Above:  World Map, 1570

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1864) by George Thomas Coster (1835-1912)

Hymn Source = The Pilgrim Hymnal (1904)

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From north and south and east and west,

When shall the peoples, long unblest,

All find their everlasting rest,

O Christ, in thee?

+++++++++++

When shall the climes of ageless snow

Be with the gospel light aglow,

And all men their Redeemer know,

O Christ, in thee?

+++++++++++

When on each southern balmy coast,

Shall ransomed men, in countless host,

Rise, heart and voice, to make sweet boast,

O Christ, in thee?

+++++++++++

O when in all the Orient lands,

From cities white and flaming sands,

Shall men lift dedicated hands,

O Christ, to thee?

+++++++++++

O when shall heathen darkness roll

Away in light, from pole to pole,

And endless day by every soul

Be found in thee?

+++++++++++

Bring, Lord, the long-predicted hour,

The ages’ diadem and flower,

When all shall find their refuge, tower,

And home in thee!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Above:  The Communion of the Apostles

Image in the Public Domain

Text (Published in 1900) by George Thomas Coster (1835-1912)

Hymn Source = The Pilgrim Hymnal (1904)

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O Friend divine, with thee apart

Communing we have rest;

A blissful stillness rules the heart

That thus is blest.

++++++++

Thou call’st us from the strain of care

And from the battle strife,

To win in quietude of prayer

Abundant life.

++++++++

Thy call to fellowship how sweet!

With thee the silent mind

In thy great light itself can greet,

Its fulness find.

++++++++

Wise patience is thy gift,–and strength

For thee to toil, then wait

For harvest days that come at length,

And ne’er too late.

++++++++

With thee the boundlessness we learn

Of good for us in store,

That, much received, we yet may turn

To thee for more.

++++++++

With thee communing grow we brave

Our heart with joy is rife:

No fear! and see we e’en the grave

As Gate of Life.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Above:  The Communion, by Lucas Velàzquez

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1891) by George Thomas Coster (1835-1912)

Hymn Source = The Pilgrim Hymnal (1904)

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We join with all, in every place,

Who celebrate the undying grace

That bowed in death to save our race,–

With all, upon the land and sea,

That lowly bend adoring knee,

And, Saviour, now remember thee,–

+++++++++++++

With all in chamber lone that make

Their prayer, in pause of pain, and break

The bread, and of the cup partake,–

With all in reverent throngs that now

Within thy temple loving bow,

And breathe the sacramental vow,–

+++++++++++++

With all our kin beyond the foam,

Who find, though in far lands they roam,

Still in thy love their life, their home,–

We join with all, where’er they be,

Who bend commemorative knee,

And now in love remember thee.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Above:  Icon of the Triumphal Entry

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1898) by William Henry Draper (1855-1933)

Hymn Source = Pilgrim Hymnal (1958), United Church of Christ

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Lord, through this holy week of our salvation

Which thou hast won for us who went astray,

In all the conflict of thy sore temptation

We would continue with thee day by day.

+++++

We would not leave thee, though our week endurance

Make us unworthy here to take our part;

Yet give us strength to trust the sweet assurance

That thou, O Lord, art greater than our heart.

+++++

Along that sacred way where thou art leading,

Which thou didst take to save our souls from loss,

Let us go also, till we see thee pleading

In all prevailing prayer upon thy cross.

+++++

Until thou see thy bitter travail’s ending,

The world redeemed, the will of God complete,

And, to thy Father’s hands thy soul commending,

Thou lay the work he gave thee at his feet.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Above:  Landscape with the Parable of the Sower, by Pieter Brueghel the Elder

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1897) by Washington Gladden (1836-1918)

Hymn Source = The Pilgrim Hymnal (1904), National Council of Congregational Churches in the United States

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Behold a Sower!  from afar

He goeth forth with might;

The rolling years his furrows are,

His seed the growing light;

For all the just his word is sown,

It springeth up alway;

The tender blade is hope’s dawn,

The harvest, love’s new day.

+++++

O Lord of life, to thee we lift

Our hearts in praise for those,

Thy prophets, who have shown thy gift

Of grace that ever grows,

Of truth that spreads from shore to shore,

Of wisdom’s widening ray,

Of light that shineth more and more

Unto thy perfect day.

+++++

Shine forth, O Light, that we may see,

With hearts all unafraid,

The meaning and the mystery

Of things that thou hast made:

Shine forth, and let the darkling past

Beneath thy beam grow bright;

Shine forth, and touch the future vast

With thine untroubled light.

+++++

Light up thy Word; the fettered page

From killing bondage free;

Light up our way; lead forth this age

In love’s large liberty!

O Light of light!  within us dwell,

Through us thy radiance pour,

That word and life thy truths may tell,

And praise thee evermore.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Above:  St. Julian’s Episcopal Church, Douglasville, Georgia, August 27, 2017

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Hymn Source = The Pilgrim Hymnal (1904), National Council of Congregational Churches in the United States

Words (1855) by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1812-1896)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Abide in me, O Lord, and I in thee!

From this good hour, O leave me never more!

Then shall the discord cease, the wound be healed,

The life-long bleeding of the soul be o’er.

+++++++

Abide in me; o’ershadow by thy love

Each half-formed purpose, and dark thought of sin;

Quench, ere it rise, each selfish, low desire,

And keep my soul as thine, calm and divine.

+++++++

Abide in me; there have been moments blest

When I have heard thy voice and felt thy power,

Then evil lost its grasp, and passion hushed

Owned the divine enchantment of the hour.

+++++++

These were but seasons, beautiful and rare;

Abide in me and they shall ever be;

Fulfil at once thy precept, and my prayer,–

Come, and abide in me, and I in thee.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Above:  Descent from the Cross

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn Source = The Pilgrim Hymnal (1904), National Council of Congregational Churches in the United States

Text (1893) by Theodore Claudius Pease (1853-1893)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

O Lord of life, once laid in Joseph’s tomb,

Around Thy grave the garden bursts in bloom,

Thy glory breaks the world’s long night of gloom.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

+++++

Thou for us all didst hang upon the tree;

The burden of our sins was borne by Thee;

Thy stripes have healed, Thy sorrows set us free.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

+++++

Now all is o’er,–Thy toil, Thy grief, Thy pain;

The veil of death by Thee is rent in twain;

Thine earthly loss is our eternal gain.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

+++++

Henceforth, through hours of ease and days of care,

Help us with Thee our daily cross to bear,

Strong in Thy strength, and brave Thy cup to share.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

+++++

When through dark vales our lonely pathway lies,

Though hearts may faint, and tears may dim our eyes,

Thy light shall guide our footsteps to the skies.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

+++++

And when, at last, our work on earth is o’er,

Lead us where Thou hast trod the path before,

Through death to life with Thee forevermore!

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Above:  Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, by Ludolf Bakhuizen

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1890) by Theodore Claudius Pease (1853-1893)

Hymn Source = The Pilgrim Hymnal (1904), National Council of Congregational Churches in the United States

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Dear Lord, who once upon the lake

Of stormy Galilee,

Didst from Thy weary pillow wake

To hush the wind and sea,–

+++++

Come at our prayer, and speak Thy peace

Within each troubled breast;

Bid the loud winds of passion cease,

And waves of wild unrest:

+++++

Let that deep calm our bosoms fill,

That dwells for aye with those

Who lose their wishes in Thy will,

And in Thy love repose.

Above:  All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Atlanta, Georgia, May 8, 2016

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Text (1890) by Theodore Claudius Pease (1853-1893)

Source #1 = The Pilgrim Hymnal (1904), National Council of Congregational Churches in the United States

Source #2 = The Christian Ministry:  Its Present Claim and Attraction and Other Writings (1894)

The Pilgrim Hymnal (1904) contains five of the seven stanzas; The Christian Ministry (1894) offers the complete text.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

How blest Thy first disciples, Lord,

Whom Thou didst choose to walk with thee,

Who daily met around Thy board,

And made Thy home and family!

+++++

How blest, when throng and press were gone,

And weary day herself had fled,

From all the noisy world withdrawn,

Alone with Thee to break the bread!

+++++

Has the long day its burden brought?

Are heavy hearts in sorrow bound?

What sweet relief in kindly thought;

What sympathy with Thee is found!

+++++

For every care Thou hast an ear;

Thou knowest all their changing moods:

What stirs the timid Philip’s fears,–

Why thoughtful Thomas sadly broods.

+++++

Ah, who would such a meeting miss?

What strength is here to nerve the will!

How fair a home for hearts is this!

Who would not long to find it still?

+++++

And is the vision vain as sweet?

Nay, Lord, Thy table still is spread;

And ever where disciples meet,

Thy blessed hands still break the bread.

+++++

We see Thee not; yet when we turn,

These moments melt in memory,

And all our hearts within us burn,

For we have met and talked with Thee.

Above:  Carpenter’s Chisels, 1878

Image Source = Library of Congress

Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-jpd-01268

Text (1912) by George E. Day, a minister of the National Council of the Congregational Churches of the United States

Hymn Source = The Pilgrim Hymnal (1931/1935), General Council of Congregational Christian Churches

Day was an advocate of missions work, a professor at Yale Divinity School, and the Secretary of the Committee, and of the Old Testament Committee of the American Standard Version of the Bible (1901).

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

O Master of the callous hand,

The workshop and the bench and plane,

We know that thou canst understand

Our hopes, our labors and our pain.

+++++

We see the drops of honest toil

With which thy hardy face was wet,

And in thy beauty-loving eye

The craftsman’s kindling pleasure glow.

+++++

To see the finished work put by,

The joy thy patient workmen know;

We answer gladly to thy call,

O Master Workman of us all.

+++++

O rugged Master of the hills,

The desert and the storm-swept sea,

Our eager heart responsive thrills

In our enlarging tho’t of thee.

+++++

Thou lovedst well the open road,

The pilgrim staff, the pilgrim load,

As o’er the hills of Palestine,

Beneath the parching eastern blaze.

+++++

Those eager, tireless feet of thine

Trod joyously the crowded days,

To minister to human need,

Thou Saviour of the world, indeed.