Prayer," Andrew Reed (1829), adapted by Samuel Longfellow, first tune, PRESERVATION, C.M., Johann Georg Christian Stoerl, second tune, ARLINGTON, C.M., Thomas Augustine Arne (1762); New Title: "Spirit of Life, Attend Our Prayer," rev. REH (2006), WINDSOR, C.M., Damon's Psalmes (1591). "Prophesy unto the Spirit, prophesy, son of man, and thou hast said unto the Spirit: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: From the four winds come in, O Spirit, and breathe on these slain, and they do live," Ezekiel 37:9 (YLT); see also Isaiah 34:16. Psalm 143:10, "Thy Spirit [is] good, Lead me into a land of uprightness," see also Psalm 51:11, Psalm 139:7, John 16:13. Acts 2:3 (KJV), "And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them," see also Isaiah 6:6-7, Hebrews 1:7, I Chronicles 21:26, Psalm 39:3. Romans 8:2 (KJV), "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." Proverbs 1:20-23 (NRSV), "Wisdom cries out in the street; in the squares she raises her voice . . .'I will pour out my thoughts to you,'" see also Proverbs 8:1, Proverbs 9:1,6, Proverbs 22:11-12. Ephesians 6:18 (KJV), "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit." Neither Singing the Living Tradition nor The New Century Hymnal includes the hymn.

WINDSOR (C.M.)

1. Spir-it of Life, at-tend our prayer,
and make our hearts your home;
de-scend with all your gra-cious power;
O come, great Spir-it, come!

2. Come as the light! to us re-veal
The truth we long to know;
And lead us in the path of life
Where all the vir-tuous go.

3. Come as the fire! and cleanse our hearts,
with sanc-ti-fy-ing flame,
till our whole souls de-vo-tion make
in love's re-deem-ing name.

4. Come as the dew, and sweet-ly bless
this con-sec-rat-ed hour;
till eve-ry bar-ren place shall own
with joy your quicken-ing power.

5. Come as the wind, O breath of God!
O Wis-dom-bear-ing grace!
Come, make your great sal-va-tion known,
wide as the hu-man race.

6. Spir-it Di-vine, at-tend our prayer;
Make a lost world thy home;
Des-cend with all thy gra-cious powers,
O come, great Spir-it, come.

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May 12, 2005

56R O Love Divine

Original Title: "O Love Divine, Whose Constant Beam," adapted from John Greenleaf Whittier, first tune, PUER NOBIS NASCITUR, L.M., Michael Praetorius (1609), alternative tune, ROCKINGHAM, L.M., second tune, RIVAULX, John Bacchus Dykes (1866); New Title: "O Love Divine," rev. REH (2006), MONTE CASSINO, L.M., Italian Hymn Melody. " I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream," Numbers 12:6, see also Job 33:15, Genesis 20:3-7. Genesis 28:12, "And [Jacob] dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it." Jeremiah 23:25, "I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed." "And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them," Acts 2:3, see also Acts 2:7-11, Acts 10:44-46, 1 Corinthians 12:10, Mark 16:17. John 1:32, " I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove," see also Matthew 3:16, Song of Solomon 2:14, 5:2, 12. "God planted a garden eastward in Eden," Genesis 2:8 see also Genesis 2:15. Psalm 46:10, "Be still, and know that I am God." "Do good to them that hate you . . . for [God] maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust," Matthew 5:44-45. Neither Singing the Living Tradition nor The New Century Hymnal includes the hymn.

MONTE CASSINO (L.M.)

1. O Love Di-vine, whose con-stant stream
yet flows when we can-not per-ceive,
and waits to bless all, while we dream;
O stay though we may turn from thee!

2. All souls oft strug-gle and as-pire,
all hearts through thee rest still and deep;
And, dim or clear, thy tongues of fire,
on dusty lands and cen-tu-ries sleep.

3. And eve-ry-where the Spir-it moves
with all, as un-der Ed-en's trees,
in gard-ens of the heart, faith proves,
speak-ing in ma-ny, var-ied tongues.

4. Nor bounds, nor clime, nor creed thou know'st,
wide as our need thy fa-vors fall;
The white wings of the Ho-ly One
stoop, un-seen, o'er the heads of all.

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May 14, 2005

57R Spirit of Truth, You Who Make Bright

Original Title: "Spirit of Truth, Who Makest Bright," Thomas Hornblower Gil (1819-1906), WARRINGTON, L.M., Ralph Harrison (1784); New Title: "Spirit of Truth, You Who Make Bright," Thomas Hornblower Gill, rev. REH (2005), VON HIMMEL HOCH, L.M., Geistliche Lieder, Leipzig (1539). For biographical information about Gil, see no. 9R. "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth," John 16:13 (New Living Translation), see also John 15:26, 1 John 4:6. " For the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you," Romans 8:2, see also Romans 8:13, 15:13, 15:19, 1 Samuel 10:16, 1 Corinthians 14:2, 2 Corinthians 6:6, Ephesians 6:18; 1 Peter 1:12. "The spirit of life from God entered them, and they stood up," Revelation 11:11, see also Revelation 22:17. "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth," John 4:24. The hymn does not appear in Singing the Living Tradition nor in The New Century Hymnal.

VON HIMMEL HOCH (L.M.)

1. Spir-it of Truth, you who make bright
all souls that long for heaven-ly light,
ap-pear, and on our sad days shine;
Des-cend, and be our Guide Di-vine.

2. Spir-it of Power, whose strength does dwell
full in the souls that love you well,
un-to these beat-ing hearts draw near,
and be our dai-ly Quick-en-er

3. Spir-it of Life, who makes all glad
each brok-en heart by sin made sad,
pour on these mourn-ing souls your cheer;
Grant your bless-ings, O Com-for-ter!

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May 15, 2005

58R O Not In Far-Off Realms of Space

Original Title: "Go Not, My Soul, In Search of Him," Frederick Lucian Hosmer (1879), first tune, OLD 137TH, C.M.D., One and fiftie Psalms of David (1556), second tune, STRACATHRO, C.M, Charles Hutcheson (1832); New Title: "O Not In Far-Off Realms of Space," Frederick Lucian Hosmer (1879), alt. REH (2006), OLD 137TH, C.M.D. Hosmer, born 1840, was an American Unitarian minister, and graduate of Harvard Divinity School. Hosmer's "Go Not My Soul in Search of Him," as it is called in Hymns of the Spirit Two, does not seem to be casually matched with OLD 137TH, but instead seems to take Psalm 137 as a point of radical departure. While the psalm asks how the songs of Zion might be sung in the land of Babylon, in the land of the tormentors, Hosmer to the contrary responds "Soul with soul hath kin." While the original psalm speaks of the throne of Jerusalem as the only throne, Hosmer in dialogue seems again to suggest the contrary, instructing us that the throne of God is not anywhere else but in each soul. When the psalmist tell us that if Zion fades, the psalmist's own strength will fade, Hosmer teaches that the "inward sign" will herald the entire earth shining with "Deity." Rather than looking to Jerusalem, he would have us "repair" to the Jerusalem of the soul. See also Psalm 42:2 (NRSV) "My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?" and ""Be still, and know that I am God!," Psalm 46:10. 'Thou hast visited the earth, thou hast watered it; thou greatly enrichest it," Psalm 65:9 (Darby). "All the earth is full of his glory," Isaiah 6:3 (KJV). "But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret," Matthew 6:6 (NRSV). Isaiah 40:22 (KJV), "It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in." Isaiah 54:2, "Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes." The hymn does not appear in Singing the Living Tradition or in The New Century Hymnal.

OLD 137TH (C.M.D.)

1. O not in far-off realms of space
the Spir-it has a throne;
But in each heart finds a true place,
yet wait-ing to be known.
Search not, my soul, a-far in vain:
you will not find God there;
Nor in the depths of sha-dows wane,
nor in the heights of air.

2. Thought ans-wer-ing a-lone to thought,
as Soul with soul has kin;
The out-ward God one rec-kons not
who finds not God with-in.
And if the vi-sion comes rich-ly
re-vealed by in-ward sign,
Earth will be full of De-i-ty
and with full glo-ry shine!

3. You shall not want for com-pa-ny,
nor pitch a tent a-lone;
Th'in-dwell-ing God will go free-ly,
and show you of Life's own.
Search not for God a-far in space,
but to your-self re-pair;
Wait then with-in that si-lent grace,
and you shall find Love there!

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May 18, 2005

59R Breathe on Me, Breath of God

Original Title: "Breathe on Me, Breath of God," Edwin Hatch (1886), ST. BRIDE (S.M.), Samuel Howard (1762); New Title: Same hymn title, rev. REH (2005), WIRKSWORTH (S.M.), John Chetham (1718). Hatch (1853-1899) was English and an Anglican, who taught in British North America. "He breathed on them, and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit." John 20:22 (NKJV); Psalm 150:6 (NRSV), "Let everything that breathes praise the Lord." "Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live," Ezekiel 37:5 (NRSV). The hymn does not appear in Singing the Living Tradition. It does, however, appear in modified form as no. 292 to TRENTHAM (S.M.) in The New Century Hymnal.

WIRKSWORTH (S.M.)

1. Breathe on me, breath of God,
fill me with life a-new,
that I may e'er love what thou dost love,
do what thou wouldst do.

2. Breathe on me, breath of God,
un-til my heart is pure,
un-til with thee I will but one will,
and in faith se-cure.

3. Breathe on me, breath of God,
blend all my soul with thine,
un-til this pass-ing por-tion of me
glows with fire di-vine.

4. Breathe on me, breath of God,
so when I am with thee,
I shall live in thine arms the life
of thine e-ter-ni-ty.

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May 19, 2005

60R O You Whose Presence Glows In All

Original Title: "O God, Whose Presence Glows in All," Nathaniel Langdon Frothingham (1828), O SALUTARIS HOSTIA, L.M., Abbè Duguet (1767), alternative tune, WAREHAM, L.M., William Knapp (1738); New Title: "O You Whose Presence Glows in All," rev. REH (2005), O SALUTARIS HOSTIA, L.M. Forthingham (1793-1870), was an American Unitarian and minister at First Church in Boston. The hymn appears in neither The New Century Hymnal nor in Singing the Living Tradition. "May your love and your truth always protect me," Psalm 40:10-11 (NIV), see also Psalm 26:3, 52:3. "Speaking the truth in love," Ephesians 4:15 (Webster's Bible), see also Colossians 1:5. 1 Corinthians 13:6 (NRSV), "[Love] does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth," see also 1 Peter 1:22, 1 John 3:18, 2 John 1:3. "In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them," Isaiah 63:9.

O SALUTARIS HOSTIA (L.M.)

1. O You whose pre-sence glows in all,
with-in, a-round us, and a-bove,
your words we bless; your names we call,
your words are Truth; your names spell Love.

2. The truth be with the heart be-lieved,
of all who seek this sa-cred place,
with power pro-claimed, in peace re-ceived,
our spir-its light, your spir-it's grace.

3. May Love its ho-ly in-fluence pour
to keep us hum-ble; make us true;
and free us with its bless-ings more
round each with all, and all with You.

4. Send down Love's an-gel to our side,
send in Love's calm up-on the breast;
For we would know no oth-er guide;
We have no need of oth-er rest.

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May 20, 2005

61R Creator Spirit, By Whose Aid

Original Title: "Creator Spirit, By Whose Aid," attributed to Rabanus Maurus (776-856), translated by John Dryden (1693), LUCIS CREATOR, L.M., Angers Church Melody (circa 16th Century); New Title: Same hymn title, rev. REH (2005), same hymn tune. Original Latin lyrics have been added. "If anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him," Mark 11:23. Job 42:1-2, 8 (NRSV), "Then Job answered the Lord: 'I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted' . . . now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams . . . and my servant Job shall pray for you." The hymn does not appear in Singing the Living Tradition, but it does appear in a new translated version entitled "Creator Spirit, Come, We Pray," as no. 268 in The New Century Hymnal.

LUCIS CREATOR (L.M.)

1. Cre-a-tor Spir-it, by whose aid
the world's foun-da-tions first were laid,
come vi-sit eve-ry prayer-ful mind;
come, pour your joys on hu-man-kind.

2. O Source of un-cre-a-ted light,
the hea-ven's high-est help-er bright,
your ho-ly fount, your ho-ly fire,
our hearts with heaven-ly love in-spire.

3. Come, and your sa-cred unc-tion bring,
to sanc-ti-fy us while we sing;
from sin and sor-row set us free,
and may we tem-ples wor-thy be.

4. Plen-teous of grace, come from on high,
rich in your seven-fold en-er-gy;
may we e-ter-nal truths re-ceive,
and prac-tice all that we be-lieve.

a. Ve-ni, Cre-a-tor Spi-ri-tus,
men-tes tu-o-rum vi-si-ta,
im-ple su-per-na gra-ti-a,
quae tu cre-as-ti pec-to-ra.

b. Qui di-ce-ris pa-ra-cli-tus,
al-tis-si-mi do-num De-i,
fons vi-vus, i-gnis, ca-ri-tas,
et spi-ri-ta-lis unc-ti-o.

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May 21, 2005

62R Rise, My Soul, and Stretch Your Wings

Words: Robert Seagrave (1742), alt. REH (2005); Music: AMSTERDAM, 7.6.7.6.7.7.7.6., James Nares, Foundery Collection (1742). Seagrave was English and Anglican. "In My Father’s house there are many rooms . . . I am going there to prepare a place for you," John 14:2. This 18th century hymn is by no means the oldest in Hymns of the Spirit Two, but its lyrics do seem decidedly "unmodern" for the collection. Despite their relatively late composition, they might best be viewed through both pre- and post-modern sensibilities. We are counseled to rise above "transitory things" toward a life of our final destination, toward a life of our ultimate meaning-- toward "heaven." Rather than speaking of "the eternal life," which conjures up images of eternal activity, Seagrave speaks instead of "rest," what the heart and mind and soul seek from time to time in this life too. The sun's daily return does indeed promise the possibility of that elusive paradise, particularly in these days when our "modern," overscheduled lives would seem to leave so little room for rest, or play, or relaxation of any unscripted sort. Rise, and stretch! The hymn does not appear in either Singing the Living Tradition or The New Century Hymnal.

AMSTERDAM (7.6.7.6.7.7.7.6.)

1. Rise, my soul, and stretch your wings, your bet-ter por-tion trace.
Rise from tran-si-to-ry things towards heaven, your des-tined place!
Sun and moons and stars de-cay; time might soon this earth re-move:
Rise, my soul, and haste a-way to seats pre-pared a-bove.

2. Riv-ers to the o-cean run, nor stay in all their course;
Fire as-cend-ing seeks the sun; both speed them to their source:
So my soul, de-rived from God, longs to view God's glo-rious face,
For-ward tends to that a-bode, to rest in that em-brace.

3. Cease, O pil-grims, cease to mourn, press on-ward to the prize;
The Dawn's dai-ly sure re-turn pro-mis-es par-a-dise:
There is ev-er-last-ing peace; rest, may this day's rest, be heaven;
There too ev-en sor-rows cease, and crowns of joy be given.

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May 23, 2005

63R Mysterious Presence, Source of All

Original Title: "Mysterious Presence, Source of All," Seth Curtis Brooks (1866), WAREHAM, L.M., William Knapp (1736); New Title: Same hymn title, rev. REH (2006), LUCIS CREATOR, L.M., Angers Church Melody. Seth Curtis Beach was an American Unitarian. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above." James 1:17 (KJV). Psalm 36:6, "Thy judgments are a great deep." Psalm 73:16, "When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me." Psalm 77:19, "Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known." Romans 11:33, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! how unserachable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" "God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life," Genesis 2:7 (NRSV); see also Genesis 1:30, 6:17, 7:15. "For with you is the fountain of life," Psalm 36:9, see also Psalm 68:26, Proverbs 5:18, 13:14, 14:17, 16:22, 18:4. "They have forsaken the fountain of the living water, the Lord," Jeremiah 17:13. Ezekiel 37:9, "Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy . . . and breathe upon these slain, that they may live." John 3:8 (KJV), "The wind bloweth where it listeth . . . so is everyone that is born of the spirit." Acts 2:2, "And suddenly there came a sound from heaven of a rushing mighty wind." The hymn appears in Singing the Living Tradition as no. 92, to WAREHAM, using thee/thou. It does not appear in The New Century Hymnal.

LUCIS CREATOR (L.M.)

1. Mys-ter-ious Pre-sence, Source of all;
The world with-out, the soul with-in,
Foun-tain of life, O hear our call,
and pour your liv-ing wat-ers in!

2. You breathe with-in the rush-ing wind;
Your Spir-it stirs in leaf and flower;
Nor will you from the will-ing mind
with-hold your light and love and power.

3. Your hand un-seen to ac-cents clear
a-woke the psal-mist’s tremb-ling lyre,
and touch-ed the lips of holy seer
with flame from your own al-tar fire.

4. That touch di-vine, ev-er im-part;
Still give the pro-phets' burn-ing word;
And, vo-cal in each wait-ing heart,
let liv-ing psalms of praise be heard.

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64R Thou One in All, Thou All in One

Original Title: "Thou One in All, Thou All in One," Seth Curtis Beach (1884), GRACE CHURCH, L.M., Ignaz Joseph Pleyel (1791); New Title: Same hymn title, rev. REH (2005), LUCIS CREATOR, L.M., Angers Church Melody (c. 16th Century). Seth Curtis Beach was an American Unitarian. The hymn does not appear does not appear in Singing the Living Tradition nor in The New Century Hymnal. "A God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he," Deuteronomy 32:4 (KJV); see also Isaiah 65:16, Psalm 89:14, 146:6, 57:10, 86:15.

LUCIS CREATOR (L.M.)

1. Thou One in all, thou All in One,
Source of the grace that crowns our days,
for all thy gifts 'neath cloud or sun,
we lift to thee our grate-ful praise.

2. We bless thee for the life that flows,
a pulse in ev-ery grain of sand,
a beau-ty in the blush-ing rose,
a thought and deed in brain and hand.

3. For life that thou hast made a joy,
for strength to make our lives like thine,
for du-ties that our hands em-ploy,
we bring our of-ferings to thy shrine.

4. Be thine to give and ours to own
the truth that sets thy chil-dren free,
the law that points us to thy throne,
the love that makes us one with thee.

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May 24, 2005

65R You Whose Spirit Dwells In All

Original Title: "Thou Whose Spirit Dwells In All," John White Chadwick (1890), UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, 7.7.7.7., Henry John Gauntlett (1852); New Title: "You Whose Spirit Dwells In All," alt. REH (2006), same hymn tune. "For the fate of humans and the fate of animals is the same . . . They all have the same breath, and humans have no advantage over the animals," Ecclesiastes 3:19 (NRSV). Genesis 2:7, "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life," Genesis 7:15, "And [the animals] went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life." "You own the cosmos-you made everything in it, everything from atom to archangel," Psalm 89:11 (The Message); "The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: The world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them," Psalm 89:11 (ASV). "Behold, the nations are esteemed as a drop of the bucket, and as the fine dust on the scales; behold, he taketh up the isles as an atom," Isaiah 40:15 (The Darby Translation); Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust," Isaiah 40:15 (ESV). "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?," 1 Corinthians 3:16 (KJV). "[Christ] has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth," Ephesians 1:9-10. "God [is] All in All," 1 Corinthians 15:28. Love is as strong as death," Song of Solomon 8:6. "Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his spirit upon them!," Numbers 11:29 (RSV). For an alternate tune for this hymn, see no. 35 herein, VIENNA, 7.7.7.7. The hymn does not appear in Singing the Living Tradition nor in The New Century Hymnal.

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE (7.7.7.7.)

1. You whose spir-it dwells in all,
pri-mal source of life and mind,
through-out earth and in each soul,
ev-er full and un-con-fined!

2. What shall sep-a-rate from you?
None of earth's cre-a-ted things!
Joy and sor-row, good and ill,
each from you its es-sence brings.

3. Yours, the at-om's faint-est thrill;
Yours, the humb-lest crea-ture's breath;
Pro-phet soul in eve-ry kind,
yearn-ing still through life and death.

4. Yearn-ing for the crown-ing race:
We, in whom at last un-fold
all your se-crets strange and sweet
from the farth-est days of old.

5. Se-crets too of things to be,
in the cy-cles on be-fore:
Love that strong-er is than death,
Life with you for-ev-er-more.

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66R Day By Day the Manna Fell

Original Title: "Day By Day the Manna Fell," Josiah Conder (1836), rev. REH (2005), NUN KOMM, DER HEIDEN HEILAND, 7.7.7.7., Enchiridion Oder Handbuchlein (1524), Bach. Mark 6:41, 50, "Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people . . . Immediately he spoke to them and said, 'Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid;'" compare lyrics "cast foreboding fears away." See also John 6:11; John 6:48, 51 "I am the bread of life." Numbers 11:5-6, "We remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at;" compare Joshua 5:12. The New Century Hymnal and Singing the Living Tradition do not include the hymn.

NUN KOMM, DER HEIDEN HEILAND (7.7.7.7.)

1. Day by day the man-na fell;
O to learn this les-son well!
Still by cons-tant mer-cy fed,
Give me, God, my dai-ly bread.

2. "Day by day," the pro-mise reads,
dai-ly strength for dai-ly needs;
Cast fore-bod-ing fears a-way;
Take the man-na of to-day.

3. O my times are in thy hand;
All my san-guine hopes ex-pand.
On thy Wis-dom I re-cline,
and would make my pur-pose thine.

4. Thou my dai-ly task shalt give;
Day by day with thee I live;
So shall ad-ded years ful-fill,
still my own, and hea-ven’s will.

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67R O Thou Whose Power Over Moving Worlds Presides

Original Title: "O Thou Whose Power Over Moving World Presides," Boethius (480-525), trans. Samuel Johnson (1750), OLD 124TH (10.10.10.10), Genevan Psalter (1551); New Title: Same hymn title, rev. REH (2006), same hymn tune. Boethius was a Roman statesman; his most famous work was The Consolations of Philosophy. He has been thought both a Christian and indeed a Christian martyr, yet his most famous work does not mention Christ or the Christian religion, and seems in the eyes of some to speak only the language of neo-Platonism (in a narrow sense, "a philosophical dialogue modelled on strictly pagan productions"). Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), also the name of the Unitarian hymnwriter from the 19th century (see no. 219R), here refers instead to the Englishman from a century before. Johnson was the subject of perhaps the earliest and best-known biography in English, written by John Boswell. A stanza of Boethius' original Latin has been added. "legem pone mihi Domine in via tua et dirige me in semita recta propter inimicos meos," Pslam 26:11 (Vulgate); "But as for me, I will go on in my upright ways: be my saviour, and have mercy on me," Psalm 26:11 (BBE); see also Proverbs 15:24, 12:28. "Dominus solus dux eius fuit et non erat cum eo deus alienus," Deuteronomy 32:12 (Vulgate); "So the Lord only was his guide, no other god was with him," Deuteronomy 32:12 (BBE); Exodus 13:21, 15:13, Acts 1:16. "[T]imor Domini principium," Proverbs 1:7a (Vulgate); "Start with God- the first step in learning is bowing down to God," Proverbs 1:7a (The Message); see also Proverbs 4:7, Proverbs 9:10. "[Christ] is a beginning, a first-born out of the dead," Colossians 1:18a (YLT); "[] qui est principium primogenitus ex mortuis," Colossians 1:18a (Vulgate). Romans 11:33 (KJV), "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" 1 Corinthians 2:7 (KJV), "But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory," see also 1 Corinthians 1:24. Psalms 104:24 (KVJ), "O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom, hast thou made them all," see also Psalm 136:5, Proverbs 3:19. Jeremiah 10:12 (KJV), "He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion." Genesis 1:14, "And God said, let there be lights," see also Genesis 7:24. The hymn is not included in Singing the Living Tradition nor in The New Century Hymnal.

OLD 124TH (10.10.10.10)

1. O Thou whose power o'er mov-ing worlds pre-sides,
whose voice cre-a-ted, and whose wis-dom guides,
On the dim earth in pure ef-ful-gence shine,
and cheer the cloud-ed mind with light di-vine,
and cheer the cloud-ed mind with light di-vine.

2. 'Tis thine a-lone to calm the re-verent breast,
with si-lent con-fi-dence and ho-ly rest;
from thee, great God! we spring, to thee we tend,
Path, Mo-tive, Guide, O-rig-i-nal, and End!
Path, Mo-tive, Guide, O-rig-i-nal, and End!

a. Tu nam-que se-re-num,
Tu re-qui-es tran-quil-la pi-is.
Te cer-ne-re fi-nis,
Prin-ci-pi-um, Vec-tor, Dux,
Se-mi-ta, Ter-mi-nus, I-dem.

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May 27, 2005

68R Holy Spirit, Love Divine

Original Title: "Holy Spirit, Light Divine," Andrew Reed (1788-1862) & Samuel Longfellow (1819-1892), LYNE, 7.7.7.7., Magadalen Chapel Hymns (c. 1760); New Title: "Holy Spirit, Love Divine," rev. REH (2005), same hymn tune. Samuel Longfellow was a Unitarian poet, and editor of Hymns of the Spirit One; Andrew Reed was an English Congregationalist. The hymn does not appear in Singing the Living Tradition, but in another form it does appear in The New Century Hymnal under the name "Holy Spirit, Truth Divine," to the tune MERCY, without the revisions by Reed. John 4:24, "God is spirit, and those who worship God must worship in spirit and truth." Psalm 51:2, "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin"

LYNE (7.7.7.7.)

1. Ho-ly Spir-it, Love Di-vine,
glow with-in this heart of mine;
Kind-le eve-ry high de-sire;
cleanse my soul in your pure fire.

2. Ho-ly Spir-it, Light Di-vine,
shine up-on this heart of mine;
As the night soon fades a-way,
turn my thoughts toward your new day.

3. Ho-ly Spir-it, Peace Di-vine,
still this rest-less heart of mine;
Speak to calm the toss-ing sea,
stayed in your tran-quil-i-ty.

4. Ho-ly Spir-it, Power Di-vine,
lift this guil-ty heart of mine;
May the mark be missed no more,
though each soul has failed be-fore.

5. Ho-ly Spir-it, Joy Di-vine,
cheer this sad-dened heart of mine;
Bid my troub-led thoughts be still,
with your peace my spir-it fill.

6. Ho-ly Spir-it, All Di-vine,
dwell with-in this heart of mine;
Cast down eve-ry i-dol high,
reign su-preme, a-bide e'er nigh. A-men

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May 29, 2005

69R O God, O Spirit, Light of All That Live

Original Title: "O God, O Spirit, Light of All That Live," Gerhard Tersteegen (1745), trans. Catherine Winkworth (1855), adapted for Hymns of the Spirit One (1864), BETHSAIDA (LONGWOOD), 10.10.10.10., Joseph Barnby (1872); New Title: Same hymn title, alt. REH (2005), same hymn tune. Winkworth was a 19th century English Anglican, and a prolific translator of German-language hymns to English. The hymn appears in neither Singing the Living Tradition, nor in The New Century Hymnal. "If ye [live] through the Spirit ... ye shall live," Romans 8:13 (KJV); "[A]ccording to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which hath been kept in silence through times eternal, but now is manifested," Romans 16:25-26 (ASV); "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely," Revelation 21:6 (ASV); Pslam 114:8; "the Lord will be to you an everlasting light," Isaiah 60:19 (NKJV), 50:10, Psalm 18:28, 56:13, 118:27.

BETHSAIDA (LONGWOOD)(10.10.10.10.)

1. O God, O Spir-it, Light of all that live,
who does on them that sit in sad-ness shine!
The sha-dows ev-er with your power do strive,
yet pour on us a-gain thy rays di-vine.

2. O Breath from out th'e-ter-nal si-lence! Blow
soft-ly up-on our spir-its' wait-ing ground;
The pre-cious full-ness of our God bes-tow,
that fruits of faith, love, rev-erence may a-bound.

3. O Foun-tain, that does un-ex-haust-ed flow,
to quench the thirst that seeks the wa-ters clear!
O God, O Spir-it, Life of lives! Flow now
in-to all hearts which seek com-fort-ing here.

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May 30, 2005

70R Lead Us, O Lead Us (In Paths of Peace)

Words: William Henry Burleigh (1868); rev. REH (2005); Music: SONG 24 (10.10.10. D), Orlando Gibbons (1623). Psalm 5:8 (NIV),"Lead me, O Lord." Psalm 23:2-3 (NRSV), "[The Lord] leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake." Luke 1:79, "To guide our feet into the way of peace," see also Isaiah 59:8, Romans 3:27. "Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace," Proverbs 3:17. The hymn appears in neither Singing the Living Tradition, nor in The New Century Hymnal.

SONG 10 (10.10.10. D)

1. Lead us, O lead us, in the paths of peace;
with-out thy guid-ing hand we go as-tray,
and doubts ap-pall, and sor-rows still in-crease;
lead us through Christ, thy true and li-ving way.
Lead us, mothe-ring God, in ho-ly paths of peace;
Lead us, fathe-ring God, in ho-ly paths of peace.

2. Lead us, O lead us, in the paths of truth;
un-helped by thee, in er-ror's maze we grope,
while pas-sion strains, and fol-ly dims our youth,
and age comes on, un-cheered by faith and hope.
Lead us, mothe-ring God, in ho-ly paths of peace;
Lead us, fathe-ring God, in ho-ly paths of peace.

3. Lead us, O lead us, in the paths of right;
dim-ly we stum-ble when we walk a-lone,
hid in the sha-dows of a fear-some night;
on-ly with thee we jour-ney safe-ly on.
Lead us, mothe-ring God, in ho-ly paths of peace;
Lead us, fathe-ring God, in ho-ly paths of peace.

4. Lead us, O lead us, to thy heaven-ly rest,
how-ev-er rough and steep the path-way be;
through joy or sor-row, as fate deem-est best,
un-til our lives are per-fect-ed in thee.
Lead us, mothe-ring God, in ho-ly paths of peace;
Lead us, fathe-ring God, in ho-ly paths of peace.

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June 01, 2005

71R "Where Is Your God?" They Say

Original Title: "'Where Is Your God?' They Say," James Martineau (1873), O GOTT, DU FROMMER GOTT, 6.7.6.7.6.6.6.6., Ahasuerus Fritsch, harm. J. S. Bach; New Title: Same hymn title, rev. REH (2005), same hymn tune. James Martineau was an English Unitarian of Huguenot descent, too often underappreciated in North America. Psalm 14:1-2, "Fools say in their hearts, 'There is no God' . . . The Lord looks down from heaven on humankind to see if there are any who are wise, who seek after God." 1 Kings 19:12, "A still, small voice." "If I go forward, he is not there; or backward, I cannot perceive him; on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him; I turn to the right, but I cannot see him," Job 23:8-9. The hymn appears in neither Singing the Living Tradition, nor in The New Century Hymnal.

O GOTT, DU FROMMER GOTT (6.7.6.7.6.6.6.6.)

1. "Where is your God?" they say:
An-swer them, O Most Ho-ly!
Re-veal your se-cret way
of vi-sit-ing the low-ly:
Not wrapped in mov-ing cloud,
or night-ly rest-ing fire;
But veiled with-in the shroud
of si-lent high de-sire.

2. Come not in flash-ing storm,
or burst-ing frown of thun-der:
Come in the view-less form
of waken-ing love and won-der;
In du-ty grown di-vine
the rest-less spir-it still;
in sor-rows taught to shine
as shad-ows of your will.

3. O God, the pure a-lone,
e'en in their deep con-fess-ing,
can see you as their own
and find a per-fect bless-ing.
Yet to each wait-ing soul
speak in your still small voice,
till brok-en love's made whole,
and sad-dened hearts re-joice.

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June 02, 2005

72R I Cannot Find Thee

Original Title: "I Cannot Find Thee," Eliza Scudder (1864), no changes here, LOMBARD STREET, 11.10.11.10., Frederick George Russell (1929). Scudder (1821-1896) was niece of hymnwriter Edmund Sears. Originally a Unitarian, she subsequently became an Episcopalian. The hymn is (unconscionably) not included in Singing the Living Tradition nor in The New Century Hymnal. Psalm 14:1-2, "Fools say in their hearts, 'There is no God' . . . The Lord looks down from heaven on humankind to see if there are any who . . . seek after God." Mark 9:24, "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." "If I go forward, he is not there; or backward, I cannot perceive him; on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him; I turn to the right, but I cannot see him," Job 23:8-9 (NRSV). "Return, O my soul, to your rest, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you," Psalm 116:7.

LOMBARD STREET (11.10.11.10.)

1. I can-not find thee. Still on rest-less pin-ion
my spir-it beats the void where thou dost dwell,
I wan-der lost through all thy vast do-min-ion,
and shrink be-neath thy light in-ef-fa-ble.

2. I can-not find thee. E'en when most a-dor-ing,
be-fore thy throne I bend in low-liest prayer;
Be-yond these bounds of thought my thought up-soar-ing
from far-thest quest comes back: thou art not there.

3. Yet high a-bove the lim-its of my see-ing,
and fold-ed far with-in the in-most heart,
and deep be-low the deeps of con-scious be-ing,
thy splen-dor shin-eth: there, O God, thou art.

4. I can-not lose thee. Still in thee a-bid-ing,
the end is clear, how wide so-e'er I roam;
The hand that holds the worlds my steps is guid-ing,
and I must rest at last in thee, my home.

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June 04, 2005

73R Shekinah In Her Holy Place

Original Title: "The Lord Is In His Holy Place," William Channing Gannett (1873), ST. BERNARD, C.M., Tochter Sion (1741); New Title: "Shekinah In Her Holy Place," rev. REH (2005), RESIGNATION, C.M.D., Traditional American; Southern Harmony (1835). William Channing Gannett (1840-1923) was an American Unitarian minister, particularly active within the Western Unitarian Conference. He was author of a document of great historical importance to the WUC entitled "Things Commonly Believed Among Us". He played a particularly important role in the women's suffrage movement in the United States; Susan B. Anthony was amongst his congregants. Though "Shekinah" does not appear in the original title of the hymn, it does occur as a reference to the glory of God in the lyrics of the first stanza (itself remarkable for a hymn composed in 1873). The reference to Exodus 40:35 is likewise original to Gannett. The word "Shekinah" does not appear as such in the Bible, but it does appear in Talmudic literature; e.g., "Whenever ten are gathered for prayer, there Shekinah rests," Talmud Sanhedrin 39a. A feminine word in Hebrew, many have suggested that the name Shekinah represents the female attributes of the presence or glory of God (though there would seem to be some competition with Wisdom/Sophia and the Spirit/Ruah, also feminine in Hebrew, or perhaps even St. Julian of Norwich's views on the mothering qualities of Christ). "Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail," Job 38:22 (NRSV). "If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents," Song of Songs 1:8 (KJV); see also Jeremiah 6:3. "Gethsemane," Matthew 26:36, Mark 14:32. "Men of Israel, why does this surprise you?," Acts 3:12 (NIV). "Do not I fill heaven and earth?, declares the Lord," Jeremiah 23:24. The hymn does not appear in The New Century Hymn nor in Singing the Living Tradition.

RESIGNATION (C.M.D.)

1. She-ki-nah* in her ho-ly place,
in all things, near and far;
She-ki-nah of the snow-flake, too,
finds glo-ry in the star.
She finds her-self with-in the love
of those whom we love best;
the smiles and tones that make our homes
are shrines by her poss-essed.

2. Our art may build its house of God,
our feet on Si-nai stand,
but ho-li-est of ho-lies knows
no tread, no touch of hand.
She tents with-in the lone-ly heart
and shep-herds eve-ry thought;
We find her not by seek-ing long,
we lose her not, un-sought.

3. The liste-ning soul makes Si-nai still
wher-ev-er we may be,
and in the vow "Thy will be done,"
lies all Geth-se-ma-ne.
O eve-ry-where her ho-ly place,
if love un-seals the eyes,
and eve-ry-where the wait-ing face
to wel-come and sur-prise!

* Shekinah, the visible glory of God; see, e.g., Exodus 40:35

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June 05, 2005

74R Behold a Sower!

Original Title: "Behold a Sower!," Washington Gladden (1897), ELLACOMBE, C.M.D., Gesangbuch der Herzogl. Wirtembergischen Katolischen Hofkapelle (1784); New Title: Same hymn title, rev. REH (2005), same hymn tune. Gladden was a Congregationalist minister, well known for his writings and lectures on social concerns during the 19th Century. Luke 8:11 (KJV), "Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God," see also 1 Peter 1:23, 1 John 3:9. Matthew 13:3, "And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow," see also Matthew 13:32, 1 Corinthians 9:11. Job 4:8, "Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same," see also Hosea 10:12, Galatians 6:7-8. 2 Peter 1:19, "We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts," see also Daniel 2:22, John 8:12, John 12:46, 1 Peter 2:9, 2 Corinthians 4:4. The hymn does not appear in either Singing the Living Tradition nor in The New Century Hymnal.

ELLACOMBE (C.M.D.)

1. Be-hold a Sow-er! from a-far
who go-eth forth with might,
whose fur-rows are the roll-ing years,
and seeds, the grow-ing light;
For all the just the Word is sown,
it spring-eth up al-ways;
The tend-er blade is Hope's young dawn,
the harv-est, Love's new days.

2. O Life of life, to thee we lift
our hearts in praise for those,
thy pro-phets, who have shown thy gift
of grace that ev-er grows,
of truth that spreads from shore to shore,
of wis-dom's widen-ing ray,
of light that shin-eth more and more
un-to thy per-fect day.

3. Shine forth, O Light, that we may see,
with hearts all un-a-fraid,
the mean-ing and the mys-ter-y
of things that thou hast made;
Shine forth, and let the sha-dowed past
be-neath thy beam grow bright;
Shine forth, and touch the fu-ture vast
with thine un-troubl-ed light.

4. Light up thy word; the fet-tered page
from kill-ing bon-dage free;
Light up our way; lead forth this age
in Love’s large li-ber-ty.
O Light of light! with-in us dwell,
through us thy ra-diance pour,
that word and life thy truths may tell,
and praise thee ev-er-more.

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June 06, 2005

75R Light of Ages and of Nations

Original Title: "Light of Ages and of Nations," Samuel Longfellow, AUSTRIA, 8.7.8.7.8.7.8.7., Franz Joseph Haydn (1797); New Title: Same hymn title, alt. REH (2006), IN BABILONE, 8.7.8.7.8.7.8.7., Traditional Dutch melody (c. 1710). The hymn does not appear in The New Century Hymnal, but does appear in Singing the Living Tradition, to the tune AUSTRIA as no. 190 and IN BABILONE as no. 189. Colossians 3:11 (ESV), "Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all." Galatians 3:28, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." 1 Corinitians 12:13, "For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and all were made to drink of one Spirit." Roman 10:12, "For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him;" see also Romans 3:9, 2:14-15, 1:14-16. Jeremiah 31:33 (NRSV), "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts." Psalms 27:1 (KJV), "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" Psalms 36:9, "For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light." James 5:10, "Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience," see also Luke 1:67, 2 Peter 1:21, 2 Chronicles 33:18, Ezekiel 3:11, Luke 4:17, Acts 13:15.

IN BABILONE (8.7.8.7.8.7.8.7.)

1. Light of a-ges and of na-tions,
eve-ry race and eve-ry time
has re-ceived your in-spi-ra-tions,
glimp-ses of your truth sub-lime.
al-ways spir-its in rapt vi-sion
passed the heaven-ly veil with-in,
al-ways hearts bow-ed in con-tri-tion
found sal-va~tion from their sin.

2. Rea-son's no-ble as-pi-ra-tion
truth in grow-ing clear-ness saw;
Con-science spoke its con-dem-na-tion,
or pro-claimed th'e-ter-nal law.
While your in-ward re-ve-la-tions
told your saints their prayers were heard,
pro-phets to the guil-ty na-tions
spoke your ev-er-las-ting word.

3. Lo, that word a-bi-deth ev-er,
re-ve-la-tion is not sealed.
An-swering now to our en-dea-vor,
truth and right are still re-vealed.
That which came to an-cient sa-ges,
Greek, Bar-bar-ian, Ro-man, Jew,
writ-ten in the soul's deep pa-ges,
shines to-day, for-ev-er new!

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June 07, 2005

76R It Sounds Along the Ages

Original Title: "It Sounds Along the Ages," William Channing Gannet, alt. (1937), CRÜGER, 7.6.7.6.7.6.7.6., arranged by W. H. Monk from J. Crüger's Neues Wolllkömiisches Gesangbuch (1640); New Title: Same hymn title, BRITISH GRENADIERS, 7.6.7.6.7.6.7.6., Traditional English Melody. It would seem that Gannett entitled the piece "The Word of God." William Channing Gannett (1840-1923) was an American Unitarian minister, particularly active within the Western Unitarian Conference. He was author of a document of great historical importance to the WUC entitled "Things Commonly Believed Among Us". He played a particularly important role in the women's suffrage movement in the United States; Susan B. Anthony was amongst his congregants. "Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit," 1 Corinthians 12:13 (NIV); see also 1 Corinthians 12:17, Colossians 3:11, Galatians 3:28. "The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything," John 14:26 (NRSV); see also John 16:13. The hymn does not appear in The New Century Hymnal, but does appear in Singing the Living Tradition as no. 187, to the tune FAR OFF LANDS, 7.6.7.6. D, Melody of the Bohemian Brethren, Rock Island, Illinois (1892).

BRITISH GRENADIERS (7.6.7.6.7.6.7.6.)

1. It sounds a-long the a-ges,
soul an-swer-ing to soul;
It kin-dles on the pa-ges
of eve-ry Bi-ble scroll;
The psalm-ist heard and sang it,
from mar-tyr lips it broke,
and pro-phet tongues out-rang it
till sleep-ing na-tions woke.

2. From Si-nai's cliffs in ech-oed,
it breathed from Bud-dha's tree,
it charmed in Ath-en's mar-ket,
it hal-lowed Gal-i-lee;
The ham-mer stroke of Lu-ther,
the Pil-grims' sea-side prayer,
the or-a-cles of Con-cord:
one ho-ly Word de-clare.

3. It calls, and lo, new Jus-tice!
It speaks, and lo, new Truth!
In ev-er no-bler sta-ture
and un-ex-haus-ted youth.
For-ev-er on it sound-eth,
knows naught it-self of time,
our laws but catch the mus-ic
of its e-ter-nal chime.

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June 08, 2005

77R One Thought I Have

"One Thought I Have, My Ample Creed," Frederick L. Hosmer, Chicago Unity Hymns and Carols (1880), ST. BERNARD, C.M. No changes here from the lyrics in Hymns of the Spirit Two. Psalm 94:19 (KJV), “In the multitude of my thoughts within me Thy comforts delight my soul;” Psalm 43:3, "O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me;" see also Psalms 63:5-6, 77:2; Jeremiah 20:12. Romans 5:4 (NRSV), "[E]ndurance produces character, and character produces hope;" 1 Peter 1:7, "[T]he genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."

ST. BERNARD (C.M.)

1. One thought I have, my am-ple creed,
so deep it is and broad,
and e-qual to my ev-ery need—
it is the thought of God.

2. Each morn un-folds some fresh sur-prise,
I feast at life’s full board;
and ris-ing in my in-ner skies
shines forth the thought of God.

3. At night my glad-ness is my prayer;
I drop my dai-ly load,
and eve-ry care is pillow-ed there
up-on the thought of God.

4. I ask not far be-fore to see,
but take in trust my road;
Life, death, and im-mort-al-i-ty
are in my thought of God.

5. To this their se-cret strength they owed
the mar-tyr's path who trod;
The foun-tains of their pa-tience flowed
from out their thought of God.

6. Be still the light up-on my way,
my pil-grim staff and rod,
my rest by night, my strength by day
O bless-ed thought of God.

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June 09, 2005

78R Who Fathoms the Eternal Thought

Original Title: "Who Fathoms the Eternal Thought," John Greenleaf Whittier; ST. BERNARD, C.M., Tochter Sion (1741). Psalm 46:10 (KJV), "Be still, and know that I am God;" Psalm 100:3, "Know ye that the Lord he is God;" see also Deuteronomy 4:35, 1 Kings 18:39, Ezekiel 34:30, Exodus 18:11. Isaiah 2:11, [T]he haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day;" see also 2 Corinthians 10:5. 1 Kings 19:12, "And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice;" 1 John 4:8-16 "God is Love." Psalm 78:41, "And still again they tried God, and set bounds to the Holy One of Israel;" see also Psalms 74:17, 148:6; Job 26:10, 38:10.

ST. BERNARD (C.M)

1. Who fath-oms the E-ter-nal Thought?
Which mor-tal hath all planned?
For God is God, who need-eth not
the schemes of hu-man hand.

2. I walk with bare, hushed feet the ground
ye tread with bold-ness shod;
I dare not fix with mete and bound
the love and power of God.

3. I know not what the fu-ture hath
of mar-vel or sur-prise,
as-sured a-lone that life and death
God's mer-cy un-der-lies.

4. I know not where God's is-lands lift
their frond-ed palms in air;
I on-ly know I can-not drift
be-yond such love and care.

5. And so be-side the si-lent sea
I wait the muf-fled oar;
no harm shall ev-er come to me
on o-cean or on shore.

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June 10, 2005

79R Father and Friend, Thy Light, Thy Love

ROSE HILL (L.M.)

1. Fath-er and Friend, thy light, thy love,
beam-ing through all thy works we see;
Thy glo-ry gilds the heavens a-bove,
and all the earth is full of thee.

2. Thy voice we hear, thy pre-sence feel,
while thou, too pure for mor-tal sight,
reign-est in clouds, in-vi-sib-le,
thou, La-dy of our life and light.

3. We know not in what hal-lowed part
of the wide heavens thy throne may be,
but this we know, that where thou art,
strength, wis-dom, good-ness dwell with thee.

4. Thy chil-dren shall not faint nor fear,
sus-tained by this ex-alt-ed thought;
Since thou, their God, art ev-ery-where,
they can-not be where thou art not!

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June 11, 2005

80R Immortal Love, Forever Full

Lyrics: John Greenleaf Whittier (1866), rev. REH (2005); Music: DUNDEE (C.M.), Scottish Psalter (1615). Psalm 89:1 (NRSV), "I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord;" see also Psalm 89:28. Genesis 1:2a, "[A] wind from God swept over the face of the waters." Isaiah 35:6, "[W]aters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;" see also Isaiah 41:17-18, Jeremiah 2:13, 17:13, Ezekiel 47:1-12. John 4:14, "The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life;" see also Revelation 21:6. 2 Corinthians 3:6b, "[T]he letter kills, but the Spirit gives life;" John 1:9, "The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world."

DUNDEE (C.M.)

1. Im-mort-al Love, for-ev-er full,
for-ev-er flow-ing free,
for-ev-er shared, for-ev-er whole,
a nev-er ebb-ing sea!

2. Blow, winds of God, a-wake and blow
the mists of earth a-way:
Shine out, O Light di-vine, and show
thy wide and vast ar-ray.

3. O God and Sove-reign of us all,
what-e'er our name or sign,
we own thy sway, we hear thy call,
we test our lives by thine.

4. The let-ter fails, the sys-tems fall,
and ev-ery sym-bol wanes;
The Spir-it o-ver-brood-ing all,
E-ter-nal Love re-mains.

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June 12, 2005

81R Thou Life Within My Life

Original Title: "Thou Life Within My Life," Eliza Scudder (1871), ELLERS, 10.10.10.10., Edward John Hopkins (1868); New Title: Same hymn title, alt. REH (2005), FARLEY CASTLE, 10.10.10.10., Henry Lawes (c. 1637-38).

FARLEY CASTLE (10.10.10.10)

1. Thou Life with-in my life, than self more near,
Thou veil-ed Pres-ence in-fi-nite-ly clear,
From all il-lu-sive shows of sense I flee,
I find my cen-ter and my rest in thee.

2. Be-low all depths thy sav-ing mer-cy lies,
Through thick-est glooms I see thy light a-rise;
A-bove the high-est heavens thou art not found,
More sure-ly than with-in this earth-ly round.

3. Face earn-est-ly in life the doubts that rise,
And seek to know all e'en in dis-tant skies;
Face earn-est-ly in life the self that dares;
As-sume the bur-den of thy sins and cares.

4. How shall I call thee who art al-ways here?
How shall I praise thee who art still most dear?
What may I give thee save what thou hast given?
And whom but thee have I in earth or heaven?

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"Whom have I in heaven but thee?," Psalm 73:25 (KJV); "No one has ever seen God, not so much as a glimpse. This one-of-a-kind God-Expression, who exists at the very heart of the Father, has made him plain as day," John 1:18 (The Message).

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June 13, 2005

82R Thou Hidden Love of God

Original Title: "Thou Hidden Love of God," Gerhard Tersteegen (1729) trans. John Wesley (1738) GOTTLOB, ES GEHT, 8.8.8.8.8.8., German Chorale, harm. J. S. Bach (1747); New Title: Same hymn title, alt. REH (2008), same hymn tune.

GOTTLOB, ES GEHT (8.8.8.8.8.8.)

1. Thou hid-den love of God, whose height,
Whose depth un-fath-omed no one knows,
I see from far thy beau-teous light,
In-ly I sigh for thy re-pose;
My heart is pained, nor can it be
At rest, till it finds rest in thee.

2. Thy se-cret voice in-vites me still
The sweet-ness of thy yoke to prove;
And fain I would: but though my will
Seems fixed, yet wide my pas-sions rove;
Yet hind-ranc-es strew all the way;
I aim at thee, yet from thee stray.

3. 'Tis mer-cy all, that thou hast brought
My mind to seek true peace in thee;
Yet, while I seek but find thee not,
No peace my wand-'ring soul shall see.
Oh, when shall all my wand-'rings end,
And all my steps to thee-ward tend?

4. O Love, thy sove-reign aid im-part,
To save me from low-thought-ed care;
Chase this self-will through all my heart,
Through all its la-tent maz-es there;
Make me thy du-teous child, that I
Cease-less may Ab-ba, Ab-ba, cry!

5. Each mo-ment draw from earth a-way
My heart which low-ly waits thy call;
Speak to my in-most soul and say
'I am thy Love, thy God, thy All.'
To feel thy power, to hear thy voice,
To taste thy love, be all my choice.

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Psalm 5:3 (NRSV), "O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I plead my case to you, and watch;" Psalm 46:10, "Be still, and know that I am God!;" Psalm 108:4, "For your steadfast love is higher than the heavens, and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds;" Psalm 131:2, Matthew 5:7, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy;" Matthew 14:23, [H]e went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone;" Mark 1:35; 1 Corinthians 7:29-31; Ephesians 5:15-20.

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June 14, 2005

83R God Is Love Whose Mercy Brightens

Original Title: "God Is Love, His Mercy Brightens," John Bowring (1825), first tune, MARCHING, 8.7.8.7., Martin Shaw (1915), second tune, STOCKWELL, 8.7.8.7., Darius Eliot Jones; New Title: "God Is Love Whose Mercy Brightens," rev. REH (2008), MARCHING, 8.7.8.7.

MARCHING (8.7.8.7.)

God is love; whose mercy brightens
All the paths in which we rove;
Bliss love wakes, and woe it lightens:
God is wisdom, God is love.

Chance and change are busy ever;
We decay and ages move;
But pure mercy waneth never:
God is wisdom, God is love.

E’en an hour that gloomy seemeth
Will a changeless goodness prove;
From the mist a brightness streameth:
God is wisdom, God is love.

One with earthly cares entwineth
Hope and comfort from above;
Everywhere true glory shineth:
God is wisdom, God is love.

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83S Espíritu de luz y amor

Título: "Espíritu de luz y amor," Anónimo, rev. REH (2006), MARCHING, 8.7.8.7., Martin Fallas Shaw (1915). Aparece como no. 52 en El Himnario (Church Publishing, Inc. 1998), con la tonada DOMINUS REGIT ME, 8.7.8.7., John B. Dykes. "Dios es luz," 1 Juan 1:5 (BLS); "Dios . . . ha llenado de luz nuestro corazón," 2 Corintios 4:6 (Castilian); "Dios, . . . me has librado de la muerte, para que siempre, en tu presencia, camine en la luz de la vida," Salmos 56:13 (NVI). "Sobre Dios extiende su luz y cubre con ella las profundidades del mar," Job 36:30 (RVR 1995). "Dios es amor; y el que vive en amor, vive en Dios, y Dios en él," 1 Juan 4:16 (RVA); veáse también 1 Juan 4:7-8, 12, Efesios 2:4, Romanos 15:30. "Se les aparecieron entonces unas lenguas como de fuego," Hechos 2:3 (NVI); Isaías 30:27.

MARCHING (8.7.8.7.)

1. Es-pí-ri-tu de luz y~a-mor,
es-cu-cha nues-tro rue-go;
in-fla-ma nues-tro co-ra-zón
con tu ce-les-te fue-go.

2. Ven a los que~en do-lor es-tán,
sus al-mas vi-vi-fi-ca;
y~a los que por ti vi-ven
y a-lé-gra-les la vi-da.

3. Pro-me-sa de di-vi-na paz,
y dá-di-va del buen Dios,
con tu po-der, con tu vir-tud,
vi-sí-ta-nos, no tar-des.

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June 15, 2005

84R O Love of God, How Strong and True

HERR JESU CHRIST, WHAR'R MENSCH (L.M.)

1. O Love of God, how strong and true!
E-ter-nal, and yet ev-er new;
Un-com-pre-hen-ded and un-bought,
be-yond all know-ledge and all thought.

2. O heaven-ly Love, how pre-cious still,
in days of wea-ri-ness and ill,
in nights of pain and help-less-ness,
to heal, to com-fort, and to bless!

3. O wide em-bra-cing, won-drous love!
We read you in the sky a-bove,
we read you in the earth be-low,
in seas that swell, and streams that flow.

4. O Love of God, our shield and stay
through all the pe-rils of our way!
E-ter-nal Love, in you we rest
for-ev-er safe, for-ev-er blest.

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June 16, 2005

85R Father, Hear the Prayer We Offer

Words: Love Maria Willis (1859), rev. REH (2006); Music: SUSSEX (8.7.8.7.), English melody, adapt. by Ralph Vaughan Williams. "Hear my prayer, O God," Psalm 54:2

SUSSEX (8.7.8.7.)

1. Fath-er, hear the prayer we of-fer:
Nor for ease that prayer shall be,
but for strength, that we may ev-er
live our lives cour-age-ous-ly.

2. Not for-ev-er in green pas-tures,
Shep-herd-ess, we ask to be,
but the steep and rug-ged path-way
may we tread re-joic-ing-ly.

3. Not for-ev-er by still wa-ters
would we id-ly, qui-et stay;
But would smite the liv-ing foun-tains
from the rocks a-long our way.

4. Be our strength in hours of weak-ness,
in our wan-derings be our guide;
Through en-dea-vor, fail-ure, dan-ger,
Sove-reign, O be at our side.

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June 17, 2005

86R In Thee Are All As In a Mother's Home

"[T]his brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found," Luke 15:32b (NRSV); see also Luke 15:4.

FARLEY CASTLE (10.10.10.10)

1. In thee, are all as in a moth-er's home,
thou dost sur-round us like the am-bient air;
Or like a bound-less sea, o'er which we roam,
and find thy gra-cious pre-sence al-ways there.

2. Thy love en-folds us, like a fath-er's arms;
Thy hand as-sists us when we go as-tray;
Thy sooth-ing voice sub-dues our vain a-larms,
and calls us back to Wis-dom's bet-ter way.

3. Through all vi-cis-si-tudes of good and ill,
we find in thee a hel-per and a friend;
Ne'er hast thou failed us; We will trust thee still,
and walk with thee un-til our days shall end.

4. End, in the dawn of the Im-mort-al Day,
of which thou art the Sun, O Love Di-vine!
When we, by thee il-lu-mined, find for aye
our con-science, rea-son, will, con-formed to thine.

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June 18, 2005

87R My Shepherd's Holy Reign Is Love

Original Title: "The King of Love My Shepherd Is," Henry Williams Baker, New Title: "My Shepherd's Holy Reign Is Love," rev. REH (2006), ST. COLUMBA, 8.7.8.7., Ancient Irish Melody; Paraphrase of Psalm 23. Though it does not appear in Singing the Living Tradition, the hymn appears as no. 248 under the name "Such Perfect Love My Shepherd Shows," to the tune DOMINUS REGIT ME (with ST. COLUMBA suggested as an alternative) in The New Century Hymnal.

ST. COLUMBA (8.7.8.7.)

1. My Shep-herd's ho-ly reign is love,
whose good-ness fail-eth ne-ver;
I noth-ing lack if I have love
and love is mine for-ev-er.

2. Where streams of liv-ing wa-ter flow
my ran-somed soul God lead-eth,
and where the ver-dant pas-tures grow,
with food cel-es-tial feedeth.

3. Care-less and fool-ish oft I strayed,
but yet in love God sought me,
and on the shoul-der gent-ly laid,
and home, re-joic-ing, brought me.

4. In death’s deep vale I fear no ill
with thee, dear God, be-side me;
Thy rod and staff my com-fort still,
thy child be-fore to guide me.

5. Thou spread’st a ta-ble in my sight;
Thy unc-tion grace be-stow-eth;
And O what trans-port of delight
from thy pure cha-lice flow-eth!

6. And so through all the length of days
thy good-ness fail-eth ne-ver;
Good Shep-herd, may I sing thy praise
with-in thy house for-ev-er.

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June 19, 2005

88R Come, My Soul, the Hour Is Waking

HAYDN (LUX PRIMA)(8.4.7.8.4.7.)

1. Come, my soul, the hour is wak-ing;
Now is break-ing o'er the earth a-no-ther day;
Come to One that made this splen-dor;
May I ren-der all my morn-ing strength can pay.

2. I, too, hail the Sun re-turn-ing,
rea-dy burn-ing the in-cense of my soul's powers,
for the night is safe-ly end-ed,
God has tend-ed the soul with care through help~less hours.

3. Pray that Love may pros-per ev-er
each en-dea-vor when our aim is good and true;
And that Wis-dom ev-er thwart us,
and re-store us, when the soul would ev-il~pur-sue.

4. May my soul on life’s last mor-row,
free from sor-row, slip a-way in slum-ber sweet:
And, re-leased from death’s last sad-ness,
rise in glad-ness that far bright-er Sun to greet.

5. On-ly God’s free gifts a-buse not,
light re-fuse not, but the Spir-it’s voice o-bey;
May my soul with Love ere be-hold
and light en-fold all things al-ways in un~cloud~ed day.

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June 20, 2005

89R O God of Morning (and of Night)

Original Title: "Lord God of Morning and of Night," Francis Turner Palgrave (1860), MORNING HYMN, L.M., François Hippolyte Barthélémon (1785); New Title: "O God of Morning (and of Night)," rev. REH (2005), same hymn tune. Palgrave was an English Anglican. Psalm 130:6, "My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning."

MORNING HYMN (L.M.)

1. O God of morn-ing and of night,
we thank thee for thy gifts of light;
as in the dawn the sha-dows fly,
we seem to find thee now more nigh.

2. Fresh hopes have wak-ened in the heart,
fresh force to do our dai-ly part;
thy slum-ber gifts our strength re-store,
through-out the day to serve thee more.

3. Yet while thy will we would pur-sue,
oft what we would we can-not do;
the Sun may stand in ze-nith skies,
but on the soul thick mid-night lies.

4. O Light of lights, 'tis thou a-lone
canst make our sha-dowed hearts thine own;
though this new day with joy we see,
Great Dawn of God, we cry for thee.

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June 21, 2005

90R The Morning Hangs a Signal

Original Title: "The Morning Hangs a Signal," William Channing Gannett, MEIRIONYDD, 7.6.7.6.7.6.7.6., William Lloyd (1840); New Title: Same hymn title, alt. REH (2007), same hymn tune. William Channing Gannett (1840-1923) was an American Unitarian minister, particularly active within the Western Unitarian Conference. He was author of a document of great historical importance to the WUC entitled "Things Commonly Believed Among Us". He played a particularly important role in the women's suffrage movement in the United States; Susan B. Anthony was amongst his congregants while a pastor in Rochester, New York. "I appointed you a prophet to the nations . . . Now I have put my words in your mouth," Jeremiah 1:5, 9 (NRSV). "No prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown," Luke 4:24. "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?," Psalm 27:1 (KJV). "But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings," Malachi 4:2 (NRSV); see also Psalm 19:5-6, 84:11, Matthew 13:43, Isaiah 58:8. "I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star, Revelation 22:16 (KJV), see also Joel 2:2. "Is not my word like fire," Jeremiah 23:29 (NRSV); see also Jeremiah 5:14. The hymn does not appear in The New Century Hymnal, but it does appear in Singing the Living Tradition as no. 40, slightly modified from how it appears in Hymns of the Spirit Two, and in a form with minor differences from below.

MEIRIONYDD (7.6.7.6.7.6.7.6.)

1. The morn-ing hangs a sig-nal
up-on the moun-tain crest,
while all the sleep-ing val-leys
in sil-ent dark-ness rest;
From peak to peak it flash-es,
it laughs a-long the sky,
til glo-ry of the sun-light
on all the land doth lie.

2. A-bove the gen-er-a-tions,
the lone-ly proph-ets rise,
while truth flings dawn and day-star
with-in their glow-ing eyes;
And oth-er eyes, be-hold-ing,
are kind-led from that flame,
and dawn be-com-eth morn-ing,
as proph-ehts Love pro-claim.

3. The soul hath lift-ed mo-ments,
a-bove the drift of days,
when life's great mean-ing break-eth
in sun-rise on our ways;
Be-hold the ra-diant to-ken
of faith a-bove all fear;
Night soon shall end its splen-dor
that morn-ing shall ap-pear.

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June 22, 2005

91R O God I Thank Thee For Each Sight

O God, I thank thee for each sight
Of beauty that thy hand doth give;
For sunny skies and air and light;
O God, I thank thee that I live.

That life I consecrate to thee,
And ever as the day is born,
On wings of joy my soul would flee,
And thank thee for another morn.

Another day to which to cast
Some silent deed of love abroad,
That, greatening as it journeys past,
May do some earnest work for God.

Another day to do, to dare,
To use anew my growing strength,
To arm my soul with faith and prayer,
And so reach heaven and Thee at last.

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June 23, 2005

92R When Morning Gilds the Skies

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June 24, 2005

93R Awake, My Soul, and with the Sun

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93S Awake, My Soul, and with the Sun

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June 25, 2005

94R True Mirror of the Godhead

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94S True Mirror of the Godhead

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June 26, 2005

95R O God, the Watches of the Night (Are O'er)

Original Title: "Father, the Watches of the Night Are O'er," Words: from the Disciples' Hymn-Book (c. 1855), rev. REH (2005); Music: BATTLE (10.10.10.10.), Henry Lawes (1638); alternate, Music: SKARA (10.10.10.10), Frank Sewall (c. 1910). Psalm 63:6 (NRSV), "I think of you on my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night;" see also Psalm 74:16, Psalm 19:2, Psalm 55:17, Psalm 104:23. The hymn does not appear in either Singing the Living Tradition nor in The New Century Hymnal.

BATTLE (10.10.10.10.)

1. O God, the watch-es of the night are o'er;
To light and life the soul has risen once more;
Praised be, So-phi-a, who through help-less hours,
does keep in deep-est peace her slum-bering powers.

2. Fath-er, the watch-es of the day are here;
More than from those of night have we to fear;
By rude cares troub-led, by temp-ta-tions pressed,
through the day watch-es, dear God, give us rest!

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95S O God the Watches of the Night Are O'er

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June 27, 2005

96R High O'er the Lonely Hills

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June 28, 2005

97R Morning Has Broken

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97S O Mother Bear Tracks O'er the Ground Sacred

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June 29, 2005

98R New Every Morning Is the Love

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June 30, 2005

99R Out of Shadows the Circling Sphere

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July 01, 2005

100R God That Made the Earth and Heaven

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101R Now When the Melting Shades of Night Retreating

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July 02, 2005

102R Now With Creation's Morning Song

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July 03, 2005

103R Awake Our Souls! Away Our Fears!

Orginal Title: "Awake Our Souls! Away Our Fears!" Issac Watts (1707), TRURO (L.M.), Psalmodia Evangelica (1789); No changes here. It does not appear in Singing the Living Tradition, nor in The New Century Hymnal. 2 Corinthians 5:17b (NRSV), "[E]verything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!"

TRURO (L.M.)

1. A-wake, our souls! a-way, our fears!
Let eve-ry trem-bling thought be gone!
A-wake, and run the heaven-ly race,
and put a cheer-ful cour-age on.

2. True, ’tis a strait and thorn-y road,
and mor-tal spir-its tire and faint;
But they for-get the migh-ty God,
that feeds the strength of eve-ry saint.

3. O migh-ty God, thy match-less power
is ev-er new, and ev-er young;
And firm en-dures, while end-less years
their ev-er-last-ing cir-cles run.

4. From thee, the ev-er flow-ing spring,
Our souls shall drink a fresh sup-ply;
While such as trust their na-tive strength
shall melt a-way, and droop, and die.

5. Swift as the ea-gle cuts the air,
we’ll mount a-loft to thine a-bode;
On wings of love our souls shall fly,
nor tire a-long the heaven-ly road.

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July 04, 2005

104R Still, Still With Thee

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July 05, 2005

105R The Morning Walks Upon the Earth

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105S Slow Comes the Evening O'er the Hill

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July 06, 2005

106R Those Who Themselves and God Would Know

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July 07, 2005

107R Around Us Rolls the Ceaseless Tide

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July 08, 2005

108R Sun of My Soul

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July 09, 2005

109R Has Not Your Heart Within You Burned

REX GLORIOSE (L.M.)

1. Has not your heart with-in you burned
at even-ing's* calm and ho-ly hour,
as if its in-most depths dis-cerned
the pre-sence of a lof-tier power?

2. Have not you heard mid for-est glades
while an-cient ri-vers mur-mured by,
a voice from the e-ter-nal shades
that spoke a truth from heaven on high?

3. Was it the voice of God speak-ing
in si-lence to your si-lent heart,
per-chance each worth-ier thought bid-ding,
that eve-ry dream of earth de-part?

4. O voice of God, for-ev-er near,
in low, sweet ac-cents whis-pering peace,
make us your har-mo-nies to hear
whose heaven-ly e-choes nev-er cease.

* or 'the dawn's'

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July 10, 2005

110R All Praise to You, My God, This Night

Tune: ALLMAECHTIGER GOTT, L.M., Johann Crueger (1598-1662)

1. All praise to you, my God, this night,
for all the bles-sings of the light!
Keep me, O keep me, King of kings,
beneath your own al-migh-ty wings.

2. When in the night I sleep-less lie,
my soul with heaven-ly thoughts sup-ply;
Let no ill dreams dis-turb my rest,
O Queen of life, my heart con-fessed.

3. Teach me to live, that I may dread
The grave as lit-tle as my bed.
That with the world, my-self and you,
sleep-ing, with peace the soul im-bue.

4. O may my soul on you re-pose,
and with sweet sleep mine eye-lids close,
asleep that may me more vi-gorous make
to serve my God when I a-wake.

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July 11, 2005

111R Now on Land and Sea Descending

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July 12, 2005

112R The Duteous Day Now Closes

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July 13, 2005

113R Softly Now the Light of Day

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July 14, 2005

114R Slowly, By Your Hand Unfurled

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July 15, 2005

115R Unheard the Dews Around Me Fall

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116R Now God Be With Us

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117R Mothering Father, Bless Us

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July 16, 2005

118R Now the Wings of Day Are Furled

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July 17, 2005

119R Again As Evening's Shadow Falls

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July 18, 2005

120R We Give Thanks That the Church

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July 19, 2005

121R Now While the Day in Trailing Splendor

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July 20, 2005

122R The Shadows of the Evening Hours

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July 21, 2005

123R When the Gladsome Day Declineth

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July 22, 2005

124R The Day is Past and Over

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July 23, 2005

125R When Storm Clouds Gather

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July 24, 2005

126R O God, Now to the Holy Name

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July 25, 2005

127R Abide With Me

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July 26, 2005

128R Now the Day is Over

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July 27, 2005

129R By Mitzvot From a Clouded Steep

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July 28, 2005

129S O Mothering Father, God in Heaven

"O Mothering Father, God in Heaven," from the Lord's Prayer, rev. REH (2005), THIS ENDRIS NIGHT (C.M.D.), English carol (15th Cent.), arr. R. V. Williams (1906). Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4. The traditional version versus the lyrics here are compared below:

"Our Father, who art in Heaven" O Mothering Father, God in heaven
"Hallowed be thy Name" All hallowed be The Name
"Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven" May Love's reign come, God's will be done, on earth ever the same
"Give us this day our daily bread" O Holy One give humankind in every place its bread; it is from Life's bounty each day that all souls should be fed
"And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us" Forgive our transgressions, and teach compassion so we know that wholeness comes forgiving sins of each and every foe
"And lead us not into temptation" And lead us not into evil
"But deliver us from evil" And save us from all sin
"For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen" That glory, reign and power be, for endless worlds; Amen

THIS ENDRIS NIGHT (C.M.D.)

1. O Mothe-ring Fa-ther, God in heaven, all hal-lowed be The Name;
May Love's reign come, God's will be done, on earth ev-er the same;
O Ho-ly One give hu-man-kind in eve-ry place its bread;
It is from Life's boun-ty each day that all souls should be fed.

2. For-give our trans-gres-sions, and teach com-pas-sion so we know
that whole-ness comes for-giv-ing sins of each and eve-ry foe;
And lead us not in-to ev-il, and save us from all sin;
That glo-ry, reign and pow-er be, for end-less worlds; A-men

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July 30, 2005

130R O Day of Rest and Gladness

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August 01, 2005

131R All Beautiful the March of Days

FOREST GREEN (C.M.D)

1. All beau-ti-ful the march of days, as sea-sons come and go;
The hand that shaped the rose has wrought the crys-tal of the snow;
and sent the hoar-y frost of heav'n, the flow-ing wa-ters sealed,
and laid a si-lent love-li-ness on hill and wood and field.

2. O'er white ex-pan-ses spark-ling pure the ra-diant morns un-fold;
The sol-emn splen-dors of the night burn bright-er than the cold;
Life mounts in eve-ry throb-bing vein, love deep-ens round the hearth,
and clear-er sounds the an-gel hymn, 'Good will to all on earth.'

3. O One from whose un-fath-omed law the year in beau-ty flows,
whose self the vi-sion pass-ing by in crys-tal and in rose,
day un-to day does ut-ter speech, and night to night pro-claim,
in ev-er chang-ing words of light, the won-der of The Name.

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August 03, 2005

132R Another Year of Setting Suns

AULD LANG SYNE (L.M.)

1. An-oth-er year of set-ting suns,
of stars by night re-vealed,
of spring-ing grass, of ten-der buds
by win-ter's snow con-cealed.

2. An-oth-er year of sum-mer's glow,
of au-tumn's gold and brown,
of wav-ing fields, and rud-dy fruit
the bran-ches weigh-ing down.

3. An-oth-er year of hap-py work,
that bet-ter is than play,
of sim-ple cares, and love that grows
more sweet from day to day.

4. An-oth-er year to fol-low hard,
where bet-ter souls have trod,
an-oth-er year of life's de-light,
an-oth-er year of God.

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August 04, 2005

133R Tis Winter Now, the Fallen Snow

Words: Samuel Longfellow, alt. REH (2005)Music: DEUS TUORUM MILITUM (L.M.D.), Grenoble Antiphoner (1753); Original tune: BROCKHAM (L.M.), Jeremiah Clark (1709)

DEUS TUORUM MILITUM (L.M.D.)

1. ’Tis win-ter now; the fall-en snow
has left the heavens all cold-ly clear;
Through leaf-less boughs the sharp winds blow,
and all the earth lies dead and drear;
And yet God’s love is not with-drawn;
The Life with-in the keen air breathes,
and Beau-ty paints the crim-son dawn,
and clothes the boughs with glitter-ing wreaths.

2. And though a-broad the sharp winds blow,
and skies are chill, and frosts are keen,
home clos-er draws a cir-cle now,
and warm-er glows the light with-in;
O God! Who does give the win-ter’s cold
as well as sum-mer’s joy-ous rays,
us warm-ly in your love en-fold,
and keep us through life’s win-try days.

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August 05, 2005

134R The Glory of the Spring, How Sweet

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August 06, 2005

134S The Glory of the Spring How Sweet

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August 07, 2005

135R Spring Has Now Unwrapped the Flowers

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August 08, 2005

136R I Walk Amidst Thy Beauty Forth

MORNING SONG (CONSOLATION)(C.M.D.)

1. I walk a-midst the beau-ty forth,
my joy high praise de-clares;
O bless-ings from the bloom-ing earth,
I drink the ver-nal airs.
Those old e-ter-nal hills di-vine,
what migh-ty cheer they breathe!
What ful-ness of de-light sub-lime
the sol-emn stars be-queath!

2. Each won-der of God's hand still makes
my glad-ness fresh and strong;
The glo-ry of my God still wakes
the glo-ry of my song.
When cheer and strength my heart does lack,
and glad-ness makes me whole,
a-midst the sum-mer I win back,
the sum-mer of my soul.

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August 09, 2005

137R Once More the Liberal Year Laughs Out

SUSSEX CAROL (8.8.8.8.8.8.)

1. Once more the lib-eral year laughs out
o'er rich-er stores than gems or gold;
Once more with har-vest song and shout
is na-ture's blood-less tri-umph told.
Our com-mon Mo-ther rests and sings,
like Ruth, a-mong her gar-nered sheaves;
Her lap is full of good-ly things,
her brow is bright with au-tumn leaves.
To see our Fa-ther's hand once more
re-verse for us the plen-teous horn
of au-tumn, filled and run-ning o'er
with fruit, and flower, and gold-en corn!

2. We shut our eyes, the flowers bloom on;
We mur-mur, but the corn-ears fill,
we choose the sha-dow, but the sun
that casts it shines be-hind us still.
God gives us with our rug-ged soil
the power to make it E-den's prayer,
and rich-er fruits to crown our toil
than sum-mer-wedd-ed is-lands bear.
Oh, fav-ors eve-ry year made new!
Oh, gifts with rain and sun-shine sent
the boun-ty ov-er-runs our due,
the ful-ness shames our dis-con-tent.

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August 10, 2005

138R The Summer Days Are Come Again

FOREST GREEN (C.M.D)

1. The sum-mer days are come a-gain;
once more the glad earth yields
a gol-den wealth of rip'-ning grain,
and breath of clo-ver fields,
and deep'-ning shade of sum-mer woods,
and glow of sum-mer air,
and wing-ing thoughts and hap-py moods
of love and joy and prayer.

2. The sum-mer days are come a-gain;
the birds are on the wing;
God's prais-es, in their lov-ing strain,
un-cons-cious-ly they sing.
We know who bes-tows all the good,
glad-'ning hearts in ac-cord,
for sum-mer joy in field and wood:
we lift our song sky-ward.

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August 11, 2005

139R Summer Suns Are Glowing

ADORO TE DEVOTE (11.11.11.12)

1. Sum-mer suns are glow-ing ov-er land and sea;
Hap-py light is flow-ing, boun-ti-ful and free;
Eve-ry-thing re-joi-ces in the mel-low rays;
Earth's ten thou-sand voi-ces swell ho-ly psalms of praise.

2. God’s free mer-cy does stream ov-er all the world,
And the ban-ner does gleam, by the church un-furled;
Broad and deep and glo-rious, as the heaven a-bove,
shines in might vic-to-rious, O God's e-ter-nal love.

3. O, up-on our sens-es your pure ra-diance pour;
For your lo-ving-kind-ness we would love you more;
And when clouds are drift-ing thick a-cross the sky,
then, the veil up-lif-ting, Sove-reign, O be you nigh.

4. We will ne-ver doubt you, though you veil the light;
Life is dull with-out you; sha-dows with you, bright;
Light of light, shine o'er us on our pil-grim way;
Go now still be-fore us day af-ter end-less day.

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August 12, 2005

140R Praise to God and Thanks We Bring

BENEVENTO (7.7.7.7. D)

1. Praise to God and thanks we bring;
Hearts, bow down, and voi-ces sing!
Prais-es to the Glo-rious One,
all the year of won-der done!
Sing praise for the bud-ding green,
A-pril's res-ur-rec-tion scene;
Sing praise for the shin-ing hours,
star-ring all the land with flowers!

2. Sing praise for the sum-mer rain,
feed-ing day and night the grain;
Sing praise for the ti-ny seed,
hold-ing all the world shall need;
Sing praise for the gar-den root,
mead-ow grass and or-chard fruit;
Praise for hills and val-leys broad,
each the tab-le of our God!

3. Praise God now for snow-y rest,
fall-ing soft on Na-ture's breast;
Praise for hap-py dreams of birth,
brood-ing in the qui-et earth!
For the year of won-der done,
Praise to the All-glo-rious One!
Hearts, bow down, and voi-ces sing,
praise, and love, and thanks we bring.

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August 13, 2005

141R Come, O Thankful People, Come

ST. GEORGE'S WINDSOR (7.7.7.7. D)

1. Come, O thank-ful peo-ple, come, raise the song of har-vest home;
All is safe-ly gath-ered in, ere the win-ter storms be-gin.
God's earth ev-er does pro-vide for our wants to be sup-plied;
Come to God’s own tem-ple, come, raise the song of har-vest home.

2. All the world is God’s own field, fruit un-to prais-es to yield;
Wheat and tares to-geth-er sown un-to joy or sor-row grown.
First the blade and then the ear, then the full corn shall ap-pear;
God of har-vest, grant that we whole-some grain and pure may be.

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August 14, 2005

142R We Plow the Fields and Scatter

MEIRIONYDD (7.6.7.6.7.6.7.6.)

1. We plow the fields, and scat-ter the good seed on the land,
but it is fed and wa-tered by an al-migh-ty hand;
God sends the snow in win-ter, the warmth to swell the grain,
the bree-zes and the sun-shine, and soft re-fresh-ing rain.

2. God is the heaven-ly mak-er of all things near and far,
who paints the way-side flow-er, who lights the even-ing star;
The winds are led by God's hand, from whom the birds are fed;
Much more to us, God's chil-dren, who bes-tows dai-ly bread.

3. We thank you, then, O Sove-reign, for all things bright and good,
the seed time and the har-vest, our life, our health, and food;
No gifts have we to of-fer, for all your love im-parts,
but that which you do de-sire, our hum-ble, thank-ful hearts.

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August 15, 2005

143R Praise to God, Immortal Praise

NUREMBERG (7.7.7.7. D)

1. Praise to God, im-mor-tal praise,
for the love that crowns our days!
Boun-teous Source of eve-ry joy,
Let high praise our tongues em-ploy;
For the bless-ings of the field,
for the stores the gar-dens yield:
Flocks that whit-en all the plain,
yel-low sheaves of ri-pened grain.

2. All that spring with boun-teous hand
scat-ters o’er the smil-ing land;
All that li-beral au-tumn pours
from a rich o’er-flow-ing stores;
These to you, my God, we owe,
Source whence all our bless-ings flow;
And for these my soul shall raise
grate-ful vows and so-lemn praise.

3. And should ris-ing whirl-winds tear
from its stem the ripe-ning ear;
Should the vine put forth no more,
nor the o-lives yield their store;
Yet to you our souls shall raise
grate-ful vows and so-lemn praise;
And, when eve-ry bless-ing’s flown
love you for your-self a-lone.

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August 16, 2005

144S Principia un año nuevo

Original Title: "Another Year is Dawning," Frances Ridley Havergal (1874), CRUCIFIX, 7.6.7.6. D, Anonymous; New Title: "Another Year is Dawning," alt. REH (2005), LLANGLOFFAN, 7.6.7.6. D, D. Evans (1865). A copyrighted translation appears below and in Mil voces para celebrar as no. 367, "Principia un año nuevo," AURELIA, 7.6.7.6. D, Samuel Wesley (1864). The translation, by Esteban Sywulka B. is (c) 1992 Celebremos/Libros Alianza, and appears herein by permission. For other uses of the Spanish translation, contact celebrad@telecom.com.co.

LLANGLOFFAN (7.6.7.6. D)

1. Prin-ci-pia~un año nue-vo; a-yú-danos, oh Dios,
a ser más con-sa-gra-dos, más pres-tos a tu voz;
un a-ño de pro-gre-so y de pros-pe-ri-dad,
un a-ño~en que go-ce-mos tu gran fidelidad.

2. Prin-ci-pia~un año nue-vo; en ti~he-mos de con-fiar
se-gu-ros en tu ma-no po-demos des-can-sar,
y se-a~a-llá con-ti-go, o en la tie-rra a-quí,
que~en to-do siem-pre demos la glo-ria solo a ti.

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144R Another Year is Dawning

Original Title: "Another Year is Dawning," Frances Ridley Havergal (1874), CRUCIFIX, 7.6.7.6. D, Anonymous; New Title: "Another Year is Dawning," alt. REH (2005), LLANGLOFFAN, 7.6.7.6. D, D. Evans (1865). A copyrighted translation appears below the hymn and in Mil voces para celebrar as no. 367, "Principia un año nuevo," AURELIA, 7.6.7.6. D, Samuel Wesley (1864). The translation, by Esteban Sywulka B. is (c) 1992 Celebremos/Libros Alianza, and appears herein by permission. For other uses of the Spanish translation, contact celebrad@telecom.com.co.

LLANGLOFFAN (7.6.7.6. D)

1. An-oth-er year is dawn-ing, dear Sove-reign, let it be
in work-ing or in wait-ing, an-oth-er year with thee.
An-oth-er year of pro-gress, an-oth-er year of praise,
an-oth-er year of prov-ing thy pre-sence all the days.

2. An-oth-er year of mer-cies, of faith-ful-ness and grace,
an-oth-er year of glad-ness ere shin-ing from thy face;
An-oth-er year of ser-vice, of wit-ness for thy love,
an-oth-er year of train-ing for ho-lier work a-bove.

a. Prin-ci-pia~un año nue-vo; a-yú-danos, oh Dios,
a ser más con-sa-gra-dos, más pres-tos a tu voz;
un a-ño de pro-gre-so y de pros-pe-ri-dad,
un a-ño~en que go-ce-mos tu gran fidelidad.

b. Prin-ci-pia~un año nue-vo; en ti~he-mos de con-fiar
se-gu-ros en tu ma-no po-demos des-can-sar,
y se-a~a-llá con-ti-go, o en la tie-rra a-quí,
que~en to-do siem-pre demos la glo-ria solo a ti.

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August 17, 2005

145R O God, Our Help in Ages Past

Words: Isaac Watts (1719), alt.; Music: ST. ANNE (C.M.), William Croft (1708); Paraphrase of Psalm 90: 1-5.

ST. ANNE (C.M.)

1. O God, our help in a-ges past,
our hope for years to come,
our shel-ter from the stor-my blast,
and our e-ter-nal home.

2. Be-fore the hills in or-der stood,
or earth re-ceived its frame,
from ev-er-last-ing thou art God,
to end-less years the same.

3. Un-der the sha-dow of thy throne,
the saints have dwelt se-cure;
Suf-fi-cient is thine arm a-lone,
and our de-fense is sure.

4. A thou-sand a-ges in thy sight
are like an eve-ning gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night
be-fore the ris-ing sun.

5. Time, like an ev-er roll-ing stream,
bears its chil-dren a-way;
They fly, for-got-ten, as a dream
dies at the open-ing day.

6. O God, our help in a-ges past,
our hope for years to come,
be thou our guard while trou-bles last,
and our e-ter-nal home. A-men

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August 18, 2005

146R All Hail, the Pageant of the Years

John Haynes Holmes, O JESU, 8.6.8.6.8.8., Johann Balthazar Reimann (1741), rev. REH (2005). Though there are touches of the Divine here, the images here lie mainly in the humanist realm. All the same, it is absent from Singing the Living Tradition. "Brotherhood" from Hymns of the Spirit Two has become "neighborhood" here.

O JESU (8.6.8.6.8.8.)

1. All hail, the pag-eant of the years
that end-less come and go,
the brave pro-ces-sion of the spheres,
in Time's re-sist-less flow-
A-rise, and crown our days with good,
make us one world-wide neigh-bor-hood!

2. Be-hind us fade the cen-tur-ies
of those who wars would plan,
the fierce and foul fu-til-i-ties
of bat-tling tribe and clan-
A-rise and crown our days with good,
make us one world-wide neigh-bor-hood!

3. A-round us lies the her-i-tage
of clash-ing sword and shield;
The want and waste, the hate and rage
of many a glor-ied field-
A-rise, and crown our days with good,
make us one world-wide neigh-bor-hood!

4. Be-hold, there looms the mys-ter-y
of love di-vin-er far,
there speaks the stead-fast pro-phe-cy
of na-tions freed from war-
A-rise, and crown our days with good,
make us one world-wide neigh-bor-hood!

5. The ae-ons come, the ae-ons go,
the stars nor pause nor cease;
On wings of si-lence, soft as snow,
shall come the boon of peace:
All hail, our days are crowned with good,
make us one world-wide neigh-bor-hood!
A-men.

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August 19, 2005

147R Hail We Now this Happy Morn

Words: Percival Chubb, rev. REH (2005);Music: SONG 13 (GIBBONS) (7.7.7.7.), Orlando Gibbons (1623)

SONG 13 (7.7.7.7.)

1. Hail we now this hap-py morn,
with our faith and hope new-born;
Let our voic-es rise as one,
greet-ing this New Year be-gun.

2. Grate-ful for the fruit-ful past,
may its bright-est fruit-age last;
But our feet would for-ward fare,
up-ward to the clear-er air.

3. From the fu-ture comes a cry,
sound-ing from the up-per sky,
'Live not mere-ly for to-day;
O-thers join you on the way.'

4. So we mount the path a-head;
Let it e-cho to our tread!
All to-geth-er: step in time!
For-ward, for-ward, may all climb!

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August 22, 2005

148R O God, the Rock of Ages

Music: PASSION CHORALE (7.6.7.6. D.), Hans Leo Hassler (1601), harm. J.S. Bach (1729); Paraphrase of Psalm 61.

PASSION CHORALE (7.6.7.6. D)

1. O God, the Rock of A-ges,
who ev-er-more has been,
what time the tem-pest ra-ges,
our dwell-ing place se-rene:
Be-fore the first cre-a-tions,
O You, the same a-bove,
to end-less gen-er-a-tions,
the ev-er-last-ing Love.

2. Our years are like the sha-dows
on sun-ny hills that lie,
or grass-es in the mea-dows
that blos-som but to die;
a-sleep, a dream, a sto-ry
by stran-gers quick-ly told
and un-re-main-ing glo-ry
of things that soon are old.

3. O You, who do not slum-ber,
whose light grows ne-ver pale,
teach us a-right to num-ber
our years be-fore they fail;
On us your mer-cy light-en,
on us your good-ness rest,
and let your spir-it bright-en
the hearts that you have blessed.

4. Love, crown our faith’s en-deav-or
with beau-ty and with grace,
till, clothed in light for-ev-er,
we see you face to face:
A joy no lang-uage mea-sures,
a foun-tain brimm-ing o’er,
an end-less flow of plea-sures,
an o-cean with-out shore.

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August 23, 2005

149R Ring Out, Wild Bells

Title: "Ring Out, Wild Bells," Alfred Tennyson (1849), DEUS TUORUM MILITUM (L.M.), New Title: Same, rev. REH (2005), JERUSALEM (L.M.D), Charles Hubert Hastings Parry.

JERUSALEM (L.M.D.)

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
the fly-ing cloud, the fros-ty light;
the year is dy-ing in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let it die.
Ring out the old, ring in the new,
ring, hap-py bells, a-cross the snow:
The year is go-ing, let it go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
the civ-ic slan-der and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
ring in the com-mon love of good.
Ring in the va-liant souls and free,
the lar-ger heart, the kind-lier hand;
Ring out the sad-ness of the land,
ring in the Christ that is to be.

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August 30, 2005

150R O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

O Come, O Come Emmanuel, 13th Century Hymn, Psalteriolum Cantionum Catholicarum, 1710, Trans. John Mason Neale, 1854, alt. REH, 2005; VENI EMMANUEL, 8.8.8.8.8.8., Hymnal Noted, Part II, 1856.

VENI EMMANUEL (8.8.8.8.8.8.)

1. O come, O come, Em-man-u-el,
and ran-som cap-tive Is-ra-el;
that mourns in lone-ly ex-ile here,
un-til a ho-ly child ap-pear.
Re-joice! Re-joice! Em-man-u-el!
Shall come to all, O Is-ra-el!

2. O come, O Wis-dom from on high,
and or-der all things far and nigh,
to us the path of know-ledge show,
and teach us in her ways to go.
Re-joice! Re-joice! Em-man-u-el!
Shall come with-in as Truth to dwell!

3. O come, O Ho-ly One of might,
who to the tribes on Si-nai's height,
in an-cient times did give the law,
in cloud and ma-jes-ty and awe.
Re-joice! Re-joice! Em-man-u-el!
Shall come to us as Hope to dwell!

4. O come, O rod of Jes-se's stem,
from tri-als soon de-liv-er them,
O come, and turn all hearts to peace,
that greed and war at last shall cease.
Re-joice! Re-joice! Em-man-u-el!
Shall come to all as Peace to dwell!

5. O come, O Key of Da-vid, come,
and o-pen wide our heaven-ly home,
make safe the ways that pierce the sky,
and close the path of sor-row's cry.
Re-joice! Re-joice! Em-man-u-el!
Shall come to us as Light to dwell!

6. O come, De-sire of na-tions, bind,
in one the hearts of hu-man-kind,
bid eve-ry sad di-vi-sion cease,
and reign for aye in glo-rious peace.
Re-joice! Re-joice! Em-man-u-el!
Shall come with-in as Love to dwell!

7. O come, O Day-spring come and cheer,
our spir-its by your ad-vent here;
dis-perse the gloom-y clouds of night
and death's deep sha-dows put to flight.
Re-joice! Re-joice! Em-man-u-el!
Shall come to all, O Is-ra-el!

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151R Hail to the One Anointed

Meter, 7.6.7.6.7.6.7.6., Tune, ST. THEODULPH or ELLACOMBE

ST. THEODULPH (7.6.7.6.7.6.7.6.)

1. Hail to the one a-noint-ed, great Da-vid's great-er child!
Hail in the time ap-point-ed, when souls are re-con-ciled!
Who comes to break op-pres-sion, to set the cap-tive free;
To take a-way trans-gres-sion and rule in e-qui-ty.

2. Who comes in suc-cor speed-y to those who suf-fer wrong;
To help the poor and need-y, and bid the weak be strong;
To give them songs for sigh-ing, their even-ings filled with light,
Whose souls, con-demned and dy-ing, are pre-cious in God's sight.

3. The child comes down like show-ers upon the fruit-ful earth;
Love, joy, and hope, like flowers, spring in the path to birth;
And lead-ing, on the mountains, shall peace, the herald, go;
As life re-new-ing foun-tains, from hill to val-ley flow.

4. A-ra-bia's des-ert ran-ger, who wills to bend the knee;
The E-thi-o-pian stran-ger, true glo-ry come to see;
The Ma-gi, prayers im-plor-ing, who gold and in-cense bring;
The na-tions soon a-dor-ing, high praise they long shall sing.

5. O'er eve-ry foe vic-tor-ious, on high-est throne shall rest;
From age to age more glo-rious, all bless-ing and all blest.
The tide of time keeps ev-er the cov-en-ant a-bove;
That name shall stand for-ev-er, whose name to us is love.

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152R Veiled in Shadow Judah Lay

Meter, 7.7.7.7.7.7., Tune, EBELING or DIX.

1. Veiled in shad-ow Ju-dah lay,
Wait-ing for the pro-mised day,
While a-cross the drear-y night
Streamed a flood of glor-ious light,
Heav’n-ly voic-es chant the call,
“Peace on earth, good will to all.”

2. Still the earth in shad-ow lies,
Up from death’s deep vale a-rise
Voic-es of a world in grief,
Prayers of those who seek re-lief:
Now the shad-ow heeds the call,
“Peace on earth, good will to all.”

3. Light of light, we humb-ly pray,
Shine up-on your world to-day;
Break the gloom of our long night,
Fill our souls with love and light,
Send the bless-ed word and call,
“Peace on earth, good will to all.”

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153R As With Gladness, Those of Old

Meter, 7.7.7.7.7.7., Tune, DIX

1. As with glad-ness, those of old
Did the guid-ing star be-hold;
As with joy they hailed its light
Lead-ing on-ward, beam-ing bright:
So, most glor-ious one, may we
Ev-er-more be led to thee.

2. As with joy-ful steps they sped
To that low-ly mang-er bed;
There to bend the knee be-fore
One whom heaven and earth a-dore;
So may we with will-ing feet
Ev-er seek thy mer-cy seat.

3. As they offer-ed gifts most rare
At that mang-er rude and bare;
So may we with ho-ly joy,
Pure and free from sin’s al-loy,
All our treas-ures bring to thee,
And may heav'n-ly prais-es be.

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154R Shepherd, Tell Us of the Night

Original: Watchmen, Tell Us of the Night, John Bowring, 1858, alt. REH, 2008; WATCHMAN, 7.7.7.7.7.7.7.7., Lowell Mason, 1830.

1. Shep-herd, tell us of the night,
What its signs of prom-ise are.
Trav-eller, o’er yon moun-tain’s height,
See that glo-ry-beam-ing star.
Shep-herd, does its beau-teous ray
Aught of joy or hope fore-tell?
Trave-ller, yes—it brings the day,
Prom-ised day of Is-ra-el.

2. Shep-herd, tell us of the night;
High-er yet that star as-cends.
Trav-eller, bless-ed-ness and light,
Peace and truth its course por-tends.
Shep-herd, will its beams a-lone
Gild the spot that gave them birth?
Trave-ller, a-ges are its own;
See, it bursts o’er all the earth.

3. Shep-herd, tell us of the night,
For the morn-ing seems to dawn.
Trave-ller, sor-row takes its flight,
Doubt and ter-ror are with-drawn.
Shep-herd, let thy wand'-rings cease;
Hie thee to thy qui-et home.
Trave-ller, lo! the Roy-al Peace,
Lo! a child of God is come!

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156R O Come All Ye Faithful

Meter, Irregular; Tune, ADESTE FIDELES

1. O come, all ye faith-ful, joy-ful and tri-um-phant,
O come ye, O come ye, to Beth-le-hem.
Lo, bless-ed Christ-child, born to rule the an-gels:
O come in a-dor-a-tion,
O come in a-dor-a-tion,
O come in a-dor-a-tion,
Christ is born!

2. Lo, hum-ble shep-herds, sum-moned to the cra-dle,
leav-ing their flocks, draw near to gaze.
We too will glad-ly fol-low dus-ty foot-steps:
O come in ce-le-bra-tion,
O come in ce-le-bra-tion,
O come in ce-le-bra-tion,
Love is born!

3. Sing, choirs of an-gels, sing in ex-ul-ta-tion;
O sing, all ye cit-i-zens of heaven a-bove!
Glo-ry to God, all glo-ry in the high-est:
O come in ex-ul-ta-tion,
O come in ex-ul-ta-tion,
O come in ex-ul-ta-tion,
Life is born!

4. Bright skies led ma-gi to the child, a-dor-ing,
with gifts of in-cense, gold, and myrrh.
We to the man-ger bring our hearts’ true ques-tions:
Now come in ex-pec-ta-tion,
now come in ex-pec-ta-tion,
now come in ex-pec-ta-tion,
Christ is born!

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September 02, 2005

160R What Means This Glory Round Our Feet

Meter, L.M., Tune, ERFURT (VON HIMMEL HOCH)

1. “What means this glory round our feet,”
The ma-gi mused, “more bright than morn!”
And voic-es chant-ed clear and sweet,
“The roy-al child of peace is born!”

2. “What means this star,” the shep-herds said,
“That bright-ens through the rock-y wall?”
And an-gels an-swering o-ver-head,
sang “Peace on earth, good will to all”

3. All round a-bout our feet shall shine
a light like that the ma-gi saw,
if we our lov-ing wills in-cline
to that sweet life which is the law.

4. So shall we learn to un-der-stand
the sim-ple faith of shep-herds then,
and kind-ly clasp-ing all in all,
sing “Peace on earth, good will to all."

5. And they who to their child-hood cling,
and keep at eve the faith of morn,
shall dai-ly hear the an-gels sing,
"The roy-al child of peace is born."

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September 29, 2005

166R Silent Night

Noteworthy Composer File

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September 30, 2005

167R Still the Night, Holy the Night

STILLE NACHT (Irregular)

Word Score
PDF Score
Noteworthy Composer File

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October 05, 2005

169R Ring, O Ring, O Christmas Bells

Noteworthy Composer File

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October 07, 2005

171R O Thou In Lonely Vigil Led

Frederick Lucian Hosmer, 1903; alt. REH, 2008; ERFURT (Von Himmel Hoch), L.M., Geistliche Leider, Leipzig, 1539.

1. O thou in lone-ly vi-gil led
To fol-low Truth's new ris-en star
Ere yet the morn-ing skies are red,
And vale and up-land shad-owed are,