The Evangelical Universalist Forum

Love Unknown

youtube.com/watch?v=HMart4wXsI0

•My song is love unknown,
My Savior’s love to me;
Love to the loveless shown,
That they might lovely be.
O who am I,
That for my sake
My Lord should take
Frail flesh, and die?

•He came from His blest throne
Salvation to bestow;
But men made strange, and none
The longed-for Christ would know:
But oh, my Friend,
My Friend indeed,
Who at my need
His life did spend

•Sometimes they strew His way,
And His sweet praises sing;
Resounding all the day
Hosannas to their King:
Then “Crucify!“
Is all their breath,
And for His death
They thirst and cry.

•They rise and needs will have
My dear Lord made away;
A murderer they save,
The Prince of life they slay.
Yet cheerful He
To suffering goes,
That He His foes
From thence might free.

•In life, no house, no home
My Lord on earth might have;
In death, no friendly tomb,
But what a stranger gave.
What may I say?
Heav’n was His home;
But mine the tomb
Wherein He lay.

•Here might I stay and sing,
No story so divine;
Never was love, dear King,
Never was grief like Thine.
This is my Friend,
In whose sweet praise
I all my days
Could gladly spend.

Absolutely beautiful, Dick! :smiley:

Glad you like it Steve :smiley: - it’s my absolute favourite passiontide hymn. The words are old but fresh and sincere, and they always make me think about Good Friday in new ways.

What a beautiful song, Dick. I haven’t heard it before-- or if I have, then it was not sung so beautifully that I remembered it.:slight_smile:

youtube.com/watch?v=VjFFnVePRQI

youtube.com/watch?v=4Q0qho_hKEg

youtube.com/watch?v=j0RhLJYKi-4

youtube.com/watch?v=C–78OvblaA

We sang the third song in your list at Easter Mass today. :smiley: It’s been stuck in my head since I woke up, actually. It is the go-to “Easter song” around here. :slight_smile:

I always like hearing new renditions of “Lord of the Dance,” which as I’ve mentioned before, was one of my favorite songs as a kid, because it was one of the only “clapping hymns” allowed at all-school Mass. I was hoping we’d sing it today, but no luck!

You’ve probably heard this Shaker introduction (is it Quaker, too?) to “Lord of the Dance” before, but it is so beautiful, too.:slight_smile:

youtube.com/watch?v=fYi9Vr8bHJY

Lord of the Dance was adapted from this Shaker Song by Sydney Carter who was an English Quaker (he lived just down the road from where I lived as a child - although I never met him). The Shakers were an heretical sect who were an offshoot from the Quakers although disowned by them. Sydney Carter just happened to be intrigued by their music and their idea of Christ as being ‘the dance’ - but the words to the original are beautiful too and ring true however odd the total Shaker package was.

Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,

'Tis the 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 gain’d,

To bow and to bend we shan’t be asham’d,

To turn, turn 'twill be our delight,

Till by turning, turning we come round right.

'Tis the gift to be loved and that love to return,

'Tis the gift to be taught and a richer gift to learn,

And when we expect of others what we try to live each day,

Then we’ll all live together and we’ll all learn to say,

When true simplicity is gain’d,

To bow and to bend we shan’t be asham’d,

To turn, turn 'twill be our delight,

Till by turning, turning we come round right.

'Tis the gift to have friends and a true friend to be,

'Tis the gift to think of others not to only think of “me”,

And when we hear what others really think and really feel,

Then we’ll all live together with a love that is real.

When true simplicity is gain’d,

To bow and to bend we shan’t be asham’d,

To turn, turn 'twill be our delight,

Till by turning, turning we come round right.

Aaron Copeland did a famous setting of this in Appalachian songs

youtube.com/watch?v=xDRWdNn_nLk

And here’s a good old raucous version of Lord of the Dance that I think Sydney Carter would have approved of (love the old boy on the banjo!!!)

youtube.com/watch?v=1fzRZuGEr04

I really like that Shaker song. Thanks :smiley:

Living just a jump away from Shakertown, I can attest to how neat it is to hear a reenactment of old Shaker singing echoing off the walls of an original Shaker house. And their food is wonderful.:slight_smile:

I will watch the other two videos later, as my dad is in the middle of watching a baseball game as I type, and I’d hate to disturb him with any banjos. :laughing:

Glad you liked it chums (and Happy Easter Dave!!!)

I was just having a quick look at the most recent Sydney Carter hymn postings on You Tube and have come up with the following -
Judas and Mary (which Rev Drew really likes and has learnt how to play)

youtube.com/watch?v=DDensWi7cuY

John Ball (the fellowship of brothers and sisters anthem – starts at 9:33)

youtube.com/watch?v=YnEO77rpSt8

Julian of Norwich (this is a lot better than the previous versions available on Youtube - its an ensemble of three different folk groups)

youtube.com/watch?v=s-sTbvkY_l4

The Crow and the Cradle

youtube.com/watch?v=r8x0uMV1EsY