How perfect do we need to be
To share the yearning in our hearts?
If we don’t give, we can’t receive…
How perfect do we need to be?
A life expert? There’s no such thing!
So do not cower! Play your part!
How perfect do we need to be
To share the yearning in our hearts?
This beautiful hymn was written by Charles Wesley. The text was first published with the subtitle “A Child’s Prayer,” in “Hymns and Sacred Poems,” in 1742. The melody was composed by Martin Shaw in 1876.
My arrangement begins with the melody on alto recorder, then a viola and recorder duet, a solo on lyre, and ends with a recorder duet. This lovely melody would be appropriate for a lullaby, as well as this hymn. I hope you enjoy it!
Thank you! Thank you, Mr. Goldman!
You gave me the gift of writing,
Showed me how a word could brighten,
Listened to my songs unfolding.
Though your class was prose, not poem,
Words and music came together,
Bringing both to something better!
What a tapestry and knotting,
Worlds discovered, made with plotting;
You encouraged every letter!
This song began as a poem I wrote, probably in 2002. Originally it had only 2 stanzas.
In 2003 I composed the music on a small harp. In my original accompaniment, the voice and harp were in unison, both carrying the melody. Last year I added verses 3 and 4, and wrote the descant accompaniment you hear while I sing.
Creative works, like people, can and do evolve!
I hope you enjoy “Knowledge and Love” with lyre accompaniment!
Knowledge and Love – Lyrics
1. Knowledge is what helps us grow through the years.
It tells us some things can’t be true.
Love is what keeps us strong.
Hold it all the day long,
Showing your life as the proof.
2. Knowledge may disappear time and again,
But of this we all can be sure.
Love makes no other claim,
Simply that it remains,
Infinite Life evermore.
3. “Knowledge is power,” they say. And it is.
But not all the mind can conceive.
Love is the Pow’r of Life,
Making the Spirit bright.
Ask, and you shall receive!
4. Love is within you, and knowledge is, too!
They come from the Life of the One.
Present within your mind,
God is the One you find.
Love is his Will ever done.
O come and look right through my skin
With eyes of otherworldly grace;
You’ll see our Essence in this face,
Inviting you to look within!
Kaleidoscope of time and place
Where future, past and present curl.
It’s yours and mine. Just give a whirl!
Let’s move beyond our circumstance!
Uncomfortable, yet here’s a chance
To let our tenderness unfurl!