When hands can no more reach and hold

When hands can no more reach and hold, 

            Or arms no more embrace,

When lives must now be held apart

            By yawning empty space; 

Great God, now give your children hope

            In place of sad despair,

And hold our hearts in your good peace,

            Our breaking souls repair.

God, teach us in this lonely time

            To hold in yearning prayer

Those lives and souls who touch our own,

            And give them to your care.

Let not our gnawing fear take hold

            And make us feel alone,

But teach us, Lord, to hold this truth

            Until this scourge is gone:

Those souls we’ve been loved by and love

            Are still with us this day;

That friendship touch is not denied,

            Nor is it gone away.

Help us reach out, though not with hands

            Or arms or holy kiss,

To all those friends and loved ones dear

            Whose presence now we miss.

Our prayers for health and wholeness hear,

            And give our souls release

To hope against that day when we

            Can reunite in peace.

Sustain our souls, set free our minds,

            Renew our battered love

On earth, e’en now in solitude,

            As in your realms above.

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, 2020.

MUSIC: Suggested tune RESIGNATION, USA folk melody,

            Lewis’s Beauties of Harmony, 1828 (CMD)

            

A hymn of the moment. As the grim reality of Covid-19 settled in and the necessity of isolation and "social distancing" became all the clearer, I was reminded (oddly enough, but not really?) of the Carolyn Winfrey Gillette hymn title "When hands reach out and fingers trace." The obvious question became "but what happens when we can't do that?" This hymn is a feeble attempt at an answer, or less an answer than a response? 

Born of the Spirit

Born of the Spirit, bound for the Kingdom; 

            so is the gift of God’s own true love; 

Washed in the water, raised in Christ’s likeness,

            formed in Christ’s image, born from above.

Born of the Spirit, fresh as the wind blows,

            borne on the wind like flight of the dove;

Mighty wind rushing – hark now and hear it! –

            so is the new life born from above.

Born of the Spirit, no longer sin-bound,

            set free from bondage by God’s own love; 

Our lives bear witness to Christ’s true calling

            when we are living born from above.

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, 2020, after John 3:3-9 (Lent 2A)

MUSIC: Tune BUNESSAN, Gaelic melody (5.5.5.4.D)

I doubt I’ll ever have the nerve to try to set or paraphrase John 3:16 itself, but the earlier part of the lectionary reading offers Jesus’s provocative words on the need to be “born of the Spirit,” and the familiar “Morning has broken” tune seems to bring those images to life particularly well.

The Tempter said "Turn stone to bread"

The Tempter said, “Turn stone to bread

            if you are God’s own Son.”

With so much hunger all about,

            what good work could be done?

But Jesus said, “It is not bread

            by which alone you live,

But by the ever-living Word

            that God on high does give.”

“Now throw yourself from Temple peak,”

            the Tempter next did try,

“For angels would not let you fall,

            but bear you up on high.”

But Jesus said, “You shall not test

            the Lord your God above;

For this is written in the Word

            of God’s own saving love.”

“All kingdoms of the world I give

            if you bow down to me;”

This was the Tempter’s final test

            of who our Lord would be.

But Jesus said, “Get out! Be gone!

            All worship shall you give

To God alone, and no one else!

            Heed this command and live!”

 The Tempter then withdrew at last

            from God’s beloved Son,

Whose forty days and forty nights

            of fast were finally done.

What Jesus said and Jesus did

            are ours to hold us fast

Until the time when God’s own reign

            becomes our home at last.

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, 2020, after Matthew 4:1-11 (Lent 1A)

MUSIC: Tune VOX DILECTI, John Bacchus Dykes, 1868 (CMD)

First new hymn of 2020! I have been nagged of late by the memory of a not-highly-known hymn tune that actually shifted from major to minor in mid-verse. Finally figuring out which it was (the composer is best known for the tune to which we sing "Holy, Holy, Holy"), I naturally felt challenged to create a tune for it. Looking to upcoming lectionary readings, the exchange between the Tempter and Jesus in the wilderness seemed a natural opening to exploit the contrast of mode in this tune. And hey, the first Sunday of Lent isn't until March 1, so you have plenty of time to consider this one (a list of hymnals that include the tune can be found here).

See, the desert shall rejoice

See, the desert shall rejoice, blossoming and blooming,

Brimming with new life against all the darkness looming.

From the wilderness so bleak shall come waters flowing

And the highway of our God, peace and welcome showing.

See how Mary does rejoice, trusting and foretelling

How our Savior will bring forth peace and justice swelling;

Filling up the hungry throng; lifting up the lowly.

This the Savior who she sings; mighty, good, and holy.

See the work Messiah does: seeing, walking, healing,

Hearing, living, good news come, holiness revealing.

Blessed is the one who sees goodness in the Savior

Without taking wrong offense, with no rude behavior.

See how patience is our call, like the farmer planting

Crops that bloom forth from the earth, God all favor granting.

Strengthen now your weary heart; death is not our story,

But rejoicing will return in our Savior’s glory.

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, 2019, after Advent 3A scriptures.

MUSIC: Tune TEMPUS ADEST FLORIDUM, Piae Cantiones, 1582

             (“Good King Wenceslas,” “Gentle Mary Laid Her Child”)

Advent 3A contains perhaps the most fertile combination of scriptures of any Sunday of the whole three-year cycle of the Revised Common Lectionary. Acknowledging all of them is a challenge, but all of them have something to teach us. The tune is in Glory to God with the text “Gentle Mary Laid Her Child” but is most famously associated with the popular carol “Good King Wenceslas.”

Prepare your hearts

Prepare your hearts, prepare your minds, the reign of God comes near!

The prophet’s voice cries out to all; let all God’s people hear!

            Let all God’s people hear!

Make straight the pathway of our Lord; prepare a road to be

The highway of the Holy One for all the world to see!

            For all the world to see!

No one will hurt, no one will harm in our Lord’s holy place;

Our Lord will judge with righteousness and show the poor God’s grace,

            And show the poor God’s grace.

So welcome one another all, to give God glory true,

And so prepare the way of God in all you say and do,

            In all you say and do.

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, 2019, after Advent 2A scriptures.

MUSIC: Possible tunes:

            CHRISTMAS, G.F. Handel, arr. Lowell Mason, 1821.

            WINCHESTER OLD, Este’s Psalms, 1592 (without repeated last line)

There are two deliberate projects at work in this set of hymns for Advent A; the use of some fairly well-known Christmas tunes that might not get quite as much play at Christmas as some others (i.e. I'm pretty unlikely to use ADESTE FIDELES as a part of this set), and to write (with the exception of the hymn for 4A) texts that reference all of the given scripture readings (except the psalm) for that given Sunday. The reference may be slight, as here with the brief allusion to the Romans reading in the final stanza), but hopefully they show up at least a little. 

When Joseph learned

When Joseph learned his bride-to-be was soon to have a child,

He had no wish to cause her harm or hold her up to shame.

A righteous man, his mind was set, to sad choice reconciled,

Until into his restless dreams the Lord’s own angel came.

“Oh, son of David, do the good; take Mary as your wife;

The child in her is Spirit-made of God’s own true design.

This son she bears will save us all from sin and give us life.”

The angel’s word did give him strength and his good task define.

Then came to mind these prophet words: “the woman bears a son,

His name shall be Immanuel,” God-with-us for all time.

So Joseph woke and knew his work was only now begun;

To be at Mary’s side when she gave birth to life sublime.

So Joseph did the Lord’s command, and was, both strong and true,

The earthly father of God’s Son; this work became his call.  

Now give we thanks for one who did what God called him to do,

And take his good obedience as model for us all.

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, 2019, after Matthew 1:18-25

MUSIC: Suggested Tunes:

            NOEL (Sullivan), English melody, arr. Arthur Sullivan, 1874 (Sometimes associated with “It came upon the midnight clear”)

            ST. LOUIS, Lewis Henry Redner, 1868 (“O little town of Bethlehem”)

            FOREST GREEN, English folk tune, arr. Ralph Vaughan Williams, 1906 (alternate tune for “O little town of Bethlehem”)

Got out of order here; this one is for Advent 4A, specifically the annunciation to Joseph in Matthew 1:18-25. The previous entry is for Advent 1A; 2A and 3A are forthcoming. There are multiple tunes noted, but the one set above is the one that was in my head as I wrote the text. It seems only fair; Sullivan (yes, of "Gilbert and" fame) has seen his tune for "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" eclipsed (at least in the US), and while NOEL is used in Glory to God, it's not for any seasonal text. The obvious seasonal tune name cried out for at least the proximity of Advent.

Keep watch

Keep watch, O Christian people! Awake, keep watch, and wait!

Though the Lord may tarry yet, God will surely not be late.

Even though we do not know the hour and do not know the date,

Wake, keep watch, and wait! Wake, keep watch, and wait!

Keep watch, O Christian people! Salvation now is near!

For the night is giving way, and the day is nearly here!

Shun the works of darkness grim and put away your quarreling here;

See salvation near! See salvation near!

Keep watch, O Christian people! Forget what’s come before!

Still the day is coming when war and sword shall be no more.

Nations all shall fear the Lord and sing his praise from shore to shore.

War shall be no more! War shall be no more!

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, 2019, after Advent 1A scriptures

MUSIC: Tune IN DULCI JUBILO (“Good Christian Friends, Rejoice”).

            German folk melody, 14^th cent.

An amalgam of ideas from the scriptures for the first Sunday of Advent, year A (Isaiah 2:1-5, Matthew 24:36-44, and even Romans 13:11-14). Also, it makes use of a familiar tune that can be difficult to fit in during the Christmas season. The Advent season for which I am preparing is using a progressive theme of "Watch-Prepare-Rejoice-Behold," which seems to fit with the lectionary well this year, instead of the Hope-Peace-Joy-Love that seems to have become rather common. This is meant to fit in with and help emphasize that first step of the season.