Faith Begins by Letting Go

Representative Text

1
Faith begins by letting go,
giving up what had seemed sure,
taking risks and pressing on,
though the way feels less secure:
pilgrimage both right and odd,
trusting all our life to God.

2
Faith endures by holding on,
keeping mem’ry’s roots alive
so that hope may bear its fruit;
promise-fed, our souls will thrive,
not through merit we possess
but by God’s great faithfulness.

3
Faith matures by reaching out,
stretching minds, enlarging hearts,
sharing struggles, living prayer,
binding up the broken parts;
till we find the commonplace
ripe with witness to God’s grace.

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Author: Carl P. Daw

Carl P. Daw, Jr. (b. Louisville, KY, 1944) is the son of a Baptist minister. He holds a PhD degree in English (University of Virginia) and taught English from 1970-1979 at the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia. As an Episcopal priest (MDiv, 1981, University of the South, Sewanee, Tennesee) he served several congregations in Virginia, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. From 1996-2009 he served as the Executive Director of The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada. Carl Daw began to write hymns as a consultant member of the Text committee for The Hymnal 1982, and his many texts often appeared first in several small collections, including A Year of Grace: Hymns for the Church Year (1990); To Sing God’s Praise (1992), New… Go to person page >

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Text Information

First Line: Faith begins by letting go
Title: Faith Begins by Letting Go
Author: Carl P. Daw
Meter: 7.7.7.7.7.7
Language: English
Copyright: Text © 1996, Hope Publishing Co.
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Tune

LUX PRIMA (Gounod)

French romanticist composer Charles F. Gounod (PHH 165) wrote LUX PRIMA, which means "first light" in Latin. When the Franco-Prussian War broke out in 1870, Gounod left his native Paris and settled in England for five years. This sturdy tune was published in the Scottish Hymnary in 1872. It uses sev…

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JULION

David Hurd (b. Brooklyn, NY, 1950) composed JULION in 1974. The harmony is rich (up to six parts with the descant) and well suited to a rich, smooth organ sonority, including strings. The descant is difficult and will need rehearsing, but it can be effectively sung by a choir or played by instrument…

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DIX (Kocher)

An early form of the tune DIX was composed by Conrad Kocher (b. Ditzingen, Wurttemberg, Germany, 1786; d. Stuttgart, Germany, 1872). Trained as a teacher, Kocher moved to St. Petersburg, Russia, to work as a tutor at the age of seventeen. But his love for the music of Haydn and Mozart impelled him t…

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Timeline

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Instances

Instances (1 - 6 of 6)
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