Recently I was looking for hymns for our Covenant aservice and using the Word 'find' tool on the Songs of Fellowship .rtf files withthe word 'promise.' In book 3 I found the following hymn which I think is really beautiful. We sang it to Blaenwern rather than trying to learn the original tune - the advantage of this hymn is that the 87.87D metre is such that many well known tunes can be used. Apologies for the formatting - I don't speak html so I can't seem to get it to do what I want and had to use a tilda as a verse separator - line spacing I could not get it to do without completely re-typing it! See what you think:
Lord, we thank You for the promise
Seen in every human birth;
You have planned each new beginning:
Who could hope for greater worth?
Hear our prayer for those we cherish,
Claim our children as Your own:
In the fertile ground of childhood
May eternal seed be sown.
~
Lord, we thank You for the vigourBurning in the years of youth:
Strength to face tomorrow's challenge,
Zest for life and zeal for truth.
In the choice of friends and partners,
When ideas and values form,
May the message of Your kingdom
Be the guide, the goal, the norm.
~
Lord, we thank You for the harvest
Of the settled, middle years:
Times when work and home can prosper,
When life's richest fruit appears;
But when illness, stress and hardship
Fill so many days with dread,
May Your love renew the vision
Of a clearer road ahead.
~
Lord, we thank You for the beauty
Of a heart at last mature:
Crowned with peace and rich in wisdom,
Well-respected and secure;
But to those who face the twilight
Frail, bewildered, lacking friends,
Lord, confirm Your gracious offer:
Perfect life which never ends.
Martin E Leckebusch © Kevin Mayhew 1999
Comments
Hi Catriona, Thanks for working out the meter. I had seen it before and quite liked it, but thought I would have to teach it. Now that I can use another tune I can use it even on dreaded Organ Sunday (3rd Sunday of every month we have a very ropey organist play for us, worst week for planning worship). I do wish that Sof would include a metrical index - it would make my life so much easier. Blessings Richard
Organ Sunday! Hmm, sounds like fun - an 'offal' lot of 'string' in your church by the sound of it! (Which reminds me of a typo on one of our service sheets where many of my folk merrily sang 'God is string' rather than 'strong'. Hey ho.
Remind me to check the official date of Organ Sunday so I can be sure to forget it!
I agree a metrical index in SOF would be great - but so much contemporary stuff is 'irreg' maybe it wouldn't help all that much? In the meantime I just count syllables regularly!