Favorite UU hymns (Earth, gospel, Kingdom, grace, blood)

[hartlandcat]

Originally Posted by lilithu

hartlandcat, that's a beautiful hymn. I've never head it sung in a UU congregation, even tho it's in our hymnal (#114 for those of us on this side of the pond), and wonder if it might not sound "too Christian" for our tastes.

Oouh, Forward Through the Ages is almost like our unofficial anthem here! In my congregation, we sing it perhaps about once a month, and I've often visited other congregations and sung it there as well. When I went to GA this year, we opened the welcome service with it, complete with a brass band -- hundreds of us there, and it was clear from the way people were singing that everyone knew that hymn really well -- it was amazing!

Here's another of my favourite Unitarian hymns -- it was written by a Unitarian, but it's sung in many denominations:

Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
E’en though it be a cross that raiseth me,
Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee.


Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee!

Though like the wanderer, the sun gone down,
Darkness be over me, my rest a stone.
Yet in my dreams I’d be nearer, my God to Thee.

Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee!

There let the way appear, steps unto Heav’n;
All that Thou sendest me, in mercy given;
Angels to beckon me nearer, my God, to Thee.

Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee!

Then, with my waking thoughts bright with Thy praise,
Out of my stony griefs Bethel I’ll raise;
So by my woes to be nearer, my God, to Thee.

Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee!

Or, if on joyful wing cleaving the sky,
Sun, moon, and stars forgot, upward I’ll fly,
Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee.

Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee!

There in my Father’s home, safe and at rest,
There in my Savior’s love, perfectly blest;
Age after age to be, nearer my God to Thee.


Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee!

[hartlandcat]

And here is my absolute favourite hymn -- not specificially Unitarian, but we sing it in my church quite often. I find that if I'm sad, I just sing this hymn and then I'm suddenly better again. So to answer the question of what makes a good hymn, I'd say that it's a hymn which gives you what I'd call a 'religious experience' whenver you sing it -- as this one certainly does for me. It has many tunes, but I sing this one:
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/mid/s/t/b/st_bees.mid
(Fantastic site, btw).

Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to 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 beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice, and let me sing
Always, only, for my King.
Take my lips, and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee.

Take my silver and my gold;
Not a mite would I withhold.
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, my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee.

[lilithu]

Originally Posted by hartlandcat

And here is my absolute favourite hymn -- not specificially Unitarian, but we sing it in my church quite often. I find that if I'm sad, I just sing this hymn and then I'm suddenly better again. So to answer the question of what makes a good hymn, I'd say that it's a hymn which gives you what I'd call a 'religious experience' whenver you sing it -- as this one certainly does for me. It has many tunes, but I sing this one:
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/mid/s/t/b/st_bees.mid
(Fantastic site, btw).

Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to 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 beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice, and let me sing
Always, only, for my King.
Take my lips, and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee.

Take my silver and my gold;
Not a mite would I withhold.
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, my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee.

Hey, I know that song! We used to sing it in Lutheran school. Funny that I didn't recognize it when you first posted it and am only recognizing it now upon second glance. Yes, it is beautiful.


Anyway, I dug up this old thread to share another UU hymn. Something that I said in another thread made me think of this song. I was saying that for those of us UUs who are theists, we tend to see God as working thru and in cooperation with us (not separate), changing and growing with us as we are changing and growing. It's amazing how much UU theology is revealed in our hymns.

Bring Many Names

Bring many names, beautiful and good;
celebrate in parable and story,
holiness in glory, living, loving God:
Hail and hosanna, bring many names.

Strong mother God, working night and day,
planning all the wonders of creation,
setting each equation, genius at play:
Hail and hosanna, strong mother God

Warm father God, hugging ev'ry child,
feeling all the strains of human living,
caring and forgiving, till we're reconciled:
Hail and hosanna, warm father God

Old, aching God, grey with endless care,
calmly piercing evil's new disguises,
glad of new surprises, wiser than despair:
Hail and hosanna, old, aching God

Young, growing God, eager still to know,
willing to be changed by what you've started,
quick to be delighted, singing as you go:
Hail and hosanna, young, growing God

Great, living God, never fully known,
joyful darkness far beyond our seeing,
closer yet than breathing, everlasting home:
Hail and hosanna, great, living God!

[uumckk16]

Originally Posted by lilithu

Hey, I know that song! We used to sing it in Lutheran school. Funny that I didn't recognize it when you first posted it and am only recognizing it now upon second glance. Yes, it is beautiful.


Anyway, I dug up this old thread to share another UU hymn. Something that I said in another thread made me think of this song. I was saying that for those of us UUs who are theists, we tend to see God as working thru and in cooperation with us (not separate), changing and growing with us as we are changing and growing. It's amazing how much UU theology is revealed in our hymns.

Bring Many Names

Bring many names, beautiful and good;
celebrate in parable and story,
holiness in glory, living, loving God:
Hail and hosanna, bring many names.

Strong mother God, working night and day,
planning all the wonders of creation,
setting each equation, genius at play:
Hail and hosanna, strong mother God

Warm father God, hugging ev'ry child,
feeling all the strains of human living,
caring and forgiving, till we're reconciled:
Hail and hosanna, warm father God

Old, aching God, grey with endless care,
calmly piercing evil's new disguises,
glad of new surprises, wiser than despair:
Hail and hosanna, old, aching God

Young, growing God, eager still to know,
willing to be changed by what you've started,
quick to be delighted, singing as you go:
Hail and hosanna, young, growing God

Great, living God, never fully known,
joyful darkness far beyond our seeing,
closer yet than breathing, everlasting home:
Hail and hosanna, great, living God!

I love it!

What does "hail and hosanna" mean?

[lilithu]

Originally Posted by uumckk16

I love it!

What does "hail and hosanna" mean?

lol, in some ways we're so not Christian, like the idea of a strong mother God or young growing God. But in other ways we are still so very Christian. Hail and Hosanna are exclamations from the Christian tradition that you would say in response to the pressence of God. Hail, as in "Hail to the King!" And Hosanna is an expression of joy or exultation. There was a song we used to sing in Lutheran school that went "Sing hosanna, sing hosanna, sing hosanna to the king of kings..." I guess it's sort of like "hallelujah."

[jacquie4000]

They all are pretty neat. I can't wait to attend my first UU service this Sunday. I will let everyone know how it went.

[des]

Hey we sing that one! I like that one. I really like the twist around. We also sing some of the other ones.

--des

Originally Posted by lilithu

Bring Many Names

Bring many names, beautiful and good;
celebrate in parable and story,
holiness in glory, living, loving God:
Hail and hosanna, bring many names.

Strong mother God, working night and day,
planning all the wonders of creation,
setting each equation, genius at play:
Hail and hosanna, strong mother God

Warm father God, hugging ev'ry child,
feeling all the strains of human living,
caring and forgiving, till we're reconciled:
Hail and hosanna, warm father God

Old, aching God, grey with endless care,
calmly piercing evil's new disguises,
glad of new surprises, wiser than despair:
Hail and hosanna, old, aching God

Young, growing God, eager still to know,
willing to be changed by what you've started,
quick to be delighted, singing as you go:
Hail and hosanna, young, growing God

Great, living God, never fully known,
joyful darkness far beyond our seeing,
closer yet than breathing, everlasting home:
Hail and hosanna, great, living God!

[lilithu]

Originally Posted by des

Hey we sing that one! I like that one. I really like the twist around. We also sing some of the other ones.

--des

By "we" do you mean your UCC congregation or your UU congregation? Just curious as to how much overlap the UUs have with the UCC in terms of hymns.

I like the twist around too.

[uumckk16]

Originally Posted by lilithu

lol, in some ways we're so not Christian, like the idea of a strong mother God or young growing God. But in other ways we are still so very Christian. Hail and Hosanna are exclamations from the Christian tradition that you would say in response to the pressence of God. Hail, as in "Hail to the King!" And Hosanna is an expression of joy or exultation. There was a song we used to sing in Lutheran school that went "Sing hosanna, sing hosanna, sing hosanna to the king of kings..." I guess it's sort of like "hallelujah."

Haha I thought it might be something completely obvious But I thought I'd ask anyway. Thanks for explaining!

[lilithu]

Originally Posted by uumckk16

Haha I thought it might be something completely obvious But I thought I'd ask anyway. Thanks for explaining!

Meh, it's only obvious if you grew up with it. It's not like this kind of knowledge is encoded in your genes.