Through the Hands of Friends

God's mighty works are sometimes seen 

In great and marvelous ways;

In miracles or deeds of power 

Great glory God displays.

And yet how often we have known

That, to achieve these ends,

The workings of the Lord our God

Come through the hands of friends.

 

Those friends who lend a helping hand

At time of crucial need,

And labors that seemed all but lost

Are finished by this deed; 

In gifts of time and energy

Then come great dividends, 

When many hands make lighter work

Done by the hands of friends.

 

In costly deeds or simple steps

We help each other through

When one among us is at loss,

Does not know what to do.

What seems a simple kindly deed

Now so much more portends: 

The love of God made manifest,

Shown through the hands of friends.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, August 2023.

MUSIC: Possible tunes: 

            ELLACOMBE, Gesangbuch der Herzogl. Wirtembergischen Katholischen Hofkapelle,                                                1784; alt. 1868.

            NOEL, English melody; arr. Arthur S. Sullivan, 1874 (used here).

 

Written after receiving some desperately needed help at the last minute in preparing to move.