Hymn June 2019 "Go Now in Peace"

    "Go Now in Peace" is an appropriate song blessing at the end of worship services. This hymn could be used in place of a spoken blessing, with everyone responding by singing this song as a parting blessing to each other.  Natalie Sleeth (1930-1992) began writing when her teenage daughter complained about the dull choir anthems she was singing.  Natalie was convinced she could write better music than that.  At the time she was auditing a course in choral music at Southern Methodist University, where her husband was a professor of preaching in the Perkins School of Theology.   She gave John Kemp, a guest lecturer in the class, one of her compositions to look at.  That first anthem ("Canon of Praise," 1969) started her off on a new career that lasted the rest of her life.  After many years of suffering from multiple sclerosis, Natalie succumbed to cancer—the same type that took her husband in 1985. With her death comes to mind her song “Now Go In Peace”.   She died triumphantly, as her final letter to her grandchildren reveals.                                                                                                                                                            “For the Grandchildren from Natalie
    Once upon a time—long, long ago—everything was dark and had no shape or form. And God looked around and said: "I want to make a world," and so the world was made. God made day and night and earth and sky and land and sea and trees and mountains and all sorts of creatures that could walk or run or swim or fly. But something was missing, and God sat down on a cloud to think. "I know what my world needs!" God said, "People!" So God created a man and a woman and gave them the power to make more people, and through the years the world became a busy place with all sorts of men and women and children everywhere! And God said: "I will give each of my people special gifts, and I will help them use these gifts to make the world the best place it can be!" And God looked down and smiled and said: "That's good! That's good!"
    Now one of the people on God's earth was a child named Natalie, and God gave her the gift of music. As she grew, she learned to use this gift in many ways, and she gave thanks that she could share it with others. And Natalie had a family—a husband and children and grandchildren, too, and each one was special, and she loved them all. And God looked down and saw Natalie and smiled and said: "That's good! That's good!"
    But one day Natalie began to realize that she was getting older and that her body was beginning to wear out. And she talked to God about it and asked for help. God heard her and said: "My child, when I made the world and filled it with people, I had a plan. I wanted my people to have life for as long as they could, but not forever, because then my world would be too full with no room for anybody. I planned it so that when it was time to leave the earth, my people would come and live with me in heaven, where there is no pain or sickness or sadness or anything bad." And Natalie said softly to God: "Is my time to come and live with you getting near?" And God said: "Yes, but be not afraid, for I will always be with you and take care of you." And Natalie said to God: "But I will miss my family and my friends, and they will miss me!" And God said: "I will comfort them and turn their tears to joy and they will remember you with happiness and be glad for your life among them."
    So slowly Natalie began the journey to heaven, and day by day drew nearer to God. In the distance she could see light and hear music and feel happiness she had never known before. And as she moved toward the gates and into the household of God, she said to herself, with joy in her heart: "That's good! That's good!"
Natalie Sleeth, 1992                                                                                                           From Reformed Worship 127 © 2017 Worship Ministries of the Christian Reformed Church. Used by permission.”                                                   “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.  If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever.  Amen.”                                                                                                                                                                   1 Peter 4:10-11