This Holy Week we will dwell in the verses of the hymn, My Song is Love Unknown, written by Samuel Crossman in 1664. It has seven verses, one for each day. TFTD will have a verse, a brief meditation, and a short prayer of response. On the flyleaf of the book in which it was first published, the author quoted the words of Paul: “God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
My song is love unknown,
My Saviour’s love to me;
Love to the loveless shown,
That they might lovely be.
O who am I,
That for my sake
My Lord should take
Frail flesh and die?
Love beyond our knowing, love made so personal ‘to me’, even me; love shown to the loveless, that we might lovely be. Holy Week begins with amazed wonder and a declaration of the Saviour’s love. The hymn begins as love speaks its truth four times with gentle insistence. Then in four brief lines, the long drawn out self-questioning of one who is both ashamed and amazed. The question “Who am I?” is to be asked, with head bowed in breathless awe – love to the loveless shown…frail flesh…for my sake.
Prayer: Lord and Saviour, this week we turn in both repentance and joy towards the love that wins the loveless and makes them lovely, because loved. Amen
The photo is my own, and was taken on Aberdeen beach following a storm that exposed the old breakwaters. From a particular angle the the cross and heart shape coincided. And yes, I did get my feet wet taking the photo!
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