See this child laid in a manger

See this child laid in a manger, with his father standing by;

Mother resting from her labor gives a warm and weary sigh.

Jesus Christ as infant coming, all creation standing by.

 

See this child brought to the Temple, cradled in his mother's arms.

Hear the cries from nearby strangers to his parents' great alarms.

Prophets name the child as holy, who for us will suffer harms.

 

See this child and family dwelling, knowing not the threat they face.

Sages from the Eastern empires bear him gifts with awe and grace.

Then, by royal rage endangered, must the family find safe space.

 

See this child back in the Temple, asking questions wise and true.

When his parents found him still there, they chastised with much ado,

But he said, "I am my Father's, and his business I must do."

 

See this child back with his family, growing up and growing wise,

Growing in his Father's favor and as well to human eyes.

Let us learn this holy pattern; let his model be our prize.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, December 2023, after passages from Luke 2 and Matthew 2

MUSIC: Tune TRINITY, Peter Cutts, 1983, as found in The Presbyterian Hymnal, 1990. Copyright 1983 Hope Publishing Company. All rights reserved. (not reproduced here due to copyright)

 

 

I don't know why, when I am normally quite proficient at working with public domain tunes, I keep coming back to this one tune that didn't even make it into Glory to God. (It is in the previous 1990 The Presbyterian Hymnal, which is where I first learned it.) This is the third text of mine that has latched onto this tune and refused to let go. The text was provoked by an online discussion of the sometimes-cloying sentimentality of hymns or carols that try to take up Jesus's infancy/childhood, of which we know little. I tried to stick with those things that we do have in scripture, which mostly comes from Luke 2 (with a dash of Matthew 2 thrown in). 

Look who gathers at Christ's cradle!

Look who gathers at Christ's cradle! Who beholds the Savior-child?

See his mother hovering o'er him, by his newborn charms beguiled.

Joseph too, his earthly father, now beholds the scene with glee; 

Humble peasants, willing servants, these the first this child to see!

 

Now we see not only humans gathered at his cradling place; 

Sheep and oxen, God's creation, now behold the infant's face.

Lowing, bleating, hear their chorus wilder than the loudest horn; 

These the first to sing the praises of the Savior newly born.

 

From afar come lowly shepherds, hastening to the place of rest,

Eyes all full of shock and wonder at this sight so plain and blessed;

Hear them tell of angel chorus singing of this holy one;

These the first to bear their witness to this newborn Savior-son.

 

Kings nor princes found this manger; mighty warriors did not come; 

Yet the birth of this child-Savior was for all, not just for some. 

Will you bring your joyous worship? Will you come adore this Son?

All who seek the Lord are welcome; there is room for everyone.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, December 2023.

MUSIC: Tune COPELAND, Michael Corzine, 2000.

I know exactly to "blame" for this hymn. She posted a curious nativity scene image and labeled it "Look who gathers...", which happens to be the incipit of a hymn the church we both attended at the time (I assume she still does) commissioned for the anniversary of its long-time pastor, many years ago.  Of course my brain started writing immediately, and this is the result. I note from Facebook that the hymn took its final-for-now form on the birthday of the pastor honored by the original hymn (the tune name is his name). [Note: I hope the composer will forgive me for using and sharing the tune llike this...]

The Spirit of the Lord our God (Advent 3B)

The Spirit of the Lord our God fell on the prophet's heart, 

Anointing him to bring good news to those once kept apart; 

To bring release to prisoned ones and captive bonds destroy.

Pray for the freeing joy of God; pray for that freeing joy.

 

The Spirit of the Lord did fall out in the wilderness,

On one sent out there to foretell the One who comes to bless;

To preach repentance to the folk, the powerful to annoy.

Seek out the wildsome joy of God; seek out that wildsome joy.

 

The Spirit of the Lord did lead an angel to proclaim

Unto a woman who would bear the Son of God in name; 

She sang of lifting up the low, God's saving to deploy.

Go share the soulful joy of God; go share that soulful joy.

 

The Spirit of the Lord calls us to live this joy today, 

In prayer and gratitude, you see the will of God at play

To sanctify you, keep you sound, your witness to employ.

Now live the saving joy of God; now live that saviing joy.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, December 2023, after Advent 3B verses 

            (Isaiah 61:1, John 1:6-8, Luke 1:46-55, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24)

MUSIC: Tune CAROL, Richard Storrs Willis, 1850.

 

 

I suppose it was inevitable that I would revisit some of these Advent hymns. Here a hymn that focused on the epistle reading only (one I still consider a favorite) has a contrast in this text that seeks to touch on multiple readings for Advent 3B (even if the Magnificat is somehow relegated to an *alternate* reading, I will never accept that failure and will incorporate it into every Advent that involves me).

 

 

As years o'ertake us

As years o'ertake us, how our bodies fail and stumble gracelessly!

Our hearts lament what once they were but nevermore again can be. 

We rail and rage against our age and how we ne'er again will know

The vigor of our youthful frame; the strength we knew those years ago.

 

Or yet our minds may be the first to falter as the years go on; 

What once we knew with graceful ease now fails and falters and is gone.

Our memory fades and then evades us, leaving us in doubt and fear

That we might find ourselves still living, yet in vital ways, not here.

 

O great creating God, where are you when our lives are crumbling so?

O Christ, Redeemer, how are we to follow when we cannot go?

O Spirit free, how can we be refreshed and made new in this state?

Or are we bound to be laid low and watch ourselves degenerate?

 

O Three in One, where'er you are, give answer to our failing cry!

How can we serve you in this state, or is there any point to try?

We know that you are faithful to us in whatever we may face,

So Lord, we pray you teach us how to live through this in love and grace.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, November 2023.

MUSIC: Tune YE BANKS AND BRAES, Scottish melody.

This hymn is not for everybody. If it's not for you or if you take offense at it, move on. For those who need it, it is yours.

Now in the Lord rejoice!

Now in the Lord rejoice! Again, I say rejoice!

Worry is not needed here, not when Christ the Lord draws near!

Fretfulness is not our call, but true rejoicing is for all.

In the Lord rejoice! In the Lord rejoice!

 

Now in the Lord rejoice! Again, I say rejoice!

Though the things we see and hear may provoke our doubt and fear, 

Frightfulness is not our way; instead, rejoice from day to day.

In the Lord rejoice! In the Lord rejoice!

 

Now in the Lord rejoice! Again, I say rejoice!

Happiness may charm the soul but alone is not our goal.

Faithfulness and joy combined will lift our heart and soul and mind.

In the Lord rejoice! In the Lord rejoice!

 

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, November 2023.

MUSIC: Tune IN DULCI JUBILO, German folk melody, 14th cent.

 

 

A need to find a more accessible tune for a new congregation prompted this new spin on the Advent 3 candle lighting hymn provoked by those liturgies that set me on this hymn-writing path five years ago. Hopefully this tune will be familiar enough...

 

 

Let us thank our God Almighty

Let us thank our God almighty,

Let us give God all our praise.

Let us give our Christlike witness

Even to our final days. 

For the gifts of life and living,

For the love that holds us still,

We implore God's Holy Spirit

To maintain us in God's will.

 

Midst the noise of raging quarrel,

Midst the groan of endless war,

Midst the wrongs of those who claim God

But know not Christ anymore:

We are called to hold to Jesus

And maintain our gratitude,

While our life in Christlike service

Is by Spirit's work renewed.

 

We give thanks to God almighty,

We give thanks to Christ the Lord,

We give thanks to Holy Spirit,

All revealed in sacred word.

All our gratitude deserving

While the endless ages run,

Triune God we praise and worship

'Til our time on earth is done.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, November 2023.

MUSIC: Tune JEFFERSON, Alexander Johnson's Tennessee Harmony, 1818.

 

 

Written down on Thanksgiving Day 2023, and I suppose it has something of thanksgiving (or gratitude if you prefer) about it. 

The nations will gather

The nations will gather when the Son of Man comes, 

From high mighty places, from shelters and slums. 

The Son will then part them on his left and his right, 

They will all stand before him in his endless sight.

 

To those on the right he will call them to come,

"O blest of my Father, come all, not just some!

You fed me and gave me drink to me, welcomed me in! 

The kingdom is for you now; let new life begin!"

 

But those on the left now found the opposite true:

"Get out of my sight now, for you did not do

What those on my right did when you saw me in need!

Begone, you unrepentant in your selfish greed."

 

When do we see Jesus bound in hunger or thirst?

No clothing nor shelter and suffering the worst?

Our Christ bids us listen and he tells us to see:

"What you do unto those is what you do to me."

 

How then shall we live now and what then shall we do? 

Make hunger a relic and homelessness too; 

Care for the imprisoned and the sick whom we see, 

In Christ's own holy name for all eternity.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, November 2023, after Matthew 25:31-46.

MUSIC: Tune COLUMCILLE, Irish melody. (See Glory to God #101.)

 

 

The third of the Matthew 25 parables is in place, though (as with any of these hymns) revision is somewhere between possible and likely. It's a loaded parable, and some streamlining seemed to help the hymn live. This tune was not one with which I was familiar, but it shares a propulsive quality with a number of traditional tunes that will hopefully help keep any singing of this test moving and energetic.  

A man about to journey far

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.

Ten bridesmaids went out

Ten bridesmaids went out with their lamps at the ready, 

Waiting the bridegroom to come.

Of these, five were clever to bring extra oil, 

While five were not so, and brought none. 

The bridegroom delayed, their alertness was stayed

And all fell asleep on the ground.

Then at midnight there came a great shout: "Be awake now

And see that the bridegroom has come."

 

Those bridesmaids awoke to that cry in the dark

And reached for their lamps so to see.

But, oil running out, five their lamps could not trim,

While five were as bright as could be.

"O sisters, we pray, help us be on our way,

And give us some oil, would you please?"

But the five would not so: "We will not! You must go!

We will not share our oil all for free."

 

Five bridesmaids went searching for dealers of oil

And five for the bridegroom did wait.

While five were away, lo! the bridegroom did come;

The five who were gone came back late.

They begged at the door, "Let us in, we implore!" 

But these five were all turned away, 

For the bridegroom replied, "Truly, I do not know you,

And I will not open the gate."

 

Five bridesmaids did feast and make merry at banquet;

Five were left out in the cold.

The word calls them "wise" who brought oil for their lamps

And "foolish" the five who brought none.

So keep your lamps full; go where God's call does pull, 

Hear God's word and wisdom and grace.

But find mercy for those who have fallen behind 

And do not leave them out in the cold. 

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, October 2023, after Matthew 25:1-13

MUSIC: Tune SAMANTHRA, American folk melody

 

Starting a hoped-for set on the three parables of Matthew 25. Perhaps my discomfort with the parable shows up in the last verse. Oh, well. (Note that as is often the case with these folk

melodies, the tune may be public domain, but any arrangement/accompaniment you may find, especially in a hymnal - like Glory to God: The Presbyterian Hymnal #77, is probably under copywright. Report appropriately.)

O hear this word today

O hear this word today; you live in God's full care,

A God who writes upon your heart that God is there.

O hear, this day, the word that tells you whose you are! O hear, this day!

 

O hear this word today; God is our fortress strong, 

A bulwark never failing for our whole lives long. 

O hear, this day, the word that tells you whose you are! O hear, this day!

 

O hear this word today; In Christ you are redeemed. 

Even in his death Christ saves you still by grace undreamed!

O hear, this day, the word that tells you whose you are! O hear, this day!

 

O hear this word today; In Christ you are set free

From sin and death, to know Christ's truth eternally.

O hear, this day, the word that tells you whose you are! O hear, this day!

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, October 2023; after Reformation Sunday scriptures.

MUSIC: Tune DARWALL'S 148th, John Darwall, 1770.

 

 

While Jeremiah 31:31-34, Psalm 46, Romans 3:19-28, and John 8:31-36 are not RCL readings for Reformation Sunday, they have gained some traction as scriptures from which ideas for that occasion can be worked out. Yes, there's a little Martin Luther quotation in stanza 2. 

 

 

We give our thanks unto our God

We give our thanks unto our God for all of you,

And in our prayers we always say your name; 

For all your faith and labor for the Lord our God,

And for your steadfast hope in Christ the same.

Sisters and brothers, we know God has chosen you,

In how the gospel came to you with power

With full conviction from the Holy Spirit too.

We thank our God for you in every day and hour.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, October 2023, after 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10.

MUSIC: Tune LONDONDERRY AIR, Traditional Irish tune.

 

 

At this point I'd describe this text as a stub. I don't quite see it as a full hymn, but the rest of the passage cited doesn't really suggest a completion of the hymn. So what comes next? An (imagined) response from the church at Thessalonika? Something to draw the text into our own time? I mean, if someone really desperately wants to use this next Sunday with this RCL epistle reading I'm certainly not going to say no (as long as my name stays on it), but I don't think it's finished yet.

Rejoice in our Lord always

Rejoice in our Lord always; again I say, rejoice!

In how you live with others, make gentleness your choice.

 

Let worry not consume you, nor be weighed down with care,

But bring your needs before God with thanksgiving and prayer.

 

Then God's own peace, surpassing all things that we can know,

Will guard your hears and minds sure as you with Jesus go.

 

Keep on with these things you have learned, seen, received, and heard,

And God's peace will go with you to keep you in God's Word.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, October 2023, after Philippians 4:5-7, 9.

MUSIC: Tune CHRISTUS, DER IST MEIN LEBEN, Melchior Vulpius, 1609.

 

 

 

Somehow this text, after the heart of the RCL epistle reading for next Sunday (10/15/23), got up in my face to be written down even though I have no plans to preach on it for next week. But it's an epistle, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. The reading itself is longer, but these central verses and the final verse fit themselves together to this calm-but-resolute tune.

 

The reign of Christ compels us, four-part version

The reign of Christ compels us to bear a witness true

To glorify our Savior in all we say and do.

The Lord, who in our living is sovereign above all, 

Compels and draws us always to live into this call. 

 

As Christ first bore good witness to God’s almighty power, 

So we are charged to sound forth in this and every hour.

With calls to truth and justice, with words of peace and love,

We give our testimony to our good God above.

 

By Spirit’s power unyielding we bear that witness true,

Not just with words but actions that we are called to do.

In work that lifts up God’s own that this world calls “the least,” 

We call the world to gather at God’s own holy feast.

 

For God our king and ruler, all that we have, we give. 

Our witness is embodied in every way we live.

So let us join our living to words of love and grace,

That Christ’s own holy justice may reign in every place.

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, June 2021.

MUSIC: Tune AURELIA, Samuel Sebastian Wesley, 1864.

 

 

This text was provoked by a sermon by Rev. Cecilia Armstrong and service given at the Presbyterian Association of Musicians Worship and Music Conference at Montreat Conference Center in North Carolina on June 29, 2021. The scripture from Revelation 1:4b-8, in particular the reference to Christ as “the faithful witness” in verse 5, provided the starting point for the sermon (at least as I understood it) and this hymn as well. With some references to the Parable of the Sheep and Goats added as the hymn kept developing, it also can be used for Christ the King/Reign of Christ Sunday, Year A. 

A vineyard owner

A vineyard owner came to call for workers to attend his vines.

He sent them out into the field according to his own designs.

But then again, 'tween nine and ten, he called more workers to the field;

Again at three he called for more. What could so many workers yield?

 

But even at the close of day some laborers had not yet been hired.

He sent them to the field to work although the day was near expired.

When pay time came, he gave the same to late and early laborers all!

Those early workers did complain at such unfairness and such gall.

 

"How were you cheated? Did you not receive the wage we did agree?

Are your eyes evil just because I pay with generosity?

Take what is yours, that which assures that you can feed your family.

But what is mine is mine to give for those whose need I hear and see."

 

When Jesus says "the last shall be the first, and then the first are last," 

He says that heaven's kingdom is not like how we have lived the past.

Those workers all, who hear God's call, will grace and welcome truly find,

And all God's called will come to know the peace that our Lord has designed.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, September 2023, after Matthew 20:1-16.

MUSIC: Suggested tune YE BANKS AND BRAES, Scottish melody.

 

 

Some of Jesus's parables don't necessarily sound like stories that make for good hymns. They do, however, generally make for good stories, and making stories into songs has been the work of those who sing folk melodies and ballad tunes for generations. At least that idea has me thinking of how such tunes might adapt into carriers of hymns, as many already have through the work of John L. Bell and others. Suddenly I'm starting to imagine Jesus as a ballad singer...(Note: in stanza three, "are your eyes evil" comes from a more literal translation of the idiom used in the Greek, more typically translated as "are you envious". One doesn't normally want to translate idioms literally, but in this case it's rather illuminating, don't you think?)

See the children of God

Refrain:

See the children of God, and of Christ the body living!

See the Spirit among them in receiving and in giving!

See the children of God!

 

When the people share Christ's work with no barriers stood between them, 

Neither age, race, nor gender can keep any servant from him.

 

Refrain

 

(See the church of early Rome, women, men, enslaved and noble;

From such humble beginnings see the church flung wide and global.)

Refrain

 

Country roads or city streets, anywhere that lives are troubled,

May the church be the bearer of Christ's love and joy redoubled.

 

Refrain

 

Can we be such church today, in the world with joy and flavor?

Siblings all joined together, all alike in God's true favor?

 

Refrain

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, September 2023, ref. to Romans 16:1-16.

MUSIC: Tune WILD MOUNTAIN THYME, Irish melody. 

(note: tune is public domain but arrangements or harmonizations are likely copyrighted)

I am the weirdo who tries to extract a sermon out of Romans 16:1-16, Paul's extra-long greetings to members of the church at Rome that, though he had not visited yet, he still somehow knew or at least knew about. It's an interesting bunch in these greetings, from evangelists and even apostles to possibly enslaved or formerly enslaved people. There's at least a tiny little lesson for the church today in all of these names Paul calls out; if nothing else, this church and other similar congregations of the era are our ancestors in the faith, well before anybody was building cathedrals or megachurches.

On the other hand, if one isn't taking in that scripture, leaving out verse 2 should still hopefully be a useful hymn for the church, maybe even an aspirational one?

For ourselves we do not live

For ourselves we do not live,

Nor to ourselves do we die; 

If we die or if we live,

We belong to God on high.

 

To this end our Jesus died,

And yet also lives again.

Why then do you judge and chide

As if you were without sin?

 

God alone will judge us all, 

And before God we will be.

To our knees then shall we fall,

There to praise eternally.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, August 2023, after Romans 14:7-12.

MUSIC: Tune AUS DER TIEFE RUFE ICH, attr. Martin Herbst, 1676.

 

 

For this final hymn in the Romans cycle, the latter half of the reading bears the weight of song; a hymn about eating or not eating meat was frankly beyond me. The warning against judgment, not turning non-essential matters into "essential" tests of faith, and the like quite wanted to be sung, so to speak. Plus, I have now used the word "chide" in a hymn text. 

 

Owe to no one anything

Owe to no one anything, 

But to love each other well.

One who loves fulfills the law - 

All commandments one might tell; 

To a neighbor does no wrong, 

But such harm will love dispel.

 

New we know what time it is,

Time for us to wake from sleep.

Our salvation draws so near;

Night is gone and day we keep. 

Let us take up shielding light,

Put away the darkness deep.

 

Let us live with honor dear,

Not caught up in worldly care:

Vain indulgence, quarrelling rage,

Deeds that tangle and ensnare.

Put on Jesus Christ instead;

Wear his love to show and share.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, August 2023, after Romans 13:8-14.

MUSIC: Tune REDHEAD 76, Richard Redhead, 1853.

 

 

I suspect some will feel that this scripture reading needs a more exuberant or celebratory tune; for me, the weight of this passage - in many ways the very culmination of what Paul is trying to say here - bears some space for reflection and sober judgment, to borrow from earlier in the letter. 

Of the true gospel I am not ashamed

Of the true gospel I am not ashamed;

It is the power of God come to save,

For in this righteousness our God is named.

Righteous ones shall live in this faith God gave.

 

We have all sinned and our good sacrificed, 

But now are justified by God's own grace

Through the redemption brought by Jesus Christ; 

Our sins passed over, Christ's love in their place.

 

We have no cause now to boast or show pride,

No work of law has redeemed us this day; 

Only by faith is our life justified,

Only this faith sets us on the right way.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, August 2023, after Romans 1:16-17, 3:22b-31

MUSIC: Tune SLANE, Irish ballad.

 

 

This oddly patched-together lectionary reading does have some high points; it would have been impossible, for example, to make a representative hymn out of this reading without that declaration in 1:16 being a prominent part. The lurch from chapter 1 to chapter 3 brings a marked shift in tone, making a tune choice all the more significant. SLANE is up to the task of embracing both the highs and lows of such a reading.

 

 

Let God's own love

Let God's own love be genuine in you.

Hate what is evil; hold to what is true. 

Let love be mutual, and given well; 

Ardently serve God and God's love foretell.

 

In hope rejoice, and suffer patiently,

And in prayer persevere most faithfully.

Give for the saints in time of trial and need;

Welcome the stranger both in word and deed.

 

Bless those who persecute, and do not curse; 

Never let foes make you act and speak worse. 

Do not be overcome by vain falsehood;

Overcome evil only with the good.

 

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, August 2023, after Romans 12:9-21

MUSIC: Tune TOULON, Genevan Psalter, 1551.

The next reading in this year A series from Romans is a bit of a laundry list. Capturing all of Paul's items would have required a very long hymn, so a bit of a summarizing phrase is included in the final stanza. 

Therefore, sisters, brothers all

Therefore, sisters, brothers all,

Hear this, and now your charge foresee; 

Give your whole selves to our God; 

This your true worship now should be.

We, though many, are one body, 

Now and all eternity!

 

Be transformed by God's own work,

Your minds renewed so you can see,

Not conformed to worldly ways

So sorely bound and never free,

We, though many, are one body, 

Now and all eternity!

 

Sober judgment is your task,

According to the faith God gives; 

Members many, body one - 

We share the gifts that our Lord lives:

We, though many, are one body, 

Now and all eternity!

 

Prophets, ministers, and those 

Who teach us and exhort with glee; 

Givers, leaders, and the ones

For whom compassion is their plea.

We, though many, are one body, 

Now and all eternity!

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, August 2023, after Romans 12:1-8.

MUSIC: Tune REGENT SQUARE, Henry Thomas Smart, 1867.

 

The Roman road is still being built, so to speak. Any of five or six points from this passage could have been emphasized by being made into the refrain, to be sure, but our unity in the body of Christ jumped out most of all. The tune seems to provide good emphatic support to the text without overdoing it.