Saturday, August 11, 2018

A New Verse for an Old Hymn

In the end of summer every three years we hit a spot in the Lectionary where the Gospel readings for five weeks are from the 6th chapter of John - all centered around Jesus as the Bread of Life theme. I thought the hymn "I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say" fit well with my message this week, but it didn't have a verse specifically centered on Jesus as the Bread of Life. So I thought I would write one. This is what I came up with:

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
"I am the Living Bread;
all who receive me never die.
Come to the feast, be fed!"
I came to Jesus, and I ate
this nourishment of grace,
and strengthened by this mystic meal
the road ahead I face.

This verse references not only the 6th chapter of John, but also the first reading for this week from 1 Kings 19:4-8 (the story of Elijah being fed in the desert by an angel). I see this new verse coming between the current verses 2 and 3. We'll see how it sings tomorrow.