(For the lectionary poem for March 22, please page down to the previous post.)
Be Thou Our Vision
A hymn based on the Irish poem, especially the first two lines of each verse, and sung to SLANE, in celebration of the decision by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) finalized on March 17, 2015, to broaden marriage to include more people, describing marriage as being between two people rather than only a man and a woman.
Be thou our vision, O Lord of our hearts,
Nought be all else to us save that thou art,
Thou our best guide for more truth and more light,
Thou, ever faithful, thy presence our might.
Be thou our wisdom, and thou our true word;
We ever with thee and thou with us, Lord;
Thy love, great Father, for each one is sure,
Thy dwelling in us, forever endures.
Riches we heed not, nor vain, empty praise,
Thou, our inheritance, now and always,
Thou, in thy speaking bring joy to our hearts,
We, in our loving, thy treasure impart.
High King of heaven, our victory won,
May we reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's Sun!
No "ifs" or "buts" may to any now fall,
Thou, still our vision, O Ruler of all.
Scott L. Barton
(The penultimate line refers to a comment, per the New York Times, by William Blake Spencer, pastor of Ocean Heights Presbyterian Church in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., who is gay and voted with his presbytery on Tuesday. “It will be the last L.G.B.T.Q. issue that we debate and fight about, and finally our welcome comes without a ‘but’ or an ‘if.’”)
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