Hymns by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette
O God, each day you bless us with gifts of your shalom:
You give us peace and justice, you welcome lost ones home.
You care for your creation and set your people free;
You offer us salvation and build community.
You make us sons and daughters — baptized and reconciled!
You show us: Each peacemaker is blest as your own child.
You fill us at your table with strength for each new day;
Then Spirit-filled we're able to live your peaceful way.
We'll worship, pray and study, to learn new skills for peace;
We'll work as one strong body so justice will increase.
We'll build new global friendships, seek peace in every land,
Protect the earth you gave us and give with outstretched hand.
You give your church a vision, a way of life, a prayer:
Your will is done in heaven; now bring in your reign here!
And when we wonder, grieving, at what the nations do,
God, may we work, believing there's hope in serving you.
Hymn Use Permission: Songs of Grace: New Hymns for God and Neighbor by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette (Upper Room Books, 2009) includes a permission note for those who own this book to use this hymn (along with the 76 other new hymns in the book) in their local church's worship services. People who do not own Songs of Grace are asked to contact Carolyn (bcgillette@comcast.net) for permission to use the hymn and to get a copy of the hymn formatted for worship bulletin use.
Mark Koenig of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program wanted a hymn that would celebrate the anniversary of the Commitment to Peacemaking. "O God, Each Day You Bless Us" lifts up the themes found in this commitment about what local congregations can do to further God's peace in the world. The hymn is a response to the words of Jesus, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God" (Matthew 5:9).
What is your church doing in the area of peacemaking? Do your worship, prayer and study reflect your commitment? Do you reach out to others around the world? Do you care for the earth? Do you give generously?
What are you doing as an individual? Try writing your own commitment to peacemaking. Why do things like peace and justice matter? What will you do to worship, pray, study, reach out, care and give for peace and justice? How does what you do make a real difference for others?
Copied from Songs of Grace: New Hymns for God and Neighbor by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette (Upper Room Books, 2009).
- Check out the rest of this web site for other wonderful hymns.
- Consider buying Carolyn's two books of hymns that give permission to use the book's hymns in a local church: Gifts of Love: New Hymns for Today's Worship by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette (Geneva Press, 2000) and Songs of Grace: New Hymns for God and Neighbor by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette (Upper Room Books, 2009)
- Share the hymn and her hymns web site with people in your church and other online friends in other churches.
- Check out A Dozen Ways to Support Carolyn's Hymn-writing (including hymn use permission).