Have you forgotten freedom? Have you forgotten joy?
How hard it is to remember who you really are
To remember you’re beloved, remember you are prized
Remember feeling a part of the mystery of life
Like that first bike ride when you did not fall
You were swept away in the power of it all
And you rode so fast you could swear you flew
And your soul opened wide in a cry of true abandon
Hear God rejoicing over you Abandon
Hear God rejoicing over you Abandon
Hear God rejoicing over you
Abandon
What are these prison cells we’ve built with fear and hatred?
We weld them shut to discover that we’re the ones inside
It’s time to shine the daylight against these dungeon walls
Past time we traded our guns for the wrecking ball
And life’s too short and life’s too long
To stop our ears to the Spirit’s song
It may seem too good to be true
But listen to Her love for you
Abandon…
Remember we’re beloved—remember we are prized
A dance of beautiful riddles in the mystery of life
Like that first bike ride when we did not fall
We get swept away in the power of it all
And we ride so fast we could swear we flew
And our souls open wide in a cry of true abandon…
… God rejoicing over you
God rejoicing over you
God rejoicing over you
God rejoicing over you
Copyright ©1998, 1996 by Lee Krähenbühl / Found Space Music. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission. Permissions: LeeKrahenbuhl@aol.com.
Composed: Cafe Trevi, Chicago, Illinois, 9 October 1996, commissioned for the conference “A Celebration of Gratitude and Abandon,” November 15-17, 1996
First public performance: Oak Park Mennonite Church, Oak Park, Illinois, November 15, 1996
Notes: Inspired by Zephaniah 3:17c-18: “God is in your midst . . . God will rejoice over you with gladness, God will renew you in God’s love; God will exult over you with loud singing as on a day of festival.”
Recordings: Kindling, Kindling Live! (KinFolk, 1998)
Listen to the Kindling arrangement (1998) via YouTube
Lee Krähenbühl, PhD 