We Meet You, O Christ

We meet You, O Christ, in many a guise

Author: Fred Kaan (1966)
Published in 7 hymnals

Full Text

1 We meet You, O Christ, in many a guise:
Your image we see in simple and wise.
You live in a palace, exist in a shack.
We see You, the gardener, a tree on Your back.

2 In millions alive, away and abroad;
Involved in our life You live down the road.
Imprisoned in systems, You long to be free.
We see You, Lord Jesus, still bearing Your tree.

3 We hear You, O Christ, in agony cry.
For freedom You march, in riots You die.
Your face in the papers we read and we see.
The tree must be planted by human decree.

4 You choose to be made at one with the earth;
The dark of the grave prepares for Your birth.
Your death is Your rising, creative Your word:
The tree springs to life and our hope is restored.

Author: Fred Kaan

Fred Kaan was known and honoured throughout the English speaking world as a hymn writer. He was in the tradition of reformed ministers such as Philip Doddridge who wrote hymns to follow and sum up the sermons they preached. Having started to write hymns early in his ministry, his output grew steadily during his career. The post-war years witnessed an explosion of hymn writing that can loosely be categorised into two groups. There were those writers who worked in a traditional style, seeking to add their 20th-century contribution to the corpus of hymns used down the years by churches of all traditions. And there were those who introduced a new style of "worship song" designed to appeal to today's congregations. Kaan was impatient with… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: We meet You, O Christ, in many a guise
Title: We Meet You, O Christ
Author: Fred Kaan (1966)
Meter: 10.10.11.11
Copyright: Copyright © 1968 by Hope Publishing Company, Carol Stream, IL 60188. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Timeline

Instances

Instances (5)TextImageAudioScore
Chalice Hymnal #183Text
Presbyterian Hymnal #311TextImage
The United Methodist Hymnal #257TextImage
Voices United: The Hymn and Worship Book of The United Church of Canada #183Text
Worship and Rejoice #616TextImage