Hymn lyrics I wrote as a parting gift for a dear mentor and brother. Sung to tune TOWNEND (though if anyone wants to write a tune for it…)
O God, in journeys here below
you give us to each other
that we may recognize your face
in stranger, friend, and brother.
We meet and travel on a while
as beauty grows between us,
and sometimes in the silences
we know that Love has seen us.
The disappointments, fears and cares,
the weight of chains that bind us,
the sins that wound and make us small
can to your presence blind us.
Still you, with healing, walk beside
our hearts with flame igniting.
In sharing bread of life and joy,
your wholeness is inviting.
And when we glimpse your loving face
in those who share our table,
how bittersweet our future seems,
for nothing here is stable.
Our longing for this full embrace,
A taste of true communion,
our thirst for you, O God of All,
is echoed in our union.
Our paths are held within your hands,
Through hills and valleys wending.
With love our bread, and You our home,
Connection knows no ending.
So when life bids us say goodbye
to walk in new directions,
May partings filled with peace and hope
Be met with resurrections.
** Please feel free to use. Please do not adapt without my permission. Give me credit if you print the lyrics. I’d love to hear from you about your experiences singing it.
StarPilgrim Studio 
Hello Laura,
You’ve done it again! Love how your words convey the way God’s presence manifests in our lives through loving relationships and also how the mystery of resurrection may be experienced personally by each of us as “connection knows no ending”. I was so moved by this new hymn that I took you up on the invitation to compose an original tune for it. You can listen to it on SoundCloud here =>https://soundcloud.com/soundpossibilities/emmaus-farewell-by-laura-stone
Let me know what you think.
Kind regards,
Tim
This is amazing! I keep wanting to write you a long reply and then not getting to it… so for now I just want to say that I am deeply grateful to you for writing it and so glad for your collaboration! More later, but for now, thanks, brother.
I am happy you liked it. I didn’t want to do anything else with it until I heard back from you. I will go ahead now and share it at church and try and get a better recording and let you know how that goes. I hope to be providing music at the bedside in hospitals and hospice settings soon as I complete my training for Healing Music Practitioner. I have a feeling this hymn may be useful in that regard.