O God of Light, May Our Light Shine

Representative Text

O God of light, may our light shine
In ways that serve and honor you.
May we be loving, just and kind,
Proclaiming Christ in all we do.

God, where your people are oppressed
And where they cry out in despair,
Make us your light—to heal, to bless—
A witness, Lord, that you are there.

Christ, when your way is pushed aside
By those who trust in wealth and might,
Make us your lamps that we may guide
A searching world to your love’s light.

O Spirit, in this world of doubt,
We often sin and drift away.
When our own faith is flickering out,
Shine on our path and light our way.


Source: Songs of Grace: new hymns for God and neighbor #17a

Author: Carolyn Winfrey Gillette

Carolyn Winfrey Gillette has been a pastor in rural, small town, suburban, and city churches; she has also served as a hospice chaplain, a hospital chaplain, and a school bus aide helping children with special needs. She and her husband Bruce are pastors of the First Presbyterian Union Church in Owego, NY. Carolyn is a gifted hymn writer who has written over 400 hymns. These hymns have been sung by congregations throughout the United States and around the world — from the Washington National Cathedral to St. Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland to St. George's Cathedral in Cape Town, South Africa to small town churches and small household congregations; they have also been sung at national church and international ecumenical meetin… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: O God of light, may our light shine
Title: O God of Light, May Our Light Shine
Original Language: English
Author: Carolyn Winfrey Gillette (2005)
Meter: 8.8.8.8
Language: English
Publication Date: 2005
Copyright: Copyright © 2005 by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette. All rights reserved

Tune

O WALY WALY

O WALY WALY is a traditional English melody associated with the song "O Waly, Waly, gin love be bony," the words of which date back at least to Ramsay's Tea Table Miscellany (1724-1732), and as the setting for a folk ballad about Jamie Douglas. It is also well known in the Appalachian region of the…

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CANONBURY

Derived from the fourth piano piece in Robert A. Schumann's Nachtstücke, Opus 23 (1839), CANONBURY first appeared as a hymn tune in J. Ireland Tucker's Hymnal with Tunes, Old and New (1872). The tune, whose title refers to a street and square in Islington, London, England, is often matched to Haver…

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Instances

Instances (1 - 2 of 2)
Text

Songs of Grace #17a

Text

Songs of Grace #17b

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