Each week, as I begin to search for hymns and songs for Sunday, I use the various indices on HymnQuest to see what pops up... so, typically, Lectionary, Biblical, Thematic. Each week I've done this for our current series on James this hymn has popped up somewhere along the line...
We pledge to one another,
before the Lord above,
complete and full and perfect,
this union of our love -
a love that will be patient,
a love that will be wise,
that will not twist with envy,
nor lose itself in lies;
a love that will not falter,
a love to hold us fast,
and bind us to each other
as long as life shall last.
We pray that God will guide us
through all the years to be,
our lives be shaped by courage,
hope and serenity.
Through joy and celebration,
through loneliness and pain,
may loyalty, compassion
and tenderness remain,
that those who share the blessing
of love that cannot cease
may walk the paths of gentleness
into the place of peace.
Jill Jenkins (born 1937) © Jill Jenkins
It is, essentially, a wedding hymn, and sung to the lovely tune Thaxted, and yet it speaks volumes in to other relationships too. I won't be using it any time soon, because I'm not sure it would work in my context, but I think it as a wonderful hymn for an appropriate setting.
