Mysterious Presence, Source of All

Representative Text

1 Mysterious Presence, source of all —
the world without, the soul within —
thou fount of life, O hear our call,
and pour thy living waters in.

2 Thou breathest in the rushing wind,
thy spirit stirs in leaf and flower;
nor wilt thou from the willing mind
withhold thy light and love and power.

3 Thy hand unseen to accents clear
awoke the psalmist’s trembling lyre,
and touched the lips of holy seer
with flame from thine own altar fire.

4 That touch divine again impart,
still give the prophet’s burning word;
and vocal in each waiting heart
let living psalms of praise be heard.

Source: Singing the Living Tradition #92

Author: Seth Curtis Beach

Seth Curtis Beach was born on August 8, 1837 in western New York State. He was a Unitarian minister, author, poet and hymnist. The family lived in a log cabin they had built on a fifty acre farm near the village of Marion, New York. His mother and older sister tutored him until he was eight. In 1858 he enrolled at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, but transferred to Union College in Schenectady, New York and gradated from there with an A.B. degree in 1863. As a Unitarian, Beach enrolled at Harvard Divinity School to prepare for the ministry. After college he preached as a supply minister for a number of churches eventually settling at All Souls Unitarian Church in Augusta, Maine in 1867. He also served as minister at First Church… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: Mysterious presence, source of all
Title: Mysterious Presence, Source of All
Author: Seth Curtis Beach
Meter: 8.8.8.8
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

Mysterious Presence, Source of all. [Before Sermon.] This hymn in the American Unitarian Hymn & [Tune] Book, 1868, is attributed therein to "S. C. Beach."

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)

Tune

WAREHAM (Knapp)

William Knapp (b. Wareham, Dorsetshire, England, 1698; d. Poole, Dorsetshire, 1768) composed WAREHAM, so named for his birthplace. A glover by trade, Knapp served as the parish clerk at St. James's Church in Poole (1729-1768) and was organist in both Wareham and Poole. Known in his time as the "coun…

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DUKE STREET

First published anonymously in Henry Boyd's Select Collection of Psalm and Hymn Tunes (1793), DUKE STREET was credited to John Hatton (b. Warrington, England, c. 1710; d, St. Helen's, Lancaster, England, 1793) in William Dixon's Euphonia (1805). Virtually nothing is known about Hatton, its composer,…

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ABENDS


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Media

The Cyber Hymnal #4341
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Instances

Instances (1 - 28 of 28)

Chapel Hymns and Services #d71

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Church Harmonies #816

Heart and Voice #d157

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Heart and Voice #26

Hymn and Tune Book for the Church and the Home and Services for Congregational Worship. Rev. ed. #d428

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Hymn and Tune Book for the Church and the Home. (Rev. ed.) #232

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Hymn and Tune Book, for the Church and the Home #695

Hymns and Songs #ad17

Hymns and Songs I #d17

Hymns and Songs IV #aad17

Hymns for the Celebration of Life #d135

Hymns of the Saints #169

Hymns of the Spirit for Use in the Free Churches of America #63

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Isles of Shoals Hymn Book and Candle Light Service #61

Jubilate Deo #7

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Sacred Songs For Public Worship #11

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Sacred Songs For Public Worship #11

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Services for Congregational Worship. The New Hymn and Tune Book #80

TextPage Scan

Singing the Living Tradition #92

Page Scan

Song-Hymnal of Praise and Joy #123

The Beacon Song and Service book #31

The Churches of God Hymnal. #d330

TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #4341

Text

The Hymnal #101

The New Church Hymnal #d267

Page Scan

The Treasury of American Sacred Song with Notes Explanatory and Biographical #290

Unity Hymns and Chorals. Rev and enl. with Service Elements #d167

University Hymn Book for use in the Chapel of Harvard University #d132

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