This hymn came about after an organ recital at First Churches,
Northampton, Mass. Kiel
Krommer played a captivating piece called "Reflection," the first
sixteen measures of which called out to me as the music for a touching
hymn. I wrote the hymn words based on the music Kiel loaned me, tracked
down the composer, Daniel Bishop, in Liverpool, U.K., and sent a request
to use part of his piece for a hymn. He was apologetic that the
publisher might not allow it, and he was right. Well, the publisher
would have charged a big fee. After telling Daniel Bishop that I
understood that everyone needs to be compensated for their work, but I
just couldn't swing the publisher's requirements, Daniel offered to
write new music for this hymn. It's heavily based on the original piece
but different enough that it stands on its own. Mr. Bishop even engraved
the words and music just as you have here. We owe a lot to him if this
becomes a hymn you decide to use.
I think the best hymns are prayers, which this one is.
Verse
1 expresses a feeling of gratitude for everything that we are, and our
faith that it is by love that we live—love from God, family, and those
around us.
Verse 2 refers to all the
vicissitudes of life, including our inevitable deaths, and God's
accompanying us in it all. The last four words are the title of my
favorite poem by Thomas John Carlisle.
Coming
off the reference to our deaths in verse 2, verse 3 begins with our hope
that there are things we have accomplished, and love we have given,
that will endure after we are gone. But in the meantime, we still decide
to follow the program of our God, believing that God in Christ makes
all things new.
If you want to pair the hymn with a lectionary text, one possibility would be 2 Corinthians 5:17.
I
appreciate the comments that a few colleagues made after my first draft
of the words. This whole project goes to show that something like this
doesn't come out of a vacuum but in collaboration with good-hearted
people.
