Hymn-ful Sundays! "Jesus Calls us o'er the Tumult"

Our hymn this week is the work of Cecil Frances Alexander, an Irish nineteenth century hymnwriter and poet. "Fanny" as she was best known, began writing at an early age, and wrote many many poems and hymns, including some well-known children's hymns. In fact, hymns for children was her specialty. This week's hymn is one of the few that she wrote that weren't for children.

Hymn-ful Sundays! "Here I am, Lord"

This week's hymn is another fairly contemporary one, written by Dan Schutte in 1981. Schutte was asked to write a song based on Isaiah 6, three days before the event at which it was to be sung. In combining his thoughts on Isaiah 6 with the story of God's call to Samuel, he came up with this song, Here I am Lord, also known as "I the Lord of Sea and Sky". He says that the song "tells of the God who overshadows us, giving power to our stumbling words and the simple works of our hands, and making them into something that can be a grace for people."