Transcending Mystery and Wonder

232

SINGING THE LIVING TRADITION

With Permission of the Publisher

Unitarian Universalist Association, Boston

by The Unitarian Universalist Association

Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited.

ISBN 1558962603

Prepared by the Massachusetts Association for the Blind and the Unitarian Universalist Association for the exclusive use of people who can’t enjoy this book in its regular printed form.

Not for redistribution.

TRANSCENDING MYSTERY AND WONDER

1 The Celebration of Life

20 Praise and Transcendence

38 Morning

45 Evening

51 The Seasons

52 Autumn

55 Winter

59 Spring

65 Summer

67 Harvest and Thanksgiving

72 Solstice and Equinox

74 The World of Nature

83 Meditation and Mystical Songs

96 Transience

WORDS AND DEEDS OF PROPHETIC WOMEN AND MEN

102 Exemplars and Pioneers

108 Commitment and Actions

123 Love and Compassion

138 In Time to Come

147 Kwanzaa

148 Freedom

157 Labor and Learning

159 Peace

169 Justice

173 Stewardship of the Earth

WISDOM FROM THE WORLD’S RELIGIONS

176 Music of the Cultures of the World

181 Words from Sacred Traditions

187 Our Common Ground

193 The Interdependent Web

JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN TEACHINGS

198 Worship

214 The Jewish Spirit

217 Days of Awe

220 Pesach/Passover

221 Hannukah

224 Advent

227 Christmas

259 Epiphany

260 Palm Sunday

264 Good Friday

266 Easter

271 Pentecost

273 The Christian Spirit

277 The Psalms

HUMANIST TEACHINGS

286 The Life of Integrity

302 Humanity: Women and Men

326 Beauty, Truth, and Goodness

333 Insight and Wisdom

344 Hope

350 Here and Now

SERVICE MUSIC

357 Entrance Songs

362 Chalice Lightings

363 Praise Songs and Doxologies

383 Responses, Rounds, and Chants

402 Offertories and Ascriptions

405 Communion

408 Namings, Dedications, and Christenings

410 Weddings and Services of Union

411 Funerals and Memorials

413 Recessionals

READINGS

416 Opening Words

447 Chalice Lightings

457 Affirmations, Covenants, and Confessions

479 Meditations and Prayers

525 Transcending Mystery and Wonder

559 Words and Deeds of Prophetic Women and Men

595 Wisdom from the World’s Religions

615 Jewish and Christian Teachings

645 Humanist Teachings

672 Offertory Words

677 Benedictions and Closing Words

714 Readings for Ceremonial Occasions

Prepared by the Massachusetts Association for the Blind for the exclusive use of people who have print-impairment.

Not for redistribution.

May Nothing Evil Cross This Door

1 May nothing evil cross this door, and may ill fortune never pry about these windows; may the roar and rain go by.

2 By faith made strong, the rafters will withstand the battering of the storm. This hearth, though all the world grow chill, will keep you warm.

3 Peace shall walk softly through these rooms, touching our lips with holy wine, till ev'ry casual corner blooms into a shrine.

4 With laughter drown the raucous shout, and, though these sheltering walls are thin, may they be strong to keep hate out and hold love in.

Down the Ages We Have Trod

1 Down the ages we have trod many paths in search of God, seeking ever to define the Eternal and Divine.

2 Some have seen eternal good pictured best in Parenthood, and a Being throned above ruling over us in love.

3 There are others who proclaim God and Nature are the same, and the present Godhead own where Creation's laws are known.

4 There are eyes which best can see God within humanity. and God's countenance there trace written in the human face.

5 Where compassion is most found is for some the hallowed ground, and these paths they upward plod teaching us that love is God.

6 Though the truth we can't perceive this at least we must believe, what we take most earnestly is our living Deity.

7 Our true God we there shall find in what claims our heart and mind, and our hidden thoughts enshrine that which for us is Divine.

The World Stands Out on Either Side

1 The world stands out on either side no wider than the heart is wide; above the world is stretched the sky no higher than the soul is high.

2 The heart can push the sea and land so far away on either hand; the soul can split the sky in two and let the face of God shine through.

I Brought My Spirit to the Sea

1 I brought my spirit to the sea; I stood upon the shore. I gazed upon infinity, I heard the waters roar.

2 And then there came a sense of peace, some whisper calmed my soul. Some ancient ministry of stars had made my spirit whole.

3 I brought my spirit to the trees that loomed against the sky. I touched each wand'ring careless breeze to know if god was nigh.

4 And then I felt an inner flame that fiercely burned my tears. Upright, I rose from bended knee to meet the asking years.

It Is Something to Have Wept

1 It is something to have wept as we have wept, and something to have done as we have done; it is something to have watched when all have slept, and seen the stars which never see the sun.

2 It is something to have smelt the mystic rose, although it break and leave the thorny rods; it is something to have hungered once as those must hunger who have ate the bread of gods:

3 To have known the things that from the weak are furled, the fearful ancient passions, strange and high; it is something to be wiser than the world, and something to be older than the sky.

4 Lo, and blessed are our ears for they have heard: yea, blessed are our eyes for they have seen: let the thunder break on human, beast, and bird, and lightning. It is something to have been.

Just as Long as I Have Breath

1 Just as long as I have breath, I must answer, "Yes," to life; though with pain I made my way, still with hope I meet each day. If they ask what I did well, tell them I said, "Yes," to life.

2 Just as long as vision lasts, I must answer, "Yes," to truth; in my dream and in my dark, always that elusive spark. If they ask what I did well, tell them I said, "Yes," to truth.

3 Just as long as my heart beats, I must answer, "Yes," to love; disappointment pierced me through, still I kept on loving you. If they ask what I did best, tell them I said, "Yes," to love.

The Leaf Unfurling

1 The leaf unfurling in the April air, the newborn child, the loving parents' care; these constant, common miracles we share: Alleluia! Alleluia!

2 All life is one, a single branching tree, all pain a part of human misery, all happiness a gift to you and me: Alleluia! Alleluia!

3 The self-same bells for joy and sorrow ring. No one can know what the next hour will bring. We cry, we laugh, we mourn, and still we sing: Alleluia! Alleluia!

Mother Spirit, Father Spirit

1 Mother Spirit, Father Spirit, where are you? In the sky song, in the forest, sounds your cry. What to give you, what to call you, what am I?

2 Many drops are in the ocean, deep and wide. Sunlight bounces off the ripples to the sky. What to give you, what to call you, who am I?

3 I am empty, time flies from me; what is time? Dreams eternal, fears infernal haunt my heart. What to give you, what to call you, O, my God?

4 Mother Spirit, Father Spirit, take our hearts. Take our breath and let our voices sing our parts. Take our hands and let us work to shape our art.

No Longer Forward nor Behind

1 No longer forward nor behind I look in hope or fear; but, grateful, take the good I find, the best of now and here. I break my pilgrim staff, I lay aside the toiling oar; the angel sought so far away I welcome at my door.

2 For all the jarring notes of life seem blending in a psalm, and all the angles of its strife slow rounding into calm. And so the shadows fall apart, and so the west winds play; and all the windows of my heart I open to the day.

#10

Immortal Love

1 Immortal love, forever full, forever flowing free, forever shared, forever whole, a never-ending sea!

2 Our outward lips confess the name all other names above; but love alone knows whence it came and comprehendeth love.

3 Blow, winds of love, awake and blow the mists of hate away; sing out, O Truth divine, and tell how wide and far we stray.

4 The letter fails, the systems fall, and every symbol wanes; the Spirit overseeing all, Eternal Love, remains.

#11

O God of Stars and Sunlight

1 O God of stars and sunlight, whose wind lifts up a bird, in marching wave and leaf-fall we hear thy patient word. The color of thy seasons goes gold across the land: by green upon the treetops we know thy moving hand.

2 O God of cloud and mountain, whose rain on rock is art, thy plan and care and meaning renew the head and heart. Thy word and color spoken, thy summer noons and showers--by these and by thy dayshine, we know thy world is ours.

3 O God of root and shading of boughs above our head, we breathe in thy long breathing, our spirit spirited. We walk beneath thy blessing, thy seasons, and thy way, O God of stars and sunlight, O God of night and day.

#12

O Life That Maketh All Things New

1 O Life that maketh all things new, the blooming earth, our thoughts within, our pilgrim feet, wet with thy dew, in gladless hither turn again.

2 From hand to hand the greeting flows, from eye to eye the signals run, from heart to heart the bright hope glows, the seekers of the light are one:

3 One in the freedom of the truth, one in the joy of paths untrod, one in the soul's perennial youth, one in the larger thought of God;

4 The freer step, the fuller breath, the wide horizon's grander view, the sense of life that knows no death, the Life that maketh all things new.

#13

Songs of Spirit

1 Songs of spirit, like a prayer breathing in the ambient air; singing in the morning light, in the radiance of the day, in the twilight shadows gray, in the brooding hush of night; dark or light, or storm, or fair--singing, singing everywhere.

2 In the burgeoning of spring, in the summer's scented bloom, in the autumn's mellow glow, in the winter's ice and snow; shade, or shine, or joy, or gloom, as the seasons come and go, break and bare, or blossoming--still the songs that sing and sing!

3 Singing, singing everywhere, at the heart of everything, in my soul I hear them sing, mystic music of the spheres; songs that, with my utmost art, I can only catch in part; broken echoes, cold and bare, of the songs my spirit hears.

#14

The Sun at High Noon

1 The sun at high noon, the stars in dark space, the light of the moon on each upturned face, the high clouds, the rain clouds, the lark-song on high: we gaze up in wonder above to the sky.

2 The green grassy blade, the grasshopper's sound, the creatures of shade that live in the ground, the dark soil, the moist soil, where plants spring to birth: we look down at wonder below in the earth.

3 The glad joys that heal the tears in our eyes, the longings we feel, the light of surprise, our night dreams, our day dreams, our thoughts ranging wide: we live with a whole world of wonder inside.

#15

The Lone, Wild Bird

1 The lone, wild bird in lofty flight is still with thee, nor leaves thy sight. And I am thine! I rest in thee. Great spirit come and rest in me.

2 The ends of earth are in thy hand, the sea's dark deep and far-off land. And I am thine! I rest in thee. Great spirit come and rest in me.

#16

'Tis a Gift to Be Simple

'Tis a gift to be simple, 'tis a gift to be free, 'tis a gift to come down where we ought to be, and when we find ourselves in the place just right, 'twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gained, to bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed. To turn, turn will be our delight, 'till by turning, turning we come 'round right.

#17

Every Night and Every Morn

1 Every night and every morn some to misery are born; every morn and every night some are born to sweet delight.

2 Joy and woe are woven fine, clothing for the soul divine: under every grief and pine runs a joy with silken twine.

3 It is right it should be so: we were made for joy and woe; and when this we rightly know, safely through the world we go.

#18

What Wondrous Love

1 What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul, what wondrous love is this, O my soul? What wondrous love is this that brings my heart such bliss, and takes away the pain of my soul, of my soul, and takes away the pain of my soul.

2 When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down, when I was sinking down, sinking down, when I was sinking down beneath my sorrows ground, friends to me gather'd round, O my soul, O my soul, friends to me gather'd round, O my soul.

3 To love and to all friends I will sing, I will sing, to love and to all friends I will sing. To love and to all friends who pain and sorrow mend, with thanks unto the end I will sing, I will sing, with thanks unto the end I will sing.

#19

The Sun That Shines

1 The sun that shines across the sea, the wind that whispers in the tree, the lark that carols in the sky, the fleecy clouds asailing by, O,

I'm as rich as rich can be, for all these things belong to me!

2 The raindrops which refresh the earth, the springtime mantle of rebirth, the summer days when all things grow, the autumn mist and winter snow, O, I'm as rich as rich can be, for all these things belong to me!