Today’s hymn from Sing Praise is “I come with joy, a child of God” by Brian Wren. Two tunes are offered: I know this hymn better to the first, “St Botolph”.
It is in fact a communion hymn, so might better have been picked for a Sunday. But then, there is in the Catholic tradition a custom of receiving communion, or at least attending Mass, daily, if one’s life circumstances permit. Certainly what we do in church on a Sunday should stay with us through the week, so this celebration of what the sacrament means to us can be sung at any time.
The first two verses begin “I come…”, a reminder that we should come prepared for the sharing in the bread. Firstly, at a personal level, in the words of the hymn recalling the life of Jesus laid down in love, by which I am “forgiven, loved and free”, thus I come with thankfulness. And then, “with Christians far and near”, for the one body that we become in Communion is that of the whole Church in all times and places, not just the few gathered in one building.
The remaining verses build on that idea of unity. “Each proud division ends” is a message that sadly needs to be repeated, for there are far too many divisions in the Church, whether of culture, practice or belief. As we become friends through Christ’s love (moving into verse 4), the Spirit of Christ is “better known, alive among us here”.
The last verse is a dismissal, an important part of the service and which according to some sources gave its name to the name of “mass”: “Together met, together bound, by all that God has done, we’ll go with joy, to give the world the love that makes us one”. An ideal, yes, but without ideals is there ever action?
Yes, I was a bit puzzled that Stephen had picked this hymn for a midweek sing instead of a Sunday (according to the principles of his scheme). A number of Communion hymns can be sung non-eucharistically, but this isn’t particularly suited for such, and I would have preferred to have had it at the weekend.
I think Stephen is right to say that the ideal – of finding a community in the communion – is achieved not by song but by action, and for me too the hymn raises the question of how the church will act to bring about its aspiration.