Above:  The Holy Spirit as a Dove

Scan by Kenneth Randolph Taylor from a Church Bulletin, St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church, Athens, Georgia, Pentecost 2015

Text (1829) by Harriet Auber (1773-1862)

Hymn Source = A Collection of Psalms and Hymns for Christian Worship (1830), American Unitarian Association

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Our blest Redeemer, ere he breathed

His tender, last farewell,

A Guide, a Comforter, bequeathed

With us to dwell.

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He came in tongues of living flame,

To teach, convince, subdue;

All powerful as the wind he came,

As viewless too.

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He came sweet influence to impart,

A gracious willing guest,

While he can find one humble heart

Wherein to rest.

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And his that gentle voice we hear,

Soft as the breath of even,

That checks each fault, that calms each fear,

And speaks of heaven.

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And every virtue we possess,

And every victory won,

And every thought of holiness,

Are his alone.

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Spirit of purity and grace,

Our weakness pitying see;

O make our hearts thy dwelling place,

And worthier thee.

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Above:  St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Newnan, Georgia, August 2, 2015

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Text (1829) by Harriet Auber (1773-1862)

Hymn Source = A Collection of Psalms and Hymns for Christian Worship (1830), American Unitarian Association

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Sweet is the task, O Lord,

Thy glorious acts to sing,

To praise thy name, and hear thy word,

And grateful offerings bring.

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Sweet at the dawning hour,

Thy boundless love to tell;

And when the night-wind shuts the flower,

Still on the theme to dwell.

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Sweet on this day of rest,

To join in heart and voice,

With those who love and serve thee best,

And in thy name rejoice.

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To songs of praise and joy,

Be every Sabbath given,

That such may be our best employ

Eternally in heaven.

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Above:  Air Clouds

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1829) by Harriet Auber (1773-1862)

Hymn Source = A Collection of Psalms and Hymns for Christian Worship (1830), American Unitarian Association

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Whom have we, Lord, in heaven but thee,

And whom on earth beside?

Where else for succour can we flee,

Or in whose strength confide?

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Thou art our portion here below,

Our promised bliss above;

Ne’er may our souls an object know

So precious as thy love.

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When heart and flesh, O Lord, shall fail,

Thou wilt our spirits cheer,

Support us through life’s thorny vale,

And calm each anxious fear.

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Yes, thou shalt be our guide through life,

And help and strength supply;

Sustain us in death’s fearful strife,

And welcome us on high.

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Above:  Father and Daughter in Winter

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1829) by Harriet Auber (1773-1862)

Hymn Source = A Collection of Psalms and Hymns for Christian Worship (1830), American Unitarian Association

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When all bespeaks a Father’s love,

Oh, wherefore, fearful as the dove,

Should we in times of peril flee

To any refuge, Lord, but thee?

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In vain the wicked bend their bow,

And seek to lay the righteous low;

Thou from thine everlasting throne

With watchful care regard’st thine own.

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Thy voice shall seal the sinner’s fate;

Just vengeance shall his crimes await;

While the bright beams of grace divine

Shall on thy faithful servants shine.

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Above:  Church Spires

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1829) by Harriet Auber (1773-1862)

Hymn Source = A Collection of Psalms and Hymns for Christian Worship (1830), American Unitarian Association

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On thy church, O Power Divine,

Cause the glorious face to shine;

Till the nations from afar

Hail her as their guiding star;

Till her sons from zone to zone

Make thy great salvation known.

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Then shall God, with lavish hand,

Scatter blessings o’er the land;

Earth shall yield her rich increase,

Every breeze shall whisper peace,

And the world’s remotest bound

With the voice of praise resound.

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Above:  Country Church in a Snowstorm

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1829) by Harriet Auber (1773-1862)

Hymn Source = A Collection of Psalms and Hymns for Christian Worship (1830), American Unitarian Association

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O God, our strength, to thee the song

With grateful hearts we raise;

To thee, and thee alone, belong

All worship, love, and praise.

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In trouble’s dark and stormy hour,

Thine ear hath heard our prayer;

And graciously thine arm of power

Hath saved us from despair.

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And thou, O ever gracious Lord,

Wilt keep thy promises still,

If, meekly hearkening to thy word,

We seek to do thy will.

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Led by the light thy grace imparts,

Ne’er may we bow the knee

To idols, which our wayward hearts

Set up instead of thee.

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So shall thy choicest gifts, O Lord,

Thy faithful people bless;

For them shall earth its stores afford,

And Heaven its happiness.

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Above:  Beautiful Sunrise Over Volcanoes in Guatemala

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1829) by Harriet Auber (1773-1862)

Hymn Source = A Collection of Psalms and Hymns for Christian Worship (1830), American Unitarian Association

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Great God, wert thou extreme to mark

The deeds we do amiss,

Before thy presence who could stand,

Who claim thy promised bliss?

But oh! all merciful and just,

Thy love surpasseth thought;

A gracious Saviour has appeared,

And peace and pardon brought.

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Thy servants in the temple watched

The dawning of the day,

Impatient with its earliest beams

Their holy vows to pay;

And chosen saints far off behold

That great and glorious morn,

When the glad day-spring from on high

Auspiciously should dawn.

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On us the Sun of Righteousness

Its brightest beams hath poured;

With grateful hearts and holy zeal,

Lord, be thy love adored;

And let us look with joyful hope.

To that more glorious day,

Before whose brightness, sin and death,

And grief, shall flee away.

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Above:  Sandhill Cranes Flying

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1829) by Harriet Auber (1773-1862)

Hymn Source = A Collection of Psalms and Hymns for Christian Worship (1830), American Unitarian Association

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Father of spirits! Nature’s God!

Our inmost thoughts are known to thee;

Thou, Lord, canst hear each idle words,

And every private action see.

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Could we on morning’s swiftest wings

Pursue our flight through trackless air;

Or dive beneath deep ocean’s springs,

Thy presence still would meet us there.

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In vain may guilt attempt to fly,

Concealed beneath the pall of night,

One glance from thy all-piercing eye

Can kindle darkness into light.

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Search thou our hearts, and there destroy

Each evil thought, each secret sin;

And fit us for those realms of joy,

Where nought impure shall enter in.

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Above:  Fog Over Hills

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1829) by Harriet Auber (1773-1862)

Hymn Source = A Collection of Psalms and Hymns for Christian Worship (1830), American Unitarian Association

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Ere mountains reared their forms sublime,

Or the fair earth in order stood,

Before the birth of ancient time,

From everlasting thou art God.

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A thousand ages in their flight,

With thee are as a fleeting day;

Past, present, future, to thy sight

At once their various scenes display.

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But our brief life is a shadowy dream,

A passing thought, that soon is o’er,

That fades with morning’s earliest beam,

And fills the musing mind no more.

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To us, O Lord, the wisdom give

So every precious hour to spend,

That we at length with thee may live

Where life and bliss shall never end.

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Above:  Mountain Morning

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1829) by Harriet Auber (1773-1862)

Hymn Source = A Collection of Psalms and Hymns for Christian Worship (1830), American Unitarian Association

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Delightful is the task to sing,

On each returning day,

The praises of our heavenly King,

And grateful homage pay.

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The countless worlds, which, bathed in light,

Through fields of azure move,

Proclaim his wisdom and his might,

But O, how great his love!

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He deigns each broken, contrite heart

With tender care to bind;

And comfort, hope and grace impart

To heal the wounded mind.

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All creatures with distinctive cry,

From God implore their food;

His bounty grants a rich supply,

And fills the earth with good.

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Delightful is the task, O Lord!

With each returning day

Thy countless music to record

And grateful homage pay.

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