| Texts of some Unitarian hymns used, typed out and reproduced here. The books used are Hymns for Living, Sing Your Faith, Hymns of Worship, Hymns of the Spirit, Singing the Living Tradition, and creations in No Book. In addition, there are some liturgical music resources on this page. Copy any hymn from here and paste in to a text or word processor to use. Resources here, including text, are for information and otherwise directly for the purposes of divine worship. This page is presented in association with the listing of hymns on the Pluralist Website. |
Ye earthborn children of a star
Amid the depths of space,
The cosmic wonder from afar
Within your minds embrace.
Look out, with awe, upon the art
Of countless living things;
The counterpoint of part with part,
As nature's chorus sings.
Beyond the wonder you have wrought
Within your little time;
The knowledge won, the wisdom sought,
The ornaments of rhyme;
Seek deeper still within your souls
And sense the wonder there;
The ceaseless thrust to noble goals
Of life, more free and fair.
Ye earthborn children of a star
Who seek and long and strive,
Take humble pride in what you are:
Be glad to be alive!
[John G. MacKinnon]
I sent my soul some truth to win;
My soul returned these words to tell:
"Look not beyond, but turn within,
For I myself am heaven and hell."
And as my thoughts were gently led,
Half-held beliefs were seen as true;
I heard, as new, words Jesus said:
"My friend, God's kingdom lies in you."
Now though I labour, as I must,
To build the Kingdom yet to be,
I know my hopes will turn to dust,
If first it is not built in me.
Behold us God, a little space
From daily tasks set free,
And met within thy holy place
to rest awhile with thee.
Around us rolls the ceaseless tide
of business, toil and care,
And scarecely can we turn aside
For one brief hour of prayer.
Yet these are not the only walls
Wherein thou may'st be sought:
On homeliest work thy blessing falls,
In truth and patience wrought.
Thine are the loom, the forge, the mart,
The wealth of land and sea,
The worlds of science and of art
Revealed and ruled by thee.
Work shall be prayer, if all be wrought
As thou would'st have it done:
And prayer, by thee inspired and taught,
Itself with work be one.
[From John Ellerton, 1826-1893]
O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home!
Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting thou art God,
To endless years the same.
A thousand ages in thy sight
Are like an evening gone,
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.
Time like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all of us away,
Bears all its sons away,
We fly forgotten, as a dream
They fly forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.
O God our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be thou our guard while troubles last,
And our eternal home.
[from Isaac Watts]
Now praise those famous great ones: they,
Our forebears, are in story;
And praise the One, who now as then
Reveals through us God's glory.
Praise we the wise and brave and strong,
Who graced their own and other,
Who helped the right, and fought the wrong,
And helped folk come together.
Praise we the great of heart and mind,
The singers sweetly gifted,
Whose music like a mighty wind
The souls of all uplifted.
Praise we the peaceful hands of skill,
Who builded homes of beauty,
And, rich in art, made richer still
The fellowship of duty.
Praise we the glorious names we know,
And they whose names have perished,
Lost, in the haze of long ago,
In silent love be cherished.
In peace their sacred ashes rest,
Fulfilled their day’s endeavour;
They blessed the earth, and they are blessed
Of God in all forever.
[Author: [Desexed] William George Tarrant]
Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways!
Reclothe us in our rightful mind;
In purer lives thy service find,
In deeper reverence, praise -
In deeper reverence, praise.
In simple trust like theirs who heard,
Beside the Syrian sea
The gracious calling of the Lord,
Let us, like them, without a word,
Rise up and follow thee -
Rise up and follow thee.
With that deep hush subduing all
Our words and works that drown
The tender whisper of thy call,
As noiseless let thy blessing fall
As fell thy manna down -
As fell thy manna down.
O Sabbath rest by Galilee!
O calm of hills above!
Where Jesus knelt to share with thee
The silence of eternity
Interpreted by love -
Interpreted by love!
Drop thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of thy peace -
The beauty of thy peace.
[Words: John Greenleaf Whittier; Music: Charles Hubert Hastings Parry]
O'er continent and ocean,
From city, field and wood,
Still speak, 0 Lord, thy messengers
Of peace and brotherhood.
In Athens and Benares,
In Rome and Galilee,
They fronted kings and conquerors,
And taught mankind of thee.
We hear, O Lord, these voices,
And hail them as thine own,
They speak as speak the winds and tides
On planets far and lone:
One God, the Life of Ages,
One rule, his will above,
One realm, our wide humanity,
One law, the law of love.
The tribes and nations falter
In rivalries of fear;
The fires of hate to ashes turn,
To dust the sword and spear.
Thy word alone remaineth-
That word we speak again,
O'er sea and shore and continent,
To all the sons of men.
[John Haynes Holmes]
Let freedom span both east and west,
And love both south and north,
In universal fellowship
Throughout the whole wide earth.
In beauty, wonder, everywhere,
Let us communion find;
Compassion be the golden cord
Close-binding humankind.
Beyond all barriers of race,
Of colour, caste or creed,
Let us make friendship, human worth,
Our common faith and deed.
Then east and west will meet and share,
And south shall build with north,
One human commonwealth of good
Throughout the whole wide earth.
[Jacob Trapp]
In their ancient isolation
Races framed their moral codes,
And the peoples of each nation
Trod their solitary roads.
Now the distances are shrinking;
Travel, and the printed page,
All earth´s many lands are linking,
Spreading knowledge of each sage.
Now new times demand new measures,
And new ways we must explore;
Let each faith bring its own treasures
To enrich the common store.
Then no more will creeds divide us-
Though we love our own the best-
For the larger view will guide us
As we join in common quest.
[John Andrew Storey]
Gather us in, thou Love that fillest all:
Gather the rival faiths within thy fold;
Throughout the nations, sound the clarion call:
Beneath Love´s banner all shall be enrolled!
Gather us in, we worship only thee;
In varied names we stretch a common hand;
In diverse forms a common soul we see;
In many ships we seek one promised land.
Thine is the mystic life great India craves:
Thine is the Parsee´s sin-destroying beam;
Thine is the Buddhist´s rest from tossing waves;
Thine is the empire of vast China´s dream.
Thine is the Roman´s strength without the pride;
Thine is the Greek´s glad world without its graves;
Thine is the Law that is the Jew´s life-guide;
Thine is the Christian´s faith, the grace that saves.
Gather us in, thou Love that fillest all;
Gather thy rival faiths within thy fold;
Throughout the nations, sound the clarion call:
Beneath Love´s banner all shall be enrolled!
[after George Matheson]
The art, the science, and the lore
Of those through ages long since dust,
Their hard-won wisdom, slowly grown,
Come down to us a sacred trust.
From Sinai and from Bethlehem,
From China, India, Greece and Rome,
Their music, symbols, songs and prayers
Enrich and beautify our home.
The golden splendour of the sun,
The beauty of the living earth,
The far-flung galaxies of stars,
The need to love, attend our birth;
And all the hopes and prophecies
Of freedom, peace, the coming day
Of life more deeply, grandly lived,
Shine luminous upon our way.
Ours for the present, to increase,
Ours for the future and its care,
A heritage of growing light,
To live, transmit, and greatly share.
[Jacob Trapp]
It sounds along the ages,
Soul answering to soul;
It kindles on the pages
Of every Bible scroll;
The psalmist heard and sang it,
From martyr lips it broke,
The prophet tongues out-rang it
Till sleeping nations woke.
From Sinai's cliffs it echoed,
It breathed from Buddha's tree,
It charmed in Athens' market,
It hallowed Galilee;
The hammer stroke of Luther,
The Pilgrims' seaside prayer,
The testament of Torda
One holy word declare.
It calls-and lo, new justice!
It speaks-and lo, new truth!
In ever nobler stature
And unexhausted youth.
Forever on resounding,
And knowing nought of time,
Our laws but catch the music
Of its eternal chime.
[From William Channing Gannett]
Our faith is but a single gem
Upon a rosary of beads;
The thread of truth which runs through them
Supports our varied human needs.
Confucian wisdom, Christian care,
The Buddhist way of self-control,
The Muslim´s daily call to prayer
Are proven pathways to the goal.
From many lips, in every age,
The truth eternal is proclaimed,
By Western saint, and Eastern sage,
And all the good, however named.
Beside the noblest of our race
Our lives as yet cannot compare:
May we at length their truth embrace
And in their sacred mission share.
[John Andrew Storey]
For all the paths which guide our ways
We lift our hearts in joyful praise.
For Akhenaton, by whose hand
New light was brought to Egypt´s land:
For Moses, and Judaic seers,
And every Hebrew psalm which cheers,
For Jesus Christ of lowly birth,
Who sought to found God´s reign on earth:
For Hindu´s varied paths to God
Which many noble souls have trod:
For Buddha´s path, which, like the Jain,
Has shown the way to conquer pain:
For Guru Nanak, Punjab's son,
And all that noble Sikhs have done:
For Japanese and Chinese lore,
Confucian wisdom, Shinto awe:
For Zarathustra, Parsi sage,
The fount of Persia's golden age:
For Islam's Prophet, who by grace
Transformed a wayward desert race:
For Stoic souls of Rome and Greece,
Whose fame on earth shall never cease,
For all great souls, with common voice,
Let all earth's children now rejoice!
[John Andrew Storey]
Faith of the larger liberty,
Source of the light expanding,
Law of the church that is to be,
Old bondage notwithstanding:
Faith of the free!
By thee we live -
By all thou givest and shalt give
Our loyalty commanding.
Heroes of faith in every age,
Far-seeing, self-denying,
Wrought an increasing heritage,
Monarch and priest defying.
Faith of the free!
In thy dear name
The costly heritage we claim:
Their living and their dying.
Faith for the people everywhere,
Whatever their oppression,
Of all who make the world more fair,
Living their faith's confession:
Faith of the free!
Whate'er our plight,
Thy law, thy liberty, thy light
Shall be our blest possession.
[Vincent Brown Silliman]
There's a light that was shining when the world began,
And a light that is shining in the heart of Man:
There's a light that is shining in the Turk and the Jew,
And a light that is shining, friend, in me and in you.
Walk in the light, wherever you may be,
Walk in the light, wherever you may be!
In my old leather breeches and my shaggy, shaggy locks,
I am walking in the glory of the light, said Fox.
With a book and a steeple and a bell and a key
They would bind it for ever-but they can't, said he.
O, the book, it will perish, and the steeple will fall,
But the light will be shining at the end of it all.
Walk in the light, wherever you may be,
Walk in the light, wherever you may be!
In my old leather breeches and my shaggy, shaggy locks,
I am walking in the glory of the light, said Fox.
"Will you swear on the Bible?" "I will not," said he,
"For the truth is as holy as the Book to me."
"If we give you a pistol, will you fight for the Lord?"
"You can't kill the devil with a gun or a sword."
Walk in the light, wherever you may be,
Walk in the light, wherever you may be!
In my old leather breeches and my shaggy, shaggy locks,
I am walking in the glory of the light, said Fox.
There's an ocean of darkness and I drowned in the night
Till I came through the darkness to the ocean of light;
And the light is forever, and the light will be free,
And I'll walk in the glory of the light, said he.
Walk in the light, wherever you may be,
Walk in the light, wherever you may be!
In my old leather breeches and my shaggy, shaggy locks,
I am walking in the glory of the light, said Fox.
[Sydney Carter (About George Fox, 1624-91)]
Be thou my vision, O God of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that thou art;
Thou my best thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.
Be thou my wisdom and thou my true word,
I ever with thee and thou with me, God;
Thou my soul's shelter, thou my high tower,
Raise thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.
Riches I heed not, nor world's empty praise,
Thou my inheritance, thou and always;
thou and thou only, first in my heart,
Sovereign of heaven, my treasure thou art.
Sovereign of heaven, my victory won;
May I reach heaven's joys O bright heaven's Sun.
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my vision, O Ruler of all.
[Selected by Eleanor Henrietta Hull from a Gaelic source]
You must be true unto yourself
If truth to others you would teach;
Your soul must overflow with love
If you another's soul would reach.
Think wisely, truly, and your thoughts
This hungry world shall help to feed;
Speak truly, and your every word
Shall yet become a fruitful seed.
Let lips be full of gentle speech,
Your heart respond to human need;
Live truly, and your life shall be
A glorious and a noble creed.
[After Horatius Bonar]
All heroic lives remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sand of time;
Footprints that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
Forlorn sister or lost brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us then be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labour and to wait.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act that each tomorrow
Finds us further than today.
[from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]
Now open wide your hearts, my friends,
And I will open mine,
And let us share all that is fair,
All that is true and fine.
We gather in this meeting house-
People of many kinds:
Let us, below the surface, seek
A meeting of true minds.
For in our company shall be
Great witnesses of light:
The Buddha, Krishna, Jesus - those
Gifted with clearest sight.
Like them, we seek to know ourselves,
To seek, in spite of fear;
To open wide, to all, our hearts-
For all are welcome here.
[Peter Galbraith]
O come together in truth;
O come together in peace;
O come together in joy and sharing,
Come together in knowing and caring;
Come together,
O come together,
O come together in love.
We come together in search
Of new beginnings for all,
Where understanding and trust surround us—
Gone the hate and fear that bound us;
Come together,
O come together,
O come together in love.
[Dorothy Grover]
Community, supporting friends,
Hands joined in unity...
Rejoice, my friend, in fellowship,
In living, full and free.
O let us live with humankind
As sisters, brothers, true.
We'll share our joys, our sorrows share,
Becoming as we do.
We all can grow. We can become
Our finer selves set free...
Risk what we are, sure in our faith
In what we yet can be.
[Doris Jeanine Stevens]
A noble life, a simple faith,
An open heart and hand -
These are the lovely litanies
Which all may understand;
These are the firm-knit bonds of grace,
though hidden to the view,
Which bind in sacred fellowship
All folk the whole world through.
[From A. S. Isaacs]
We would be one as now we join in singing,
Our hymn of love, to pledge ourselves anew.
To that high cause of greater understanding
Of who we are, and what in us is true.
We would be one in living for each other,
To show to all a new community.
We would be one in building for tomorrow
A nobler world than we have known today.
We would be one in searching for that meaning
Which binds our hearts and points us on our way.
As one, we pledge ourselves to greater service,
With love and justice, strive to make us free.
[Samuel Anthony Wright]
We would be one as now we join in singing
Our hymn of love, to pledge ourselves anew
To that high cause of greater understanding
Of who we are, and what in us is true.
We would be one in building for tomorrow
A greater world than we have known today;
We would be one in searching for that meaning
Which binds our hearts and points us on our way.
We would be one in living for each other,
With love and justice strive to make all free;
As one, we pledge ourselves to greater service,
To show the world a new community.
[From Samuel Anthony Wright]
Now we gather here to worship,
Each with but one life to live;
Each with gifts and each with failings,
Each with which one heart to give.
In our longing, here we gather,
With warm voices for a friend;
Two or three, or tens, or thousands,
Heart and hand to all extend.
May our circle grow still wider;
May we see as others see:
Standing in the others' sandals
Shows us they, too, would be free.
Children of a bright tomorrow,
Every race and every creed;
Men and women of all nations,
Each a glory, each in need.
Small are we, and small our planet,
Hidden here among the stars:
May we know our timeless mission -
Universal Avatars.
[Roger Taylor Walke]
Wonders still the world shall witness
Never known in days of old,
Never dreamed by ancient sages,
Howsoever free and bold.
Sons and daughters shall inherit
Wondrous arts to us unknown,
When the dawn of peace its splendour
Over all the world has thrown.
They shall rule with winged freedom
Worlds of health and human good,
Worlds of commerce, worlds of science,
All made one and understood.
They shall know a world transfigured,
Which our eyes but dimly see;
They shall make its towns and woodlands
Beautiful from sea to sea.
For a spirit then shall move them
We but vaguely apprehend—
Aims magnificent and holy,
Making joy and labour friend.
Then shall bloom in song and fragrance
Harmony of thought and deed,
Fruits of peace and love and justice -
Where today we plant the seed.
[Jacob Trapp]
And did those feet in ancient time.
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?
And did the countenance divine,
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here,
Among these dark Satanic Mills?
Bring me my bow of burning gold!
Bring me my arrows of desire!
Bring me my spear: O clouds unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire!
I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land.
[William Blake 1757-1827]
We need a city which is ours,
A place where we are free-
Not slaves within the place we've made-
A place where truth can be:
Truth in the plans our leaders make.
And in their motives too;
Truth in our commerce and our arts -
In all that people do.
Value for all the ground we take
And cover with our schemes,
As much of beauty and of health
As in the hills and streams.
Clear air, clean lives, clean government:
A city which is ours,
Where all who live can live in love
And know its finest hours.
[Bruce Findlow]
Long ago they came in conquest,
Stayed to make this land their home:
Viking warrior and Norman,
Legionnaire from ancient Rome.
Jewish victims of men's hatred,
Huguenots both rich and poor,
Fled the lands of their oppression,
Finding here an open door.
From the continent of Europe
Came Ukrainian and Greek;
And from lands of past dominion
Hindu, Parsi, Muslim, Sikh.
Many peoples, many customs,
Many new things all must learn;
Each can make a contribution
To the common good we yearn.
All our cultures now converging
Let us learn to understand;
Till in love we've built together
One great nation in this land.
[John Andrew Storey]
God our Father and our Mother, Help us to respect each other, Loving all as sister brother.
Widen now your daughter's vision, Break the shackles of tradition, Let their skills find recognition.
Help your sons to be more tender, Arrogance at last surrender, Gentleness in them engender.
Barriers have been erected, Sister, brother, been rejected, Human needs too long neglected.
Love for love shall be requited, When these ancient wrongs are righted, And your children are united.
[John Andrew Storey]
Break not the circle of enabling love,
Where people grow, forgiven and forgiving;
Break not that circle, make it wider still,
Till it includes, embraces all the living.
Come, wonder at the love that comes to life,
Where words of humour are with freedom spoken;
And people keep no score of wrong and guilt,
But will that human bonds remain unbroken.
[Extra verse version:]
Come, wonder at the Man who came and comes
To teach the world the craft of hopeful craving
For peace and wholeness that will fill the earth:
He calls his people to creative living.
Join then the movement of the love that frees,
Till people of whatever race or nation
Will truly be themselves, stand on their feet,
See eye to eye with laughter and elation.
[Words: Fred Kahn; Music Doreen Potter Leytonen or Michael Lehr; Copyright 1975 Stainer & Bell Ltd, London]
O God! the darkness roll away
Which clouds the human soul,
And let thy bright and holy day
Speed onward to its goal!
Let every hateful passion die
Which makes of neighbours foes,
And war no longer raise its cry
To mar the world´s repose.
How long shall glory still be found
In scenes of cruel strife,
Where misery walks, a giant crowned,
Crushing the flowers of life?
O hush, great God, the sounds of war,
And make thy children feel
That one, with thee, is nobler far
Who toils for human weal.
Let faith, and hope, and charity
Go forth through all the earth;
And we in holy friendship be
True to our heavenly birth.
[from William Gaskell]
Mine eyes have seen the glory of a glad, resplendent day,
When the lords of war shall vanish with their blind and brutal sway,
As the women join in marching with their men on freedom's way,
And the truth goes marching on!
Glory, glory, hallelujah,
Glory, glory, hallelujah,
Glory, glory, hallelujah,
As the truth goes marching on!
The people have awakened and their eyes must close no more,
They will burn the gibbets, sheathe the sword and still the drums of war,
They will bring the earth to blossom where the desert was before,
And the truth goes marching on!
Glory, glory, hallelujah,
Glory, glory, hallelujah,
Glory, glory, hallelujah,
As the truth goes marching on!
[Adapted by Waldemar Hille from Caroline M. Severance]
This is my song, O God of all the nations,
A song of peace for lands afar and mine;
This is my home, the country where my heart is,
Here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine;
But other hearts in other lands are beating
With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.
My country's skies are bluer than the ocean
And sunlight beams on clover leaf and pine;
But other lands have sunlight, too, and clover,
And skies are everywhere as blue as mine.
O hear my song, thou God of all the nations,
A song of peace for their land and for mine.
[Lloyd Stone]
One world this, for all its sorrow;
One world shaping one tomorrow;
One humanity, though riven -
We, to whom a world is given.
From one world there is no turning;
From one world, the prophets' yearning.
One, the world of poets, sages;
One world, goal of all the ages.
One, our world from the beginning;
One, the world we would be winning;
World, so eagerly expected;
World so recklessly rejected.
One, enfolding every nation;
One, our mightiest creation:
Dream, to guide this mind's endeavour;
Hope, to build the heart for ever.
One world, land and air and ocean;
One, upheld by our devotion.
One, as common folk have willed it;
One, as government can build it.
World of friendly ways and faces,
Cherished arts and honoured races.
One world, free in word and science;
People free, its firm reliance.
[Vincent Brown Sillima]n
Morning has broken
Like the first morning,
Blackbird has spoken
Like the first bird.
Praise for the singing,
Praise for the morning,
Praise for them, springing
Fresh from the word!
Sweet the rain's new fall
Sunlit from heaven,
Like the first dewfall
On the first grass.
Praise for the sweetness
Of the wet garden,
Sprung in completeness
Where his feet pass.
Mine is the sunlight!
Mine is the morning
Born of the one light
Eden saw play!
Praise with elation,
Praise every morning,
God's re-creation
Of the new day!
[Eleanor Farjeon]
Where are you going my little one, little one,
Where are you going my baby my own?
Turn around and you're two,
Turn around and you're four,
Turn around and you're a young girl
Going out of my door.
Turn around, turn around,
Turn around and you're a young girl
Going out of the door.
Where are you going my little one, little one,
Dirndls and petticoats, where have you gone?
Turn around and you're tiny
Turn around and you're grown,
Turn around and you're a young wife
With babes of your own.
Turn around, turn around,
Turn around and you're a young wife
With babes of your own.
[Harry Belafonte, Malvina Reynolds and Alan Greene]
Let Peace encircle all the world,
Let all on earth join hand in hand,
A living bond of fellowship,
A voice of love in every land.
[Anonymous]
O star of truth, down shining
Through clouds of doubt and fear,
I ask but 'neath thy guidance,
My Pathway may appear:
However long the journey,
However hard it be,
Though I be lone and wary,
Lead on, I'll follow thee.
[Minot Judson Savage]
A promise through the ages rings,
That always, always, something sings.
Not just in May, in finch-filled bower,
But in December's coldest hour,
A note of hope sustains us all.
A life is made of many things:
Bright stars, bleak years, and broken rings.
Can it be true that through all things,
There always, always something sings?
The universal song of life.
Entombed within our deep despair,
Our pain seems more than we can bear;
But days shall pass and nature knows
that deep beneath the winter snow
A rose lies curled and hums its song.
For something always, always sings.
This is the message Easter brings:
From deep despair and perished things
A green shoot always, always springs,
And something always, always sings.
[Alicia S. Carpenter]
Come and find the quiet centre
In the crowded life we lead,
Find the room for hope to enter,
Find the space where we are freed:
Clear the chaos and the clutter,
Clear our eyes, that we can see
All the things that really matter,
Be at peace and simply be.
Silence is a friend who claims us,
Cools the heat and slows the pace;
God it is who speaks and names us,
Knows our being, touches base,
Making space within our thinking,
Lifting shades to show the sun,
Raising courage when we're shrinking,
Finding scope for faith begun.
In the Spirit let us travel,
Open to each other's pain;
Let our lives and fears unravel,
Celebrate the space we gain:
There's a place for deepest dreaming,
There's a time for heart to care;
In the Spirit's lively scheming
There is always room to spare.
[Shirley Erena Murray]
Dear weaver of our lives' design
Whose patterns all obey,
With skillful fingers gently guide
The sturdy threads that will survive
The tangle of our days.
Take up the fabric of our lives
With hands that gently hold;
Bind in the ragged edge that care
Would sunder and that pain would tear,
And mend our rav'ling souls.
Let eyes that in the plainest cloth
A hidden beauty see;
Discern in us our richest hues,
Show us the patterns we may use
To set our spirits free.
[Nancy C. Dorian]
1: For everyone born, a place at the table, for everyone born, clean water and bread, a shelter, a space, a safe place for growing, for everyone born, a star over head,
and God will delight when we are creators of justice and joy, yes, God will delight when we are creators of justice, justice and joy!
2: For woman and man, a place at the table, revising the roles, deciding the share, with wisdom and grace, dividing the power, for woman and man, a system that's fair,
and God will delight when we are creators of justice and joy, yes, God will delight when we are creators of justice, justice and joy!
3: For young and for old, a place at the table, a voice to be heard, a part in the song, the hands of a child in hands that are wrinkled, for young and for old, the right to belong,
and God will delight when we are creators of justice and joy, yes, God will delight when we are creators of justice, justice and joy!
4: For just and unjust, a place at the table, abuser, abused, with need to forgive, in anger, in hurt, a mind set of mercy, for just and unjust, a new way to live,
and God will delight when we are creators of justice and joy, yes, God will delight when we are creators of justice, justice and joy!
5: For everyone born, a place at the table,to live without fear, and simply to be, to work, to speak out, to witness and worship, for everyone born, the right to be free,
and God will delight when we are creators of justice and joy, yes, God will delight when we are creators of justice, justice and joy!
[Shirley E. Murray © words Hope Publishing Company; extracted by NoteTab clip 'MusicXML verses extract' with chorus then repeated]
From the Light of days remembered
Burns a beacon bright and clear,
Guiding hands and hearts and spirits
Into faith set free from fear.
When the fire of commitment sets our mind and soul ablaze
When our hunger and our passion meet to call us on our way;
When we live with deep assurance of the flame that burns within,
Then our promise finds fulfilment and our future can begin.
From the stories of our living
Rings a song both brave and free,
Calling pilgrims still to witness
To the life of liberty.
When the fire of commitment...
From the dreams of youthful vision
Comes a new prophetic voice,
Which demands a deeper justice
Built by our courageous choice.
When the fire of commitment...
[Jason Shelton and Mary Katherine Morn]
Give thanks for life, the measure of our days,
Mortal, we pass through beauty that decays,
Yet sing to god our hope, our love, our praise:
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Give thanks for those whose lives shone with a light
Caught from the Christ-flame, gleaming through the night,
Who touched the truth, who burned for what is right:
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Give thanks for all, our living and our dead,
Thanks for the love by which our life is fed,
A love not changed by time or death or dread:
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Give thanks for hope that like a seed of grain
Lying in darkness, does its life retain
To rise in glory, growing green again:
Alleluia, Alleluia!
[Shirley Erena Murray]
Go now in peace,
Go now in peace,
May the spirit of love surround you,
Everywhere,
Everywhere you may go.
Go now in peace,
Go now in peace,
May the spirit of love surround you,
Everywhere,
Everywhere you may go.
[Natalie Allyn Sleeth Wakely; © Hinshaw Music]
I stand outside your door, will you admit me?
I have no home, no land, no friend, no life.
I ask so little from your great abundance,
A place to sleep, some food for child, for wife.
I have no pride, no plea, except 'asylum',
A place of peace, beyond our world of strife.
We heard a promise from your distant country:
A whisper of your peace through sounds of war;
We travelled long, rejected, cast asunder,
No rest we found, far from our native shore.
We had no pride, no plea, except 'asylum',
Will you provide for us an open door?
And so we come and wait up on your borders:
Anonymous, forsaken and alone.
Where now your promise? Where is love, compassion?
Where now the hope? Has your heart turned to stone?
Forget your pride and hear our plea 'asylum',
And let us know one country and one home.
[Frank Clabburn]
If, as we come to one we love,
We meet just staring eyes
That look at us in ignorance
And fail to recognise,
How can we hold on to the love
From which our care derives?
We ask, we plead, we hope, we trust
Our love might still survive.
If as we look to those we love,
Dependent on their care,
We struggle, cannot speak their name,
Inanimate we stare,
How can they still hold us in love
From which their care derives?
We ask, we plead, we hope, we trust
Their love might still survive.
O God we come to you in love
In doubt as much as faith,
With frail and faltering hands we grasp
The offer of your grace,
And can you recognise the ones
Who barely know your name?
We ask, we plead, we hope, we trust
Your love remains the same.
[Andrew Pratt; Words © Stainer and Bell, London]
If ev'ry woman in the world had her mind set on freedom,
If eve'ry woman in the world dreamed a sweet dream of peace,
If ev'ry woman of ev'ry nation' young and old,
Each generation held her hands out -
In the name of love there would be no more war.
If ev'ry man in the world had his mind set on freedom,
If eve'ry brother stood with brother as a witness for peace,
If ev'ry man of ev'ry nation' young and old,
Each generation held her hands out -
In the name of love there would be no more war.
If ev'ry leader in the world shared a vision of freedom,
If eve'ry leader in the world shared a sweet dream of peace,
If ev'ry leader of ev'ry nation' worked for justice
And liberation holding hands out -
In the name of love there would be no more war.
If ev'ry nation in the world set a true course for freedom,
If eve'ry nation raised its children in a culture of peace,
If all our sons and all our daughters reached in friendship
Across the waters refusing
To be enemies there would be no more war.
[Karen MacKay]
In spring I saw the Easter tree,
The Easter tree, the Easter tree;
In spring I saw the Easter tree,
The fairest gift in the garden.
'Twas tall and broad and fine to see,
And fine to see, and fine to see;
'Twas tall and broad and fine to see,
The fairest tree in the garden.
The tree it was an evergreen,
An evergreen, an evergreen;
The tree it was an evergreen,
The fairest tree in the garden.
Its fruit did taste of pure delight,
Of pure delight, of pure delight,
Its fruit did taste of pure delight,
The fairest tree in the garden.
And of that fruit all may partake,
All may partake, all may partake;
And of that fruit all may partake,
The fairest tree in the garden.
[Francis Simons]
Just as long as I have breath,
I must answer, "Yes," to life,
though with pain I made my way,
still with hope I meet each day.
If they ask what I did well,
tell them I said, "Yes," to life.
Just as long as vision lasts,
I must answer, "Yes," to truth,
in my dream and in my dark,
always that elusive spark,
If they ask what I did well,
tell them I said, "Yes," to truth.
Just as long as my heart beats,
I must answer, "Yes," to love,
disappointment pierced me through,
still I kept on loving you.
If they ask what I did well,
tell them I said, "Yes," to love.
[Alicia S. Carpenter]
Let us sing of earth's progression
From the cruel, base and mean,
Not all wrong and all transgression
Has our story always been.
On good Francis birds alighted,
Kevin held his hand as nest;
Human thought has wrought regression,
Yet by humans, life is blest.
Such was Cuthbert's revelation,
He stood singing in the sea
As the seals in celebration
Barked their Benedicite.
Though we take these takes as legend,
In them shines divinity
And we make our sung elation
For all insights gained of thee.
Not of force and domination
Over land and air and sea,
But with love's co-operation
Sing we this theology.
God of stars and God of spider,
God of fruitbat and of flower,
We are agents with creation
Working with the Spirit's power.
[Angus Martin Parker]
Lord of our growing years,
With us from infancy,
Laughter and quick dried tears,
Freshness and energy:
Your grace surrounds us all our days,
For all your gifts we bring our praise.
Lord of the strongest years,
Stretching our youthful powers,
Lovers and pioneers
When all the world seems ours;
Your grace surrounds us all our days,
For all your gifts we bring our praise.
Lord of our middle years,
Giver of steadfastness,
Courage that perseveres
When there is small success:
Your grace surrounds us all our days,
For all your gifts we bring our praise.
Lord of our older years,
Steep though the road may be,
Rid us of foolish fears,
Bring us serenity;
Your grace surrounds us all our days,
For all your gifts we bring our praise.
Lord of our closing years,
Always your promise stands;
Hold us, when death appears,
Safely within your hands.
Your grace surrounds us all our days,
For all your gifts we bring our praise.
[David Mowbray]
Loving Spirit, loving Spirit,
You have chosen me to be;
You have drawn me to your wonder,
You have set your sign on me.
Like a mother, you enfold me,
Hold my life within your own,
Feed me with your very body,
Form me of your flesh and bone.
Like a father, you protect me,
Teach me the discerning eye,
Hoist me up upon your shoulder,
Let me see the world from high.
Friend and lover, in your closeness
I am known and held and blessed;
In your promise is my comfort,
In your presence I may rest.
Loving Spirit, loving Spirit,
You have chosen me to be;
You have drawn me to your wonder,
You have set your sign on me.
[Shirley Ellen Murray ©Hope Publishing]
May the road rise with you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sunshine warm upon your face,
May the rain fall soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again,
May God [the Goddess] hold you, in the hollow of his/ her hand.
May the road rise with you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sunshine warm upon your face,
May the rain fall soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again,
May God [the Goddess] hold you, in the hollow of her hand.
May the road rise with you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sunshine warm upon your face,
May the rain fall soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again,
May God [the Goddess] hold you, in the hollow of his/ her hand.
May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
At your back!
The sunshine warm upon,
The sunshine warm upon,
The sunshine warm upon,
Your face,
Your face;
The rain fall: rain fall soft upon,
Your rain fall soft upon,
The rain fall soft upon your fields,
Soft upon your fields:
Fall soft;
And until we meet again,
We meet again:
May God hold you,
May God hold you in his hand.
May God hold you in the hollow of his hand,
Of his hand.
Amen, Amen,
Amen.
Nature shouts from earth and sky, Alleluia!
In the spring our spirits fly, Alleluia!
Join the resurrection cry, Alleluia!
Love is God and fears must die, Alleluia!
Mary's son, Christ Jesus, died, Alleluia!
Killed by humans full of pride, Alleluia!
Such a loss of such a friend, Alleluia!
Yet the cross was not the end, Alleluia!
Out of death his Spirit sings, Alleluia!
Love to all the earth he brings, Alleluia!
Telling nations, war must cease, Alleluia!
Sisters, brothers, join in peace, Alleluia!
Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Jew, Alleluia!
All are ways for love in you, Alleluia!
Many rainbows share one sun, Alleluia!
In the many, God is one, Alleluia!
[Richard Boeke]
Ours is a town for everyone
Who wants to play their part
In making it a better place
To practise living's art.
Ours is a town where every faith,
All creeds of hope and peace,
Can worship freely, yet recall
We are one human race.
Ours is a town where we must care
For those whose lives are hard,
For whom bright mornings turn to tears
And all once fair seems marred.
Ours is a town where, side by side
In friendship and goodwill,
We'll build a place where all can be
Respected and fulfilled.
So let us celebrate our town
And pledge ourselves to be
The ones who make it beautiful,
Safe, prosperous and free.
[Words © Clifford Martin Reed. Used by permission.]
The bright wind is blowing, the bright wind of heaven,
And where it is going to, no-one can say;
But where it is passing our hearts are awaking
To stretch from the darkness and reach for the day.
The bright wind is blowing, the bright wind of heaven,
And many old thoughts will be winnowed away;
The husk that is blown is the chaff of our hating,
The seed that is left in the hope for our day.
The bright wind is blowing, the bright wind of heaven,
The love that it kindles will never betray;
The fire that it fans is the warmth of our caring,
So lean on the wind - it will show us the way
[Cecily Taylor, words © Stainer and Bell.]
Think of a world without any flowers,
Think of a world with out any trees,
Think of a world with out any sunshine,
Think of a world without any breeze.
We thank you, Lord, for flow'rs and trees and sunshine.
We thank you, Lord, and praise your holy name.
Think of a world without any animals,
Think of a field without any herd,
Think of a stream without any fishes,
Think of a dawn without any bird.
We thank you, Lord, for all your living creatures.
We thank you, Lord, and praise your holy name.
Think of a world without any paintings,
Think of a room where all the walls are bare,
Think of a rainbow without any colours,
Think of the earth with darkness ev'rywhere.
We thank you, Lord, for paintings and for colours.
We thank you, Lord, and praise your holy name.
Think of a world without any science,
Think of a journey with nothing to explore,
Think of a quest without any mystery,
Nothing to seek and nothing left in store.
We thank you, Lord, for miracles of science,
We thank you, Lord, and praise your holy name.
Think of a world without any people,
Think of a street with noone living there,
Think of a town without any houses,
Noone to love and noone to care.
We thank you, Lord, for families and friendships.
We thank you, Lord, and praise your holy name.
[Doreen Newport, words © Stainer and Bell.]
View the starry realm of heaven,
Shining distant empires sing.
Skysong of celestial chidren
Turns each winter into spring,
Turns each winter into spring.
Great you are, beyond conception,
God of Gods and God of stars.
My soul soars with your perception,
I escape from prison bars,
I escape from prison bars.
You, the one within, all forming,
In my heat and mind and breath,
You my guide through hate's fierce storming,
Courage in both life and death,
Courage in both life and death.
Life is yours, in you I prosper,
Seed will come to fruit I know.
Trust that after winter's snowfall
Walls will melt and truth will flow,
Walls will melt and truth will flow.
[Words © Livia Dvorakova-Haplova; ET Richard Boeke & UUA]
The original poem by Norbert Capek, written in Dachau concentration camp, is:
View the starry realm of heaven, shining distant empire sing.
Sky-song of celestial children turns each winter into spring.
Great you are, beyond conception, God of gods and God of stars.
My soul soars with your perception, I escape from prison bars.
You the One within all forming in my heart and mind and breath,
You, my guide through hate's fierce storming, courage in both life and death.
Wake, now, my senses, and hear the earth call,
Feel the deep power of being in all;
Keep with the web of creation your vow,
Giving, receiving, as love shows us how.
Wake, now, my reason, reach out to the new;
Join with each pilgrim who quests for the true;
Honour the beauty and wisdom of time;
Suffer thy limit, and praise the sublime.
Wake, now, compassion, give heed to the cry;
Voices of suffering fill the wide sky;
Take as your neighbour both stranger and friend,
Praying and striving their hardship to end.
Wake, now, my conscience, with justice thy guide;
Join with all people whose rights are denied;
Take not for granted a privileged place;
God's love embraces the whole human race.
Wake, now, my vision of ministry clear;
Brighten my pathway with radiance here;
Mingle my calling with all who would share;
Work toward a planet transformed by our care.
[Thomas J. S. Mikelson]
Also available without verse 2
Ye holy angels bright,
Who wait at God's right hand,
Or through the realms of light
Fly at your Lord's command!
Assist our song,
For else the theme
Too high doth seem
For mortal tongue.
Ye blessed souls at rest,
Who ran this earthly race,
And now, from sin released
Behold your [the] Father's [Saviour's] face!
His [God's] praises sound,
As in His light
With sweet delight
Ye do abound.
Ye saints, who toil below,
Adore your heavenly King,
And onward as ye go
Some joyful anthem sing;
Take what he gives;
And praise him still,
Through good and [or] ill,
Who ever lives!
My soul, bear thou thy part,
Triumph in God above:
And with a well-tuned heart
Sing thou the songs of love!
Let all thy days
Till life shall end,
Whate'er he send,
Be filled with praise!
[Richard Baxter]
O sometimes gleams upon our sight,
Through present wrong, the eternal Right;
And step by step, since earth was made,
Our steady gain is thus displayed;
That all of good the past hath had
Remains to make our own time glad -
Our common daily life divine,
And every land a Palestine.
For still the new transcends the old
In signs and wonders manifold;
We need but open eye and ear
To see God’s mysteries always here.
Through the harsh noises of our day
A low, soft prelude finds its way;
Through clouds of doubt, and creeds of fear,
A light is breaking, calm and clear.
Henceforth my heart shall sigh no more
For olden time and holier shore:
God’s love and blessing, then and there,
Are now and here, and everywhere.
[J. G. Whittier (altered)]
Now comes the light for which our souls have sought,
Over the cloudy pathways of our life;
Now comes the peace for which we long have wrought,
Crowning with glad results our ceaseless strife;
O light and peace! Ye powers of gladness sure,
With, you we conquer, or with you endure.
Now comes the love, which makes all souls but one,
Calmly emergent from the strife of years;
Now comes the truth, which long our souls did shun,
Lifting us high above all doubts and fears;
O love and truth! Ye stars of human fate,
Be ye with us, and we for joy can wait.
O light and peace! O love and truth supreme!
Ye come, and coming, vanquish our despair;
Ye bring us faith, ye bring the august dream
Of some great gladness which we now prepare;
O make us worthy of that after time
Whose image fronts us now with looks sublime.
Give thanks for the corn and the wheat that is reaped,
For the labour well done and for barns that are heaped,
For the sun and the dew and the sweet honeycomb,
For the rose and the song and the harvest brought home.
Give thanks for the mills and the farms of our land,
For craft and the strength in the work of our hands,
For the beauty our artists and prophets have wrought,
For the hope and affection our friendships have brought.
Give thanks for the homes that with kindness are blessed,
For the seasons of plenty and well-deserved rest,
For our country extending from sea unto sea;
For ways that have made it a land for the Free.
Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bidd'st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!
Comforting Mother, God of hosts,
Watch o'er the souls who guard our coasts.
Protect them from the raging seas
And give them light and life and peace.
Grant them from Thy great throne above
The shield and shelter of Thy love.
God, guard and guide the ones who fly
Through the great space that is the sky.
Be with them always in the air,
In darkening storms or sunlight fair;
Oh, hear us when we lift our prayer,
For those in peril in the air!
O Unity of love and power!
Our brethren shield in danger's hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect them wheresoe'er they go;
Thus evermore shall rise to Thee
Glad hymns of praise from air and sea.
[from William Whiting, 1860; Mary Hamilton, 1915; George Jenks, 1955].
The Social Gospel is asserting:
People of differences can link up.
Once shared believing, theology:
Important, yet culture now has moved on.
So the situation is more pluralistic: Christian,
Eastern, Pagan, Humanist, doubt.
All worship together, Sharing words and symbols;
Showing the world differences as one.
[Adrian Worsfold]
We all want to come to worship, side by side;
We all want to come to worship, side by side;
We can ride the stormy weather, if we all come here and try:
We all want to come to worship, side by side.
We all seek someone to talk to, side by side;
We all seek someone to talk to, side by side;
We can ride the stormy weather, if we all come here and try:
We all seek someone to talk to, side by side.
We all need a lot of loving, side by side;
We all need a lot of loving, side by side;
We can ride the stormy weather, if we all come here and try:
We all need a lot of loving, side by side;
We can volunteer together, side by side;
We can volunteer together, side by side;
We can ride the stormy weather, if we all come here and try:
We can volunteer together, side by side.
So let's all become together, side by side;
So let's all become together, side by side;
We will welcome better weather, as we've all come here and tried:
So let's all become together, side by side.
So let's all become together, side by side!
[Adrian Worsfold after Slade]
Truth is a vital need,
Here for us to receive,
Reach as it comes to you,
As it comes to me,
As we will always need this inside our hearts.
Peace is a state we preach,
A space for us all to reach,
Peace and truth sing to you,
As they sing to me,
And we will always take these inside our hearts.
[Adrian Worsfold after Yes]
Now we dismiss with full blessings,
Our hearts filled with joy and peace.
Let us, still intensely seeking,
Work to focus towards truth.
Hallelujah, we are restored,
Going into the week to come.
[Adrian Worsfold after Slade]
Shlomit, she builds a tempor'y sukkah,
Full of light and such glowing greenery.
That's why today she's very busy.
But it's not simply a standard sukkah!
Full light, within, and such bright greenery -
Shlomit, she builds up a sukkah of peace.
She will not, today, forget to lay out
The lulav and the myrtle leaves on show,
And add a branch of still green willow,
A pomegranate contained in its leaves,
And yes, the fruits, the lovely autumn crop,
All with the fragrance of ripe orange groves.
And when our maker Shlomit says to us,
'Look! It is already quickly finished!'
Yes, something wondrous will happen now:
All local neighbours: they will come and see,
And come, they will, at speed and in a swarm -
and there will be room here for everyone!
At night, up through the roof of branches high,
There's a bright glow falls as a diamond.
She'll spot the star, it saying and loud:
Shalom, shalom, this wondrous sukkah yours,
How fine, how fine, and how pleasing it is -
Shlomit, she did build a sukkah of peace.
[After Naomi Shemer
Schlomit is a female name meaning Peace.]
Translation from the Hebrew:
Shlomit is building a sukkah
Full of light and greenery
That's why today she's so busy.
But it's not simply a sukkah
Full of light and greenery -
Shlomit is building a sukkah of peace ("sukkat shalom").
She will not forget to lay out
The lulav and the myrtle leaves (hadasim),
A branch of green willow,
a pomegranate within its leaves,
and all the fruits of autumn,
with its fragrance of orange groves.
And when Shlomit says
Look! It's already finished!
Suddenly something wondrous will happen:
all the neighbors will come,
it will be a swarm -
and there will be room for everyone!
Then, through the roof of branches,
With a bright glow as though it were a diamond
She will spot a star, saying:
-Shalom, wondrous sukkah,
how fine and how pleasing it is -
that Shlomit builds a sukkah of peace.
[Naomi Shemer (translation).]
Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy,
whose trust, ever childlike, no cares could destroy,
be there at our waking, and give us, we pray,
your bliss in our hearts, Lord, at the break of the day.
Lord of all eagerness, Lord of all faith,
whose strong hands were skilled at the plane and the lathe,
be there at our labours, and give us, we pray,
your strength in our hearts, Lord, at the noon of the day.
Lord of all kindliness, Lord of all grace,
your hands swift to welcome, your arms to embrace,
be there at our homing, and give us, we pray,
your love in our hearts, Lord, at the eve of the day.
Lord of all gentleness, Lord of all calm,
whose voice is contentment, whose presence is balm,
be there at our sleeping, and give us, we pray,
your peace in our hearts, Lord, at the end of the day.
[Jan Struther; © Oxford University Press]
Be still, for the presence of the Lord, The Holy One, is here.
Come bow before him now, with reverence and fear.
In him no sin is found, we stand on holy ground.
Be still for the presence of the Lord, The Holy One, is here.
Be still for the glory of the Lord is shining all around.
He burns with holy fire, with splendour he is crowned.
How awesome is the sight, our radiant King of light!
Be still for the glory of the Lord is shining all around.
Be still for the power of the Lord is moving in this place.
He comes to cleanse and heal, to minister his grace.
No work too hard for him, in faith, receive from him.
Be still for the power of the Lord is moving in this place.
Be still, Be still. [as with Aled Jones]
[Copyright © 1986 Thankyou Music]
Though below me I feel no motion,
Standing on these mountains and plains.
Far away from the rolling ocean,
Still my dry-land heart can say:
"I've been sailing all my life now,
Never harbour nor port have I known:
The wide universe is the ocean I travel,
And the Earth is my blue boat home."
Sun, my sail, and moon, my rudder,
As I ply the starry sea;
Leaning over the edge in wonder,
Casting questions into the deep.
Drifting here with my ship's companions,
All we kindred pilgrim souls;
Making our way by the lights of the heavens,
In our beautiful blue boat home.
Hmm... [half a verse]
I give thanks to the waves upholding me,
Hail the great winds urging me on.
Greet the infinite sea before me,
Sing the sky my sailor's song:
"I was born upon the fathoms,
Never harbour or port have I known:
The wide universe is the ocean I travel,
And the Earth is my blue boat home.
The wide universe is the ocean I travel,
And the Earth is my blue boat home!"
Blue Boat... home.
Ah... [two lines to end]
Though below me, I feel no motion
Standing on these mountains and plains.
Far away from the rolling ocean,
Still my dry land heart can say:
"I've been sailing all my life now,
Never harbour or port have I known:
The universe is the ocean I travel
And the earth is my blue boat home."
Sun, my sail, and moon my rudder,
As I ply the starry sea;
Leaning over the edge in wonder
Casting questions into the deep.
Drifting here with my ship's companions,
All we kindred pilgrim souls;
Making our way by the lights of the heavens
In our beautiful blue boat home.
I give thanks to the waves upholding me:
Hail the great winds urging me on.
Greet the infinite sea before me,
Sing the sky my sailor's song:
"I was born upon the fathoms,
Never harbour or port have I known:
The universe is the ocean I travel
And the earth is my blue boat home."
[Words Peter Mayer]
[(Alteration: The [wide] universe is the ocean I travel)]
Once of earth, and living truly,
Music ended, no more tune:
Body that was animated,
Noble even in its ruin.
Not through further time decaying
Can there simply be an end -
Ashes that someone might measure
In the hollow of a hand.
Not through wandering winds as idle,
Worn away dead dust to fly,
Scattered far, t'was nerve and sinew,
Drifting through an empty sky.
Rather this: the shining highways
Circulating element,
Opened out new routes do beckon
Lead to active settlement!
If about, still, all around us,
Earth with leaves and violets strewn,
Carbon pure will be the fragment:
Heat upon the building stone.
Take, O take this, mighty Gath'rer,
Give again thy servant's soul,
Of the stars from which this wandered -
Exiled and formed long ago.
[Words; Adrian Worsfold. Inspired by Aurelius Prudentius Clemens (348 - after 405) Take Him, Earth, for Cherishing]
Make me a channel of Your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me bring Your love.
Where there is injury, Your pardon, Lord.
And where there’s doubt, true faith in You.
Make me a channel of Your peace.
Where there’s despair in life, let me bring hope.
Where there is darkness, only light.
And where there’s sadness, ever joy.
O Master, grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console;
To be understood, as to understand,
To be loved, as to love with all my soul.
Make me a channel of your peace.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
In giving all ourselves that we receive,
And in dying that we’re born to eternal life.
O Master, grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console.
To be understood, as to understand,
And to love, as to love with all my soul.
Make me a channel of your peace.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
In giving all ourselves that we receive,
And in dying that we’re born to eternal life.
Make me a channel of your peace.
[Words attributed to St. Francis of Assisi]
New every morning is the love
Our wakening and uprising prove;
Through sleep and darkness safely brought,
Restored to life and power and thought.
New mercies, each returning day,
Hover around us while we pray;
New perils past, new sins forgiven,
New thoughts of God, new hopes of heaven.
If on our daily course our mind
Be set to hallow all we find,
New treasures still, of countless price,
God will provide for sacrifice.
The trivial round, the common task,
Will furnish all we need to ask:
Room to deny ourselves; a road
To bring us daily nearer God.
Only, O Lord, in thy dear love,
Fit us for perfect rest above;
And help us, this and every day,
To live more nearly as we pray.
[Words by John Keble, 1822, with 'need' for 'ought']
Where is God when lives seem pointless,
Kicking empty cans about?
Where is God if they're avoiding
Homes that always shut them out?
Where is God when people queuing
For a brew are short of change?
Where is God when airborne bottles
Find their human prey in range?
Where is God when desperate addicts
Rob the weak of rings and pride?
Where is God if life in prison
Teaches yet more ways inside?
Where is God when single parents
Meet eviction in the face?
Where is God if youths who struggle
Are not given time or space?
Where is God when racist taunting
Turns the fear in us on them?
Where is God if half-truth tabloids
Make us foolishly condemn?
Where is God but in each question,
In the prompting us to care
How our lives might start to answer
Those who ask - Is God still there?
[Words © Graham Adams (Luther King House) 2014]
God of the granite and the rose,
Soul of the sparrow and the bee,
The mighty tide of Being runs
Through countless channels, Lord, from Thee.
It leaps to life in grass and flowers,
Through every grade of being runs,
Till from creation's radiant towers
Its glory flames in stars and suns –
Its glory flames in stars and suns!
O, ye who sit and gaze on Life,
With folded hands and fettered will,
Who only see, amid the strife,
The dark supremacy of ill;
Know that, like birds and streams and flowers,
The life that moves you is Divine,
Nor time nor space, nor human powers,
Your godlike spirit can confine –
Your godlike spirit can confine!
God of the granite and the rose,
Soul of the sparrow and the bee,
The mighty tide of Being flows
Through all thy creatures back to thee.
Thus round and round the circle runs –
A mighty tide without a shore –
While humans, angels, stars and suns
Unite to praise thee evermore –
Unite to praise thee evermore!
[Words by Lizzie Doten, made inclusive, published 1911]
We develop spiritually
When we come together to pray.
Progress thoughts, if ever so slightly
(Sunday gathered and suited days).
To include all the social, communal:
Drinking, chatting, such fun we enjoy!
Holy Spirit, working within us,
Soul and body we do employ.
Metaphors we use fairly freely,
Depths of meaning, poetic views;
Myths and symbols, Chalice and candles
Shared with many or just the few.
Christian, Humanist, Eastern and Pagan,
Conversation, experience now;
Draw strands in, combine to assure and
Bring to fruit our communion's vow.
Love we seek, it needs special effort,
Where we are - in what we expect;
Neighbours are we for this key aspect:
Show each other mutual respect.
Unitarianism is builded
On the founding of the Golden Rule:
Do to others as you'd be guided,
So to realise all love - our goal.
Faith be bold,
Filled with love,
Letters less,
Spirit free,
Expands for
You and Me:
Worship where we gather,
Affirm one another.
Sing some more, more, more,
Sing some more, more, more;
Spirit free,
You and me,
Affirm one another.
Prophets come,
Are so clear,
Tolerate,
Free to be,
Different,
All are one,
Know that we do matter,
Persons grow together.
Sing some more, more, more,
Sing some more, more, more,
Free to be,
All are one,
Persons grow together.
Know our
God:
Be at peace,
Prepare for
Future time,
Open up
Mutual space,
This day and forever,
All in this endeavour.
Sing yet more, more, more,
Sing yet more, more, more,
Be at peace,
Mutual space,
All in this endeavour.
Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to show me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.
Or (and repeat one verse)/ and
Buddha nature: Buddha with me,
Buddha follows, Buddha leads me,
Buddha shows me, Buddha near me,
Buddha comforts and restores me;
Buddha above, Buddha 'neath me,
Buddha quiet, Buddha-danger,
Buddha reaches all who love me,
Buddha calls from friend and stranger.
[Adrian Worsfold added Buddha]
Wele'n sefyll rhwng y myrtwydd
Wrthddrych teilwng o fy mryd
Er o'r braidd 'rwy'n Ei adnabod
Ef uwchlaw gwrthrychau'r byd
Henffych fore!
Caf ei weled fel y mae.
Rhosyn Saron yw Ei enw
Gwyn a gwridog, hardd Ei bryd!
Ar ddeng mil y mae'n rhagori
O wrthddrychau penna'r byd
Ffrind pechadur!
Dyma'r llywydd ar y mor.
Beth sydd imi mwy a wnelwyf
Ag eilunod gwael y llawr?
Tystio 'r wyf nad yw eu cwmni
I'w gymharu a'm Iesu Mawr.
O! am aros
Yn Ei gariad ddyddiau f'oes.
Guide me, O Thou great redeemer
Pilgrim through this barren land
I am weak but Thou art mighty
Hold me with Thy powerful hand.
Bread of heaven, bread of heaven
Feed me till I want no more
Feed me till I want no more.
Open now the crystal fountain
Whence the healing waters flow
Let the fiery, cloudy pillar
Lead me all my journey through.
Strong Deliv'rer, Strong Deliv'rer
Be Thou still my strength and shield
Be Thou still my strength and shield.
When I tread the verge of Jordan
Bid my anxious fears subside
Bear me through the swelling current
Land me safe on Canaan's side
Songs of praises, songs of praises
I will ever give to Thee
I will ever give to Thee.
Love is the intended by this Church,
The search with thought is its rationale and service shows its prayer;
To dwell together for peace,
To seek free understanding,
To serve us all in fellowship to the end that all folk can grow in harmony with the divine.
This do we covenant with each other and of God.
[UUA Words adapted by Adrian Worsfold based on Hull Unitarians' discussions and beyond; Music, from John Ward of Dublin Unitarians and transposed down from F flat to C Major with one bar length reduced.]
[Explanation: Unitarians don't have doctrines nor is love necessarily achieved; epistemology of truth is problematic and a sacrament is of a ritual and Unitarians have rituals; no problem linking fellowship with realising the divine; God covenanted with Abraham and Noah, etc (it is written): it is God who covenants, and whilst we might covenant with each other we don't covenant with God nor has God covenanted with Unitarians, as far as I can tell.]
The Spirit who's manifest,
Named beyond all names,
Influence give,
On all who live,
Becoming with diff'rence made.
Sustain all life,
To handle strife,
To forgive unconditionly,
As we strive on to build up our fulfilling lives.
And avoid those ways towards destruction,
By just counteracting evil,
And focus our practice,
Then nurture one another,
To build the Community So it grows.
Amen.
[Music, Joseph Lees; Words, Adrian Worsfold.]
Adrian Worsfold
Pluralist - Liberal and Thoughtful