Come to the gate

Come to the gate, O come to the Savior; come for safety and release.

Follow the voice of your dear Shepherd to security and peace.

Enter in to God’s protection; follow then to pastures green;  

Come to the gate, O come to the Savior; learn what life and wholeness mean.

Bandits and robbers, they cannot enter, cannot come in through this gate –

Leave them aside! Do not give ear to voices crying fear and hate.

Only follow your dear Shepherd and this voice of trust and care;

Come to the gate, O come to the Savior; find your joy and fullness there.

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, April 2020, after John 10:1-10 (Easter 4A)

MUSIC: Suggested tune HOLY MANNA, Columbian Harmony, 1825

Apparently my lectionary-hymn brain has recovered somewhat after this month-plus of quarantine.

I unwittingly dared myself to write this one. In sharing information for this coming Sunday’s service I made the offhand remark that, while there are hymns or songs for Jesus the Good Shepherd, or even the Vine, you just didn’t see hymns on Jesus as the gate for the sheep as he says in this passage. Of course my hymn-writing brain was going to take that as a dare. Of course it was.

For those who take up science

For those who take up science to study nature’s ways

And learn of your creation, the wonder it displays,

To warn us from destruction of all we have adored;

For those who take up science, we give you thanks, O Lord.

For those who take up study of creatures great and small,

On land, in air and water, O God who made them all,

To thwart annihilation of creatures that you love;

In wonder and repentance, we thank you, God above.

For those who seek out learning of water, heat, and air,

Of climate and its changing, the consequence we bear,

And who, for all their labors, face sore abuse and scorn

We thank you for the knowledge of those who work and warn.

In time when fear is rampant and ignorance is strong,

We see the consequences of years of greed and wrong;

With mourning and repentance we seek your learning new,

To know the holy healing that you would have us do.

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, April 22, 2020

MUSIC: Suggested tune AURELIA, Samuel Sebastian Wesley, 1864

Between today being Earth Day and the recent news of the death of faith-fueled climate scientist Sir John Houghton, this hymn developed. The last verse, no surprise, is the kicker - to paraphrase Sam Cooke, a change has gotta come.

I lift my voice to cry unto the Lord

I lift my voice to cry unto the Lord; 

I raise my pleading to my God on high.

I tell my trouble to the Holy One

Who knows my fainting soul and fearful sigh.

When I go out and danger lies in wait,

See, there is none to care or comfort show.

No refuge comes before my weary eye;

Hear, Lord, for I am brought down grieving low.

I cry to you, my refuge and my hope,

To save and keep me from the ones who hate,

Oh, hear my weeping and my anxious call,

And lead me from this fearful prison’s gate.

O God, I give you all my thanks and praise,

For you will ever work for good in me;

You are my strength as long as I shall live,

And you my hope for all eternity.

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, 2020, after Psalm 142

MUSIC: Suggested tunes:

            SURSUM CORDA (Smith), Alfred Morton Smith, 1941

                        (permission not available for reproduction)

            Or  MORECAMBE, Frederick Cook Atkinson, 1870

The ongoing enforced isolation keeps driving me to darker and more obscure psalms. Apparently Psalm 142 wasn't deemed suitable for lectionary use (though I would think anyone working in prison ministry might find it useful), but it may resonate in the current moment, even if the "persecutors" of the psalm's text are more internal than external. (On the other hand, the "ones who hate" are sadly too real and too plentiful today.) I've tagged it as a lament, though it isn't strictly so, because frankly at this moment it's close enough. As is usually the case with the darker psalms, the note of hope comes at the end, which I have taken the liberty of expressing as one both for "as long as I live" and "for all eternity."

This is my Father's world, adapted

This is my Father’s world, and to my listening ears

All nature sings, and ‘round me rings the music of the spheres.

This is my Father’s world; I rest me in the thought

Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas, his hand the wonders wrought.

This is my Father’s world. The birds their carols raise,

The morning light, the lily white declare their Maker’s praise.

This is my Father’s world. He shines in all that’s fair.

In rustling grass I hear him pass; God speaks to me everywhere.

This is my Father’s world. Among the mountains drear,

‘Mid rending rocks and earthquake shocks, the still, small voice I hear.

This is my Father’s world, now close to heaven bound,

For dear to God is the earth Christ trod; no place but holy ground.

This is my Father’s world. O let me ne’er forget

That though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.

This is my Father’s world. Why should my heart be sad?

The Lord is King; let the heavens ring! God reigns; Let earth be glad!

TEXT: From Maltbie D. Babcock, “My Father’s World,” in Thoughts for Every-Day Living, from the Spoken and Written Words of Maltbie Davenport Babcock, 1901; adapted from stanzas 2-5, 9, 11, 14, 16 and alt. Charles Spence Freeman, 2020.

MUSIC: Tune TERRA BEATA, Franklin L. Sheppard, 1915 

Going back to Maltbie Babcock's original poem from which the popular hymn is extracted yielded some interesting verses not typically preserved in modern hymnals. Seeking to use this hymn for an Earth Day-themed service made those stanzas seem worth reinstating. Hopefully Babcock will be pleased with this (in whatever afterlife he may be) enough to be unconcerned about the few word alterations needed for music rhythm and such.