Notes on the Notes – January 16, 2022

“Water into Wine!”

This week’s music:

“Arise, Your Light is Come!”  (VU#79 v. 4)

“Arise, your light is come!  The mountains burst in song!
Rise up like eagles on the wing; God’s power will make us strong.”

The lyrics for this hymn are inspired by words found in the book of Isaiah and written by Ruth Duck in 1974. The tune, FESTIVAL SONG was first published in 1872 in a hymn book for the Episcopal Church of the USA called Hymnal with Tunes Old and New. This week we will be using the fourth verse of the hymn after we light the Christ candle.

“Lord, Prepare Me to Be a Sanctuary” (MV 18)

“Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary
Pure and holy, tried and true
With thanksgiving, I’ll be a living
Sanctuary for you.”

This simple song was written by John W. Thompson and Randy Scruggs in 1982.    The lyrics of “Sanctuary” are a request for God to purify oneself.   We come before God as flawed individuals, trusting in God’s love and grace.  Safe in this love, we thankfully become a living vessel for God. This week we will be using a recording by the Harmony Singers from the November 21, 2021 service.

To listen to the song go to:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LiTy7nd

“Take My Life and Let it Be” (VU #506)

“Take my life, and let it be consecrated, all for thee;
Take my moments and my days; let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of thy love;
Take my feet, and let them be swift and purposeful for thee.

Take my lips, and let them be filled with messages from thee;
Take my intellect, and use every power as thou shalt choose.

Take my will, and make it thine; it shall be no longer mine;
Take my heart, it is thine own; it shall be thy royal throne.

Take my love: and I will pour at thy feet its treasure store;
Take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for thee.”

This hymn was written by Frances Ridley Havergal early in 1874 to celebrate a period of religious awakening at a household where she was visiting.  The anonymous tune is derived from the “Kyrie” of a mass long thought to have been composed by Mozart. The words express our commitment of our entire selves to God.

Hear the hymn sung with piano accompaniment at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf11rReeWIs

“Cana Wine”

“Some friends of mine got married about three days ago,
I could take you to the place down in the valley just below.
But I think I’ll stay up here a time and enjoy the sweet warm glow,
That has come with the taste of Cana wine.

It was just a simple wedding feast, you know the kind I mean,
Holding hands, holding hearts and holding fast to all their dreams.
But somehow I got the feeling it was more than first it seemed,
Must have been from the taste of Cana wine. 

Cana wine, Cana wine, working on my heart and mind;
Flowing free, filling me, ’til I lose all sense of time.
Cana wine, pure and fine, from the fairest of all vines;
Come, sit down, and we’ll share some Cana wine.

I didn’t have that much to drink, but I never felt so tall,
The wine was finding empty holes I hadn’t known at all.
It touched the deepest hurts in me, ’til it found and filled my soul,
Never tasted the like of Cana wine.

That marriage down in Cana brought new lift to my friends,
I bless them and I wish them all the fullness life can bring.
But a new life’s rising in me too, like an overflowing stream,
And it comes from the taste of Cana wine. 

Cana wine, Cana wine, working on my heart and mind;
Flowing free, filling me, ’til I lose all sense of time.
Cana wine, pure and fine, from the fairest of all vines;
Come, sit down, and we’ll share some Cana wine.”

This reflection on the wedding at Cana was written by Gordon Light in 1987 and appears on the album “Draw the Circle Wide – The Common Cup Company Live Volume 2.”

Hear the song sung by the Common Cup Company at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du735ZkJoCo&t=23s

Learn more about the group at:  https://commoncup.com/history/

“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

Up-tempo version by Chris Bray:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t6mz8yoocY

“O Radiant Christ, Incarnate Word” (VU #84 v.4)

“O Light of Nations, fill the earth;
Our faith and hope and love renew.
Come, lead the peoples to your peace,
As stars once led the way to you.”

We will be using the fourth verse of the hymn “O Radiant Christ, Incarnate Word” as our benediction response this week. The words were written by Ruth Duck (1991).