Here In This Place!

theological commentary from Marty Haugen, one of my favorite contemporary hymn-writers:

Gather Us In!

1. Here in this place new light is streaming; now is the darkness vanished away;
   see in this space our fears and our dreamings, brought here to you in the light of this day.
   Gather us in, the lost and forsaken; gather us in, the blind and the lame;
   call to us now, and we shall awaken; we shall arise at the sound of our name



2. We are the young, our lives are a mystery; we are the old who yearn for your face;
   we have been sung throughout all of history, called to be light to the whole human race.
   Gather us in, the rich and the haughty; gather us in, the proud and the strong;
   give us a heart, so meek and so lowly; give us the courage to enter the song!



3. Here we will take the wine and the water; here we will take the bread of new birth,
   here you shall call your sons and your daughters, call us anew to be salt for the earth.
   Give us to drink the wine of compassion; give us to eat the bread that is you;
   nourish us well, and teach us to fashion lives that are holy and hearts that are true.



4. Not in the dark of buildings confining, not in some heaven, light years away--
   here in this place the new light is shining; now is the kingdom and now is the day!
   Gather us in and hold us forever; gather us in and make us your own;
   gather us in, all peoples together, fire of love in our flesh and our bone!

Marty Haugen, Here in This Place, © 1982
GIA Publications, Inc.