I ran across this hymn recently. The tune was familiar – it’s used for Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise in our hymnal – but I had never heard these words to it before. I’m adding it to my personal hymnal. In addition to the upbeat tune, it’s an excellent discussion of our baptismal covenant. The book of Mosiah reminds us that when we enter the waters of baptism, we are expressing our willingness to “bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light” and our willingness to “mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort”. (Mosiah 18:8-9)
Lord, join our hearts with those who weep
That none may weep alone,
And help us bear another’s pain
As though it were our own.
There’s a lot to mourn about these days, and many of us stand in need of comfort.
We are your body, risen Christ;
Our hearts, our hands, we yield
That through our life and ministry
Your love may be revealed.
I’ve always liked the metaphor of the Church as a body. Bodies have various parts, all different but essential. And bodies have a remarkable ability to heal when wounded. There are times when we’re the wounded parts of the body and need time to heal and be ministered to, and there are times when we’re the ones doing the ministering. And both are ways that the love of God is manifest.
2 Responses
This is lovely and the message about the body of Christ feels so applicable at this contentious time in US history.
I love those words! I have enormous fondness for “Let Zion in her beauty rise” — in part because I sang it in the MTC, in part because I love how Zion is personified as female. These new words are lovely!