We seek once more your light to show,
To mark our path your way to know,
To find the strength that you provide,
To stand with truth and not take sides.
We seek Christ's grace to guide us now
and through our faith such love allow,
Your one true plan: "Thy will be done,"
A joy that's meant for everyone.
Your table blest, no one denied,
We are as one for that you died,
Each one a part your heart define;
My neighbor is your hand in mine.
We now step forward in your light
To set this broken work aright,
Thy kingdom come, the surest test
Our troubled souls have found their rest.
Author notes
I wrote this as an original hymn with the same title and the tune (BALBOA UNION) but it can be easily sung to many hymn tunes. Normally, I keep my faith in the closet, but I had reason to put this before others to cope with yet another year of political and natural turmoil.) It was inspired by the challenges to faith brought by n disasters and upheavals. It is meant to be simple and usable and orthodox (though I generally flounder in an existentialist fog.) My wife is an accomplished musician. Between the two of us, and an old sailor who once was a cellist in the Detroit symphony and at this time was sailing a sailboat to the Gallapagos Islands, we cobbled a tune that sounds a little like the beginning of the theme to Masterpiece Theatre.) We dedicated it to the old Balboa Union Church in Balboa, Panama. They pasted it in the back of their hymnals and now sing it frequently. I am sorry that I cannot send you the music but the words work with other old hymn tunes (8888 metre. The words themselves supply a general catechism for faith and service.
Written March 18th, 2006
A contest entry
- Sacred Chants & Hymns Of Praise by Mercury Rising.
1000 points, ended August 17, 2007, 18 entries
Honorable mention
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
What did you think
Comments
1 - 26 of 26
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Beautiful write. It does sound like an old Hymn I would sing in Church. I love it.
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A wonderful hymn and an excellent entry in my contest. Best of luck, and thanks for entering this heart-felt expression of your faith.
David
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Very beautiful. I can see how this could be easily sung.
"We now step forward in your light
To set this broken work aright,
Thy kingdom come, the surest test
Our troubled souls have found their rest."
Yes, that is what we are called to do. To bear His light and bring His compassion into a broken world.
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I enjoyed looking at your backgrounds. I am sorry that I cannot reproduce the hymn tune to the hymn that my wife and I wrote. It sounds almost like an 18th century drinking song-very English.
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Thank you for inviting me. This is a classic. Its words I can near sung throughout time. It is ageless and eternal.
"We now step forward in your light
To set this broken work aright,
Thy kingdom come, the surest test
Our troubled souls have found their rest."
Just what I needed to read today.
Marianne
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I greatly appreciate you reading the words to the hymn. It was written a year ago in the wake of the turmoils and natural disasters of 2005. My wife was a professor of music at the University of Panama and was saying goodbye to students as well as the congregation of the Balboa Union Church. We wrote the hymn for the occasion. It was wonderful to be able to weave our skills together and to leave something substantive and uplifting.
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Such a soulful heart warmimng piece of poetry, glorifiying our God in heaven, Such is the stuff that inspires salvation and those who seek the cross, well doen sir, well done
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I appreciate the pat on the back.
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Hmmm...this actually enlightened me. It gave me this warm feeling...Thanks for that
Also, the flow of this poem was very good. Your words, they were exceptional.
Keep writing dear
Love,
Tal
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Thanks you so much. As I say, I try to keep my own faith on a personal level and respect what others keep in theirs. This was written for a faith community but has meaning on a wider level, I believe.
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This is beautiful...so positive and full of hope...we all can relate and take what we will...lovely, thanks for sharing
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I appreciate the fact that you got something out of this.
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God Bless you for sharing this. I love the wonderful words you have shared here....you have a wonderful talent.
Liz -
Wow!!! This is so unique, heartfelt and authentic. I love how it almost sounds like a prayer. (dont know the song you refered to) This is brilliant!
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this write s most uplifting and upbeat
i like this very much!!!
we all need to be reminded of god's unending grace,
he is our lord and our saviour
with him and through him all things are possible
thank you for this write
many blessings to you,
keep on inspiring us with your talent!! -
You used the word, "grand." I concentrated on the active voice and I kept it simple and basic. So many times the context for religious awareness is a lonely and quiet place where the writer speaks of "a still small voice. Thanks for the interest and the encouragement.
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I really enjoyed this. All my writing life I have tried to come up with good poems about God and religion. However when I try it never seems grand enough. I am sure he appreciates my efforts; however I hav'nt mastered it yet. You have and in such a comforting way. Thank you for sharing.
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Very Good.
I liked this poem. It was very spiritual. Those are my favorite kind. They are uplifting. And that’s what this poem was. Your flow was nice. Good job. My favorite part was:
We seek Christ's grace to guide us now
and through our faith such love allow,
Your one true plan: "Thy will be done,"
A joy that's meant for everyone.
This is soo true. Thank you for writing this. I hope this can inspire others who have yet to find the LORD. Keep up the good writes, have a wonderful day, and the obvious….God bless you in all you do.
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beautiful, inspirational, blessed piece.. A true gift of praise to God.. Great flow, so well written and yes, I could sing this. God Bless..
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We now step forward in your light
To set this broken work aright,
Thy kingdom come, the surest test
Our troubled souls have found their rest.
It is truely a heartfelt and very warming work by the soul of the poet as well.The thoughts here are very sacred and very true to the heart of the every humanbeing too.The beauty of this work lies in its concept which is just very deep and truely bringing the light of the spirtual arena of this great eternity .The flow of this work is very impresive and just to the point too.I really appreciate this work.prabhudayal khattar
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Bravo!
Please read my for the birds (the first poem) and know how much God inspired it! -
This is very good. I really enjoyed the words you used and the message was wonderful. I can imagine it as a beautiful and powerful hymn.
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This is an addendum to my previous note, meant for The Lord's Servant and other interested partys: These verses should go with any hymn with 8888 metre.
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I am pleased that this string of verses caught your eye. These are 4 verses and make more sense if you separate them out as you would in a hymn. I wrote them in response to the very depressing string of tragedies that the world experienced in 2005. Two hymn tunes should come to mind. I have recently moved to Texas from Balboa, Panama, and I don't have any hymnals out where I can skim through them. Try:
"Lord Speak to Me That I may Speak." (I think you will find that my verses work much better.)
Another hymn is "The King of Glory Waits." It may also be titled,"Lift up Your Doors, Ye Mighty Gates." It is a rousing tune and gives alot of zing to the words.
I am sure that these verse will fit other standards, but I just wanted to have original music. Unfortunately, my printer is not hooked up and I do not have the proper hook up to send music. If you are willing to send your address, I would be glad to send the original hymn. I would be honored to have your opinion.
Hudson Phillips
2701 Twin Oaks
Austin, Texas
78757
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This is a delightful piece but it is difficult to read laid out as text rather than in a more traditional hymn tune format. I also can't think of any tunes it would go to. Can you give me one?
Thank you so much. -
Whilst I do not hear these words singing in my mind I can, and do, feel them as a powerful prayer. I would not have thought it amiss had I heard them in church rather than read them here.
Well done.
Jim S
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