Notes on the Notes – June 2, 2024
2nd Sunday after Pentecost
PRIDE Sunday
This week’s music:
“You, Creator God, Have Searched Me” (MV #131)
“You, Creator God, have searched me and you know my ways.
You perfectly understand me, It’s my cause of praise.
I cannot escape your presence in air, land or sea.
Your arms of love and protection are always with me.
You know me, O God, you have made me.
I am proud I’m the work of your hand.
In my waking and sleeping moments,
With my being I will praise your name.
You created light and darkness and you love them both.
You blessed the womb of my mother, you brought me to birth.
In your image and your likeness wonderfully made.
I will lift my voice to praise you, you are God indeed.”
This lively calypso song is by George Mulrain, ordained minister of the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and Americas. The lyrics are a paraphrase of Psalm 139 and also reflect the sentiments of Jeremiah 1:5. The arrangement we will be using was written for More Voices in 2007.
Hear the song sung at Peninsula United Church at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mjtSsLeJ5Y
“Spirit of Life” (VU #381)
“Spirit of Life, come unto me.
Sing in my heart all the stirrings of compassion.
Blow in the wind, rise in the sea; move in the hand, giving life the shape of justice.
Roots hold me close; wings set me free;
Spirit of Life, come to me, come to me.”
This sung prayer will be our response to the words of assurance. It was written by Carolyn McDade in 1981 and arranged by Grace Lewis-McLaren and published in 1993.
“I, the Lord of Sea and Sky” (VU #509)
I, the Lord of sea and sky,
I have heard my people cry.
All who dwell in deepest sin my hand will save.
I who made the stars of night,
I will make their darkness bright.
Who will bear my light to them?
Whom shall I send?
Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, if you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.
I, the Lord of snow and rain,
I have borne my people’s pain.
I have wept for love of them;
They turn away.
I will break their hearts of stone, give them hearts for love alone.
I will speak my word to them.
Whom shall I send?
Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, if you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.
I, the Lord of wind and flame,
I will tend the poor and lame.
I well set a feast for them;
My hand will save.
Finest bread I will provide till their hearts be satisfied.
I will give my life to them.
Whom shall I send?
Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, if you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.”
This hymn was written by Dan Schutte in 1981. “The stirring refrain is perhaps the first part of the hymn to capture the singer’s imagination.…“Here I Am, Lord” recalls immediately Isaiah 6:8: “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I; send me!’”
An unusual attribute of this hymn is the change in point of view that the singer makes between the verses and the refrain. The verses speak from the perspective of God, while the refrain is from the perspective of the singers of the hymn offering their lives to God.
Each verse reflects a paradox. The powerful God, creator of “sea and sky,” “snow and rain” and “wind and flame” is also the God who hears the “people cry,” bears the “people’s pain” and “tend[s] the poor and lame.” This is a hymn of transformation. God transforms the darkness into light in stanza one, melts “hearts of stone” with love in stanza two and nourishes the “poor and lame” with the “finest bread.”
Each stanza ends with the question, “Whom shall I send?” … The refrain immediately offers the response, “Here I am, Lord.”…” (Source: http://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-here-i-am-lord)
Original version of the song, sung by the songwriter, Dan Schutte: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBg-yDhM2KY
“For all the Children”
“God, we gather as your people to raise our song above,
And we dare to claim the promise of Your love,
Though the day may not yet be here, we trust it soon will be,
When your children will be free.
O, may our hearts and minds be opened,
Fling the church doors open wide.
May there be room enough for everyone inside.
For in God there is a welcome, in God we all belong.
May that welcome be our song.
Oh, we sing for all the children, that one day they be free;
And we sing for generations yet to be,
That they never have a reason to doubt that they are blest.
May they, in Your love, find rest.
O, may our hearts and minds be opened,
Fling the church doors open wide.
May there be room enough for everyone inside.
For in God there is a welcome, in God we all belong.
May that welcome be our song.
Oh, we pray for all the young lives cut short by fear and shame
So afraid of who they are and whom they love.
May the message now be banished that Your love is for the few,
May their faith in You renew.
O, may our hearts and minds be opened,
Fling the church doors open wide.
May there be room enough for everyone inside.
For in God there is a welcome, in God we all belong.
May that welcome be our song.
God, we’re working for the future when children far and wide
Can live their lives with dignity and pride.
As they grow in strength and stature,
May they join us hand in hand,
As against all hate we stand.
O, may our hearts and minds be opened,
Fling the church doors open wide.
May there be room enough for everyone inside.
For in God there is a welcome, in God we all belong.
May that welcome be our song.”
This song of inclusion was written by David Lohman. It comes from the hymn collection “Songs for the Holy Other.” The forward to this collection states:
“In our society and in our churches, we continue to build walls marking “out” and “in”. We continue to mark boundaries of “us” and “them”, of “normal” and “other”. Songs for the Holy Other aims to provide congregations working to dismantle these walls with a toolbox of hymns by and for those who identify as members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, transgender, nonbinary, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, aromantic, two-spirit, and other sexual/gender minority (LGBTQIA2S+) community and their allies. For many members of the LGBTQIA2S+ community, assimilation is not an option; we continue to be othered for our identities, relationship-styles, dis/abilities, race, economic status, and more. The title, Songs for the Holy Other, is a selfconscious claiming of otherness as holy and beloved of God. We who have been labeled as “wholly other” are claiming our holiness, and reclaiming our otherness as a prophetic witness to the church.”
“We Give You But Your Own” (VU #542)
“We give you but your own,
Whate’er the gift may be,
All that we have is yours alone,
We give it gratefully.”
The words for our offering response were written by William Walsham How in 1858, and updated for use in Voices United. The music is by Johann Balthasar Konig (1738), with adaptations by William Henry Havergal (1847).
“All the Colours of the Rainbow”
“All the colours of the rainbow live unseen in daily light,
But their splendours find expression when released to human sight;
So the church reveals most beauty where diversity is real:
Breadth of race and class and gender, room for doubt and space to heal.
All the body’s parts are wanted, nor can one despise the rest:
Head and hand must work together, as must eye and ear and chest;
So the church needs all its members for a range of ministries:
Varied gifts with one great mission, “Do this for the least of these.”
Every language gains more music when the words for peace appear:
Pax, Salaam, Eirini, Heiwa, Pace, Santi, Frieden, Mir.
Though our tongues make sounds that vary, all bespeak a common home:
Longing for the end of conflict and a new life in God’s Shalom.
Teach us, God our need of others; through them help us fully live.
Wean us from our selfish habits; let us listen, learn, forgive.
May we see your longed-for image in each human heart and face,
And behold how those around us can be channels of your grace.”
The words for this hymn were written by Carl P. Daw in 2016 and this hymn comes from the collection, Songs for the Holy Other. Pronunciations for the word “peace” are” Pax (pax – Latin), Salaam (sa-lahm – Arabic), Eirini (ee-ree-nee – Greek), Heiwa (hay-wah – Japanese), Pace (pah-chey – Italian), Santi (san-tee – Italian, Old French), Frieden (free-dn – German), Mir (meer – Russian).
The author and theologian Rev. Dr. Carl P. Daw, Jr., FHS writes:
“Human otherness (of whatever kind) provides a sacramental reminder of the ultimate otherness of
God, and openness to human otherness has the potential to enlarge our perception of and receptivity
to divine otherness. It is also an essential element of human maturity to recognize otherness, i.e.
to know where the self ends and otherness begins, whether that otherness be other people or
non-human objects. From a theological perspective, “otherness” is a necessary dimension of the
movement from the disappointments of self-sufficiency to the assurances of trust in God.”
The tune is ABBOT’S LEIGH, written by Cyril V. Taylor in 1942.
Hear the hymn sung at First United Methodist Church at Chicago Temple:
“One More Step Along the World” (VU #639)
“One more step along the world we go,
One more step along the world we go,
From the old things to the new, keep us traveling along with you:
And it’s from the old we travel to the new; keep us traveling along with you.
We will be using one verse of this hymn, with adapted lyrics, as our benediction response during the month of May. The hymn was written by Sydney Carter was written in 1971. The words emphasize that living a faith-filled life is more about the journey than about having all of the answers. It also speaks of our desire to have God with us as we live and learn in a world that is constantly changing. We ask that God be with us, and we be with God, as we continue to move forward and change as Windsor Park United Church.
Bonus video:
