Holy Spirit

AS WE WELCOME SPIRIT’S PRESENCE

Tune:

BURNING 87 87 D
Melody: William L. Wallace
Harmony: Colin Gibson
NORMANDY 87 87 D
Chretien Bost 1790-1874
 

1. As we welcome Spirit’s presence
   We find Spirit comes with fire
   For the Spirit forms a furnace
   That consumes all false desire.
   Where the Spirit dwells there’s burning
   To empower you and me
   Where the Spirit dwells there’s longing
   To set all the captives free.

2. Frosty hearts when met by fire melt,
   It unmasks the cruel and sham.
   All this fire is not just our own
   For it comes from the I AM.
   Christ within is more than just me,
   The incarnate Other One
   Is the one whose loving nurtures
   Ev’ry daughter, eve’ry son.

3. For our spirit to be thriving
   We must choose the silent way,
   Way of stillness in the Spirit
   Who will guide us when we pray.
   Where the Spirit dwells there’s burning,
   Fire for justice and love’s feast,
   Fire that helps compassion nurture,
   Love expanding like the yeast

Text and melody for “Burning” © William Livingstone Wallace
Harmony © Colin Gibson
 
Click Here for Sheet Music – Burning
Click Here for Sheet Music – Normandy
 
Click Here for MP3 – Burning
Click Here for MP3 – Normand
 

Click Here for Full Index to William L. Wallace’s Series

Hymns “Cosmic Mystery”

 
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William (Bill) Livingstone Wallace is a retired New Zealand Methodist Minister and one of our most prolific contributors. Bill says that his work springs from communicating with the fire in his gut and his observation of both the internal and external aspects of the Cosmos. Since an early age, he has been both sympathetic to and critical of the church, announcing at the age of 13 his belief in evolution. In his youth, he struggled with the disconnection between art and spirituality in his own and other denominations and with the way in which all of the liturgies prior to the sermon were regarded as preliminaries and longer sermons were viewed as superior to more concise ones.

He holds a B.A. in philosophy and a Dip. Ed. and is the author of nine published collections of his hymns as well as other resources on our website. His aim is to help people be empowered by the divine within them and the Cosmos and to work to overthrow the forces of personal and institutional greed which destroy both the ecosystem and human society.

Click Here for a Full Biography of William L. Wallace

Click here for a complete list of his work on ProgressiveChristianity.org