A man about to journey far, alternate tune

A man about to journey far called from his slaves these three,

And told them of his firm intent for what their task would be.

They were to manage, in the measure of five, two, and one,

His property and finances until his trip was done.

The first one, given five in trust, did manage his part well,

And made five more by his own skill to barter, buy, and sell.

The second one, in fashion same, also doubled his two.

The third one, with just one to trust, chose something else to do.

 

He took those funds and dug a hole to hide them in the ground,

Presuming that the funds he held would there be safe and sound.

And then their master did return and bade those slaves to come

And give account of how they held each their prolific sum.

 

"Well done," he told the one who doubled five to ten,

And to the one who doubled two he cried "well done" again.

The slave with one, by fear consumed, gave what he hid away;

The master firmly cast him out, forbidding him to stay.

 

The gifts that we are given so, however great or small,

Are not for hiding or to hoard; such fear is not our call.

To share and trade and make them more is how we're meant to live,

So that when God bids us to act, we have so much to give.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, November 2023, after Matthew 25:14-30.

MUSIC: Tune SALVATION, Kentucky Harmony, 1816 (various harmonizations)

            alternate tune KINGSFOLD, English Country Songs, 1893; harm. Ralph Vaughan Williams, 1906.

 

 

Not the easiest parable to make sense of in song. This might be one of those for revisiting in future. And I really might prefer what is listed as the alternate tune here. Either one has enough folk song/ballad quality that works to tell the story. And with the number of folk tunes that involve one or both of a couple dying from romantic disappointment or misunderstanding, the strangeness of this parable is nothing by comparison.

 

See, on this mountain

See, on this mountain the Lord is preparing

Feasts of rich food and of wines fine and pure.

All of earth's peoples are called for the sharing,

For God's providing is gracious and sure.

 

Death like a shroud covers all of the peoples;

Over the nations dark cover is spread.

God will destroy this, the light-stealing darkness

And death itself will forever be dead,

 

See, God will wipe tears away from all faces,

And our disgrace will be taken away;

No more will shame lay its burden upon us.

What God has spoken will be on that day.

 

Here, see our God who now dwells here among us,

Come now to save; for we are God's dear choice.

This is our God whom we long have awaited;

In this our saving be glad and rejoice.

 

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, October 2026, after Isaiah 25:6-9

MUSIC: Tune O QUANTA QUALIA, Paris Antiphoner, 1681;

             harm. La Feillèe's Methode du plain-chant, 1808.

 

 This text shows up in differing ways on Easter Sunday (four different ways!) and also on All Saints' Day year B, but in this case the hymn was prompted by its appearance in Ordinary Time, specifically. (Also, it's the first time I've used this hymn tune, which actually surprises me.)

 

 

  

Praise the Lord, O my soul (Psalm 146)

          

Refrain:

Praise the Lord, O my soul, God all-knowing and all-seeing;

I'll sing praise to my God for as long as I have being.

Praise the Lord, O my soul.

 

Put no trust in mortal hands

Given to war and making mayhem;

They will die and be buried,

And their plans will perish with them

Refrain

 

Let our hope be in the Lord,

The Creator of all living;

Who gives food to the hungry

And whose justice is life-giving.

Refrain

 

The Lord sets the prisoners free

And gives sight to eyes once sightless.

God lifts up those bowed over,

And God's love enwraps the righteous.

Refrain

 

Our Lord keeps a watchful eye

On the orphan, widow, stranger;

Over all generations

God will reign and shield from danger.

Refrain

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, June 2026, after Psalm 146.

MUSIC: Tune WILD MOUNTAIN THYME, Irish melody.

 

 

This one had to stay under wraps for a while because reasons, but it is now free. I'm pretty sure Psalm 146 comes up in the lectionary at some point - several times, actually... 

 

 

 

 

Give thanks to the Lord

Give thanks to the Lord, and call on God's name;

To all peoples now God's great works proclaim.

Let those who seek God live rejoicing in heart,

To God's holy name now let each sing our part.

 

Now seek out the Lord; in God's strength abide;

In God's presence stay and dwell and reside.

Remember the wonderful works God has done,

The judgments God speaks as the High Holy One.

 

The Lord is our God, whose judgments prevail,

Whose covenants will endure without fail

Through all generations, again and again;

O praise the Lord always, forever! Amen!

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, August 2026; after Psalm 105:1-8.

MUSIC: Tune LAUDATE DOMINUM, C. Hubert H. Parry, 1894.

 

 

I haven't had much success with psalm settings. Nonetheless here is a setting of the beginning of Psalm 105, which appears in the lectionary for Ordinary 22A. 

 

 

 

 

 

The stars in the sky

The stars in the sky, see the courses they run;

The planets encircle the glorious sun.

In motion, rotation, in every great thing,

The heavenly bodies in harmony sing.

 

Hear melodies grunted or hummed in the field,

To warn or to woo or to call or to yield;

Creations and creatures, in great or small things,

From land or from water, the natural world sings.

 

The ancients proclaimed it with reverent delight;

Now scientists hear it in depth and at height.

We humans, late creatures, what have we to bring?

Now lift up your voices; in harmony sing!

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, July 2026.

MUSIC: Tune MUELLER, James R. Murray, 1887.

 

 

After hearing (online) a sectional, "The Sounds of Science: God's Wonders to Perform," given by Jan Kraybill, FHS, at the 2026 conference of The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada at Princeton University, 22 July 2026.

 

 

 

 

Let our hearts be broken, alternate tune

Let our hearts be broken, let our souls be torn;

For the chaos 'round us, let us weep and mourn.

Violence and hatred, practiced in your name?

Your true gospel twisted into fear and shame?

 

Refrain:

Let our hearts be broken, let our souls be torn;

For the chaos 'round us, let us weep and mourn.

 

How have we stood silent for so many years

While this anti-gospel stoked up angry fears?

Why did we not speak out until so, so late?

When the lie was shouted, why did we still wait?

Refrain 

 

Now our call to answer will no longer wait:

Speaking truth to falsehood, speaking love to hate;

Ev'n amidst such violence, injuries and pains,

Bearing witness only to the Christ who reigns.

Refrain 

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, June 2026.

MUSIC: Tune WYE VALLEY, James Mountain, 1876.

 

 

One of those inevitable attempts to express in a hymn some kind of response to <gestures around wildly> all this. Set to the alternate tune, with refrain.

 

 

 

 

The God Who Sees

When Hagar fled from Sarah's wrath into the wilderness,

God moved an angel to come down and ask of her distress.

"I'm running from my owner's wife, whom I can never please."

She knew not yet that she had come before the God who sees.

 

The angel told her to return, that in God's great design

The son she bore would be the first of his prolific line.

She wondered how this Lord could give pronouncements such as these;

And in her wonder named this Lord to be the God who sees.

 

A woman drawing from a well was called out for a drink;

Samaritan woman, Jewish man - she knew not what to think.

She questioned him, and his replies left her so ill at ease;

She knew not yet that she had come before the God who sees.

 

She knew he was a prophet, yet he clearly was much more;

He told her everything she'd done in all her life before.

She wondered how this man could give pronouncements such as these;

And in her wonder knew this man to be the God who sees.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, June 2026, after Genesis 16 and John 4.

MUSIC: Tune RESIGNATION, USA folk melody, Lewis's Beauties of Harmony, 1828.

 

 

In a session on neglected figures in hymnody (as in hymns about, not writers), the subject of biblical women inevitably came up. Of those women somehow Hagar, the servant girl of Sarah's who got rather badly treated, formed a couple of stanzas of a hymn and wouldn't let me put it aside. Then out of nowhere the woman at the well in John 4 (who wasn't even mentioned in the session) showed up saying "hey, what about me?" Since both had the experience of being uniquely seen by God, it worked well enough to make a hymn. It might not be finished, but I need to let it settle for a while.