11th Hour Preacher Party: I Sing a Song of the Saints of God

I sing a song of the saints of God,
patient and brave and true,
who toiled and fought and lived and died
for the Lord they loved and knew.
And one was a doctor, and one was a queen,
and one was a shepherdess on the green;
they were all of them saints of God, and I mean, God helping, to be one too.

Hello, preaching saints! This day always makes me think of this hymn and my days as an Episcopal schoolgirl. It didn't "take," obviously, since I ended up in another stream of the faith, but I treasure this hymn in particular. We'll be celebrating our "Everyday Saints" at church tomorrow and singing it.

They loved their Lord so dear, so dear,
and his love made them strong;
and they followed the right for Jesus' sake
the whole of their good lives long.
And one was a soldier, and one was a priest,
and one was slain by a fierce wild beast;
and there's not any reason, no, not the least,
why I shouldn't be one too.

I don't know about you, but the fierce wild beast was my favorite line as a child.

They lived not only in ages past;
there are hundreds of thousands still.
The world is bright with the joyous saints
who love to do Jesus' will.
You can meet them in school, or in lanes or at sea,
In church, or in trains or in shops or at tea,
for the saints of God are just folk like me,
and I mean to be one too.*

And for the Anglophiles among us, who can resist lanes and shops and tea?

What will you be up to this Saturday? Where might you meet the saints? Will they figure in your sermon or your message for the children?

At my house, the coffee is strong, the dogs are happy, the guest is god_guurrlll (in town for a Conference and headed out soon to give a presentation, but she sends you a big "Hello!"), and the sermon has, well, a title.

Maybe we need some coffee cake?

*Lyrics by Lesbia Scott; precious book available at Amazon.