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Elizabeth Alexander
Elizabeth Alexander (Seafarer Press)
We Lift Up Our Hearts
An intergenerational song of thanksgiving appropriate for religious or secular occasions.
SATB + unison children’s choir, piano
This intergenerational partner-song for adult choir and unison children’s choir is a feast of gratitude, appropriate for any interfaith or community gathering. With poetic lyrics and gently arching melodies, “We Lift Up Our Hearts” is a blessing that brings thanksgiving to any season or occasion.
The children and adults may easily learn their parts separately, combining them at a final rehearsal.
Composer’s Notes
My family has spoken Richard M. Fewkes’ blessing as our table grace for the past 20 years. This is no small praise, for I brought an exhaustive set of criteria to this choir! The grace needed to be approachable to young children, beautiful in language and form, and appropriate for a guest of any faith. It was such a pleasure to set Fewkes words to music so that I could share his simple, elegant prayer with others.
-Elizabeth Alexander
Text
For the sun and the dawn which we did not create;
For the moon and the evening which we did not design;
For food which we plant but cannot grow;
For friends and loved ones we have not earned and cannot buy;
For all gifts which come from a source beyond ourselves,
We lift up our hearts in thanks.
Original prayer by Richard Fewkes:
For the sun and the dawn which we did not create;
For the moon and the evening which we did not make;
For food which we plant but cannot grow;
For friends and loved ones we have not earned and cannot buy;
For this gathered company which welcomes us as we are,
from wherever we have come;
For all our free churches that keep us human
and encourage us in our quest for beauty, truth, and love;
For all things which come to us as gifts of being from sources beyond ourselves;
Gifts of life and love and friendship
We lift up our hearts in thanks this day.
-Poem by Richard Fewkes, adapted by Elizabeth Alexander
© by Richard M. Fewkes. Reprinted by permission.
$3.00 per licensed PDF
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