May the Beauty of God utilizes the beautiful prose from John Birch to create a song of praise. I learned about John Birch while I was searching for poetry that I would like to set to music. I found his work at www.faithandworship.com where there is a bit of a bio and access to a huge collection of prayers. Birch describes prayer simply – a conversation with God. Sometimes his words are in the form of conventional poetry. Other times it appears to be an intimate conversation with the Creator. His website offered the prayers for use in worship, so I contacted him to ask for specific permission to set his music for choral performance. He graciously offered his permission for me to use any of the prayers available on the site.
I loved the image he painted of the love of God dwelling in other people’s faces, works, words, and love. In addition, the love of God displayed by us can therefore impact others so that they also can believe. The song ends with the words that all might see, and seeing believe.
It seemed to me that the musical setting required movement to match the joy and optimism of the words. I particularly love the energy that a hand drum can add to a choral work, so I added an optional drum rhythm. The composition would be appropriate as an introit, benediction, or orison for use in worship.
To see the complete piece, please click HERE or send me a message on this site.