Other Facebook birthday celebrants today are Susan Hogan who lives in Carrick-on-Suir, Tipperary, Ireland, and Josephine Guidotti who lives in Milan, Italy. Enjoy your special day, Susan and Josephine, and thank you for being my Facebook friend.
My song today is ‘Here I Am, Lord’, which is sometimes known as ‘I the Lord of Sea and Sky’ after its opening line. This Christian hymn was written by the American composer of Catholic liturgical music, Dan Schutte in 1979 and published in 1981. Its words are based on Isaiah 6:8 and1 Samuel 3:4.
Schutte wrote the song at age 31 when he was studying theology at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkley. Schutte's hymn is also sung in many Protestant worship services and is found in multiple hymnals and missalettes.
In 2004 a survey conducted by ‘The Tablet’ an international Catholic magazine, reported ‘Here I Am, Lord’ as readers' 63rd favorite. A poll conducted by the National Association of Pastoral Musicians found among members that it came in second among ‘songs that make a difference. It has also been highly ranked in many other surveys of hymns, and in 2009 it was voted the United Kingdom's 10th favourite hymn.
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Today's message is summed up in one line of the hymn. "Here I am Lord. It is I Lord. I have heard you calling in the night. I will go Lord if you lead me. I will hold your people in my heart."
Let us hold God's people in our hearts.
Love and peace
Bill xxx