Comes the darkness

Comes the darkness, comes the night, 
Comes the time for human rest. 
Daily rush is put to flight, 
Though sometimes our minds protest,
And such cares are put away
‘Til the breaking of the day.

Yet for some this is untrue;
Darkness brings no time for sleep.
Labor that must yet be done, 
Midnight work hours forced to keep:
Hear our prayers this eventide,
With these workers, Lord, abide.

Night for some can bring no peace, 
Due to tortures of the mind.
Darkness will not bring release;
Only torment they will find.
Jesus, bring rest to their souls, 
‘Gainst the struggling mind’s controls.

Loneliness, another foe
Keeping weary hearts awake. 
Partners pass and children grow;
Left alone, no rest to take. 
Holy Spirit, rest and stay;
Drive such loneliness away.

For these to whom rest’s denied, 
Guide them and protect them well. 
We who now seek slumber’s tide
Let this resting night excel, 
So that we, at morning’s light,
May serve those of sleepless night.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, April 2024.

MUSIC: TUNE REDHEAD 76, Richard Redhead, 1853.

 

 

In essence, a prayer for those who don't get to sleep at night. Partly inspired after the Baltimore bridge disaster, perhaps?

An eclipse memento: Look into the darkness

Look into the darkness, different frame of being,

Free from light's demand for seeing.

For these moments fleeting, sunlight is concealed now;

Science and learning have revealed how.

Even though this we know, it is still God's wonder; 

            daytime torn asunder.

 

Swift these moments passing that the darkness holds sway;

Soon returns the light of harsh day.

In these minutes fleeting let us wait with rapture,

And a spark of awe recapture.

As we go, this we know; God has made this dark space, 

            filled it with divine grace.

 

Still in this new darkness, bright corona shining,

Gives the moon a golden lining.

Brilliant circling sliver over, 'round, and under,

Gives the daytime dark its wonder; 

Like God's love from above, circling 'round us ever,

            grace's great endeavor.

 

With the moon withdrawing, see the day returning; 

Sunshine's brilliance brightly burning.

Still the moment lingers, awe's light spark still flickering,

Drowning out our strife and bickering.

Dark sublime, for a time, daylight's reign did sever; 

            our God reigns forever.

 

Darkness is no darkness to our God unwavering,

Even when our souls are quavering.

Light and dark God favors, both in turn and measure;

Dark and light are both God's pleasure.

For this time most sublime, let us praise our Maker,

            Saver, and Caretaker.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, April 2024; 5th verse after Psalm 139:11-12.

MUSIC: Tune ARNSBERG, Joachim Neander, 1680.

 

 

Written in anticipation of and reflection after the total eclipse of April 2024, while staying at Ferncliff Camp and Conference Center for "Fernclipse," an event with programs around that eclipse. The inspiration for the final stanza somehow came with the music of Samuel Sebastian Wesley's anthem "Thou Wilt Keep Him in Perfect Peace" and its bridge section suddenly blaring into my head for no apparent reason.

 

 

When Peter and John came to Temple

When Peter and John came to Temple one day,

A man who could not walk was there on the way.

Then Peter reached out to him, told him to rise,

And pulled him up, much to the man's great surprise.

 

The people all wondered to see this man walk,

And how this could happen was all of their talk.

They saw that he held close to Peter and John,

So Peter bore witness to God's only Son.

 

He spoke of their God and the Son God had sent,

How he was rejected, his life gravely spent;

How God raised him up and how faith in his name

Gave strength to this man walking to such acclaim.

 

Then Peter gave witness to God's true design,

How Jesus faced suffering and did not decline. 

Because one man stood up and walked by God's grace

So many received the good news in that place.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, March 2024, after Acts 3:1-19.

MUSIC: Tune ST. DENIO, Welsh folk melody. 

 

 

The reading for the second Sunday after Easter does not include the account of the healing in verses 1-11, but it seemed that the hymn would make better sense by including it. The through line runs from the healing of this man to the spread of the good news to many, although that part doesn't necessarily become clear until chapter 4 in Acts!

See the people of God

Refrain:

See the people of God, held in love and grace together;

Formed in Christ's loving heart, any storm or trial to weather.

See the people of God. 

 

See them one in heart and soul, with no care or claim for owning;

They shared all things together, no complaining and no groaning.

Refrain

 

With great power they spoke of Christ and his resurrected glory;

God's grace held them in union as they told our Savior's story.

Refrain

 

There was no one here in need, no one lording over others;

What they once owned, they now sold for their siblings, sisters, brothers.

Refrain

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, March 2024, after Acts 4:32-35 (Easter 2B)

MUSIC: Tune WILD MOUNTAIN THYME, Irish melody (note: harmonizations under various copyrights).

 

 

Admittedly most pastors that I know kind of give in and preach from the mandatory gospel reading from John about Thomas and his failure to show up. For those who venture elsewhere, this reading from Acts on the communeity of Christ-followers in the early days has found its way into a hymn text with the help of a well-known Irish folk tune. 

Different harmonizations of the tune may treat the melody differently; this one follows most closely after #629 in Glory to God: The Presbyterian Hymnal, which was harmonized by Alfred V. Fedak. Some adjustments may be needed if different harmonizations are used.

See the stone rolled away (Easter Hymn)

See the stone rolled away on Easter morn, 

That day when death was slain, and hope was born.

Three followers had come at dawn’s first light, 

And what they saw and heard set them to fright.

 

See the young man in white set to one side; 

He said, “You seek one who was crucified;

But Jesus is not here; he has been raised!” 

And so the three were frightened and amazed.

 

“He goes ahead of you to Galilee; 

He’s waiting there for you to come and see.

Tell his disciples all, and Peter too, 

To follow there and hear his call to you.”

 

This is the calling still for us today: 

To follow Jesus on his saving way.

He bids us come, that new life he may give; 

So will we follow Jesus Christ and live?

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, April 2021, rev. March 2023, 2024; after Mark 16:1-7

MUSIC: Tune TOULON, Genevan Psalter, 1551.

This text has been through a few revisions; in this case the adaptation to a somewhat more accessible hymn tune necessitated a few changes here and there. I don't know of a lot of Easter-event hymns that take Mark's highly abbreviated account as their starting, so here's one that does, complete with open-ended narrative.

 

How can a resurrection come

How can a resurrection come when bodies do not heal?

A thousand cuts felt every day, and each one takes some hope away;

So grief and pain we feel.

 

Or nameless torments of the mind now drive us to the edge;

When sighs too deep for words to frame still leave us soaked in fear and shame,

How do we keep our pledge? 

 

How do we keep our promises to serve our God alone,

When every step becomes a fall, or moment's doubt casts deathly pall,

And hope is soon far gone?

 

Lord, show us where new life begins when mind or body fail!

O Resurrected One, draw near despite infirmity and fear!

Let hope at last prevail!

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, March 2024.

MUSIC: Tune REST, Frederick Charles Maker, 1887.

 

 

Not everyone is able to participate fully in the joy and celebration of days like Easter Sunday. Whether it be from physical illnesses or impediments, or due to injuries to the mind or the soul, the "alleluias" and songs of praise simply cannot rise with that kind of joy, no matter how earnestly desired they may be. If you are one of those people or have ever been one of those people (raises hand), this is for you. 

 

Prepare the way, O people

Prepare the way, O people! Your Christ is drawing near!

Cry out to this great city, so all can see and hear!

A borrowed colt he's riding, God's holy reign betiding.

Hosanna in the highest! Hosanna in the highest!

 

Spread out your coats, O people! Make clear your Teacher's way!

Make smooth the road with branches on this great joyous day!

Sing out and shout with gladness! This is no time for sadness!

Hosanna in the highest! Hosanna in the highest!

 

Blessed is the one, O people, the one who comes to save;

The one who comes in God's name, who saves us from the grave!

Here on this colt proceeding, even now for us he's pleading;

Hosanna in the highest! Hosanna in the highest!

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, March 2024, after Mark 11:1-11.

MUSIC: Tune BEREDEN VÄG FÖR HERRAN, Then Swenska Psalmboken, 1697; arr. American Lutheran Hymnal, 1930.

 

 

This might be a bad habit, but I have a tendency to find a hymn suited to a particular season or occasion and create a hymn in parallel to it but tied to a different season or occasion. Here the original, a good lively Advent hymn, provides the model for a Palm Sunday text, another occasion when "preparing the way" was the call of the day. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like sometimes it might be a good thing to make connections across the different seasons of the liturgical year. (While the Mark account is used as the starting point fot this text, it might be non-specific enough to be sung on any Palm Sunday.