The Life You Give Is Good
A song for life partners
Music by Ron KlusmeierWords by Walter Farquharson
Tune Name: WILKIE
Lyrics as Poetry
The life you give is good, O God,
it thrills the inner soul.
The love you offer fills our hearts
and we’re made truly whole.
For gift of marriage and of love,
for bond that is so strong;
For all that’s brought us to this hour,
Accept our joyful song.
We pledge our selves in holy love,
We give ourselves today.
Grant that this giving may increase
until our dying day.
We’ll laugh together in our joy
and laughing praise your name;
We’ll grieve together, share our tears,
Your healing love we’ll claim.
This love you’ve given us to share
with joy will fill our days.
To friends we’ll from this love reach out
and offer living praise!
Words by
Walter FarquharsonCopyright © 1976 by Walter Farquharson
Administered by Hope Publishing Company
Carol Stream, Illinois • USA
Scripture References
- Genesis 1:26-31
- Genesis 2:18-25
- The Song of Solomon
- John 2:1-12
- 1 Corinthians
- Philippians 4:8
- 1 John 4:7-16
- 1 John 4:19
Season, Theme
or Subject
- Celebration
- Commitment, Dedication
- God∶ love of
- Life∶ loving life
- Love∶ God's
- Love∶ human love
- Marriage
- Relationships∶ relationships with others
- Wedding
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Comments About Song
A Comment by
RON KLUSMEIER
Despite the fact that I have lived in many places, Saltcoats, Saskatchewan has been a consistent ‘second home’ for me since the early 1970’s. Saltcoats has been Walter’s home since 1961 and his family, friends and neighbours have always felt like they are mine as well.
I had been asked to play for the wedding of a young couple who had been members of one of Walter’s congregations. They asked if Walter and I could create a new wedding song to be used at their service. “The Life You Give Is Good” was the result of that request.
A Reflection by
WALTER FARQUHARSON
There isn’t much in the Scriptures that affirms ecstatic love or even our sexuality. Unfortunately there is, in our Scriptures, more than enough material that can provide fuel for those who would disparage one or both of these gifts to humankind. Romance and romantic love easily become trivialized. Sexuality too often is divorced from our spirituality and is reduced to appetite, commodity, or social contract.
Over centuries of time and across multiple cultures the testimony of lovers declares another message. The interplay of sexuality and spirituality is expressed in dance, poetry and song.
Lovers, those in love, experience life as good. Despite external circumstances, lovers see the beauty of the other, the grace and goodness of the other. Love nurtures trust and hope. Love is intrinsically honouring and respectful. Love is forward looking and sees promise and potential. Love is forgiving and seeks healing and reconciliation. Love looks outward with a spirit of freedom and generosity.
Lovers offer each other commitment and they seek for each other the opportunity to live with purpose and creativity. They do not seek to possess, reshape, or manage. Rather, each desires to be helpmate, soul-mate to the other.
Making love, expressing and recreating love, is wonderful gift shared. Thanks be to God!
Some random musings
on some Scriptures.
The ancient story in Genesis Chapters 2 and 3 is a poetic, mythic musing. It is easy to imagine the story being told around a night-time nomadic camp fire. The story is laced with humour and teasing. It is not a scientific or historical account in any way – nor was it ever intended to be that.
God is. And God is love. Love needs something, then someone, to love. Earth and the heavens. Good. A garden. Plants for beauty and for food. A human being. But look, it isn’t good for a human being to be alone. (God understands loneliness.) One by one the creatures are created and brought for the human one to name – and to see if any of the creatures really excites the human one. Some perhaps come close – maybe horse, or dog, or cuddly kitten. This plan isn’t working, so God causes a deep sleep to come upon the human. God creates another from Adam’s rib. And Adam is wakened. “Wow! This at last is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh.” Over and over it happens – lover sees, truly sees, the other. “Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh.” And they are both naked and neither is ashamed.
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It is interesting that The Song of Solomon , a poetic but unabashedly sexual song of sensual love, entered into the canon of Jewish Scripture and was allowed to remain there. Similarly it is interesting that it entered the canon of Christian Scriptures and has remained there, surviving even the Protestant Reformation that could be very severe. (Some did try to insist that it was an allegory describing God’s covenanted relationship to the Hebrew people.) The language is of another time and another culture but it is certainly sensual. “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine …” “He brought me to the banqueting house, and his intention toward me was love. … O that his left hand were under my head and that his right hand embraced me.”
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The gospel writer John says that the first miracle (sign) which Jesus gave occurred at Cana in Galilee. There was a wedding there. We are not told who was being married but Jesus was there, as was his mother, Mary, and several of the disciples. It is a whole-hearted celebration of marriage that covers more than a day. They run out of wine. Mary prevails upon Jesus to do something about that. According to the story, water is turned into wine and it proves to be better wine than anything served earlier in the festivities. The host takes some teasing over that. After all, one serves the best wine first, then a poorer quality wine later when the taste buds of the guests have been dulled by over consumption.
I include this ‘aside’ to help us appreciate that Jesus is there at a full-blown celebration of love and marriage. Wine is sign of life and joy. The usual banter and taunts spice the conversation.
“We’ll laugh together in our joy,
and laughing praise your name.”