I See a Little Child (George MacDonald)

Arthur Hughes - "Woodcutter's Child"

Originally Published: June 2008

Background story:  This week for church I decided to get a bit ambitious.  I was planning the service for a sermon on Mark 2:18-22, where Jesus shows how what He offers is superior to the rules of religion.  For some reason, into my head popped a poem from George MacDonald’s Diary of an Old Soul. I thought how well it fit with the theme, and then I realized there was no reason I couldn’t flex my art-song chops a bit.

Within the space of a few hours, I found myself setting the poem to music, composing a complete piano accompaniment, messing around on my studio software and recording it, and performing it for offertory this Sunday.  I think that’s some kind of record, for me anyway.

The response from the congregation was total silence, which the more I think about is was the effect I was going for.  And here is the song:

I See a Little Child

I see a little child whose eager hands
Search the thick stream that drains the crowded street
For possible things hid in its current slow.
Near by, behind him, a great palace stands,
Where kings might welcome nobles to their feet.
Soft sounds, sweet scents, fair sights there only go—
There the child’s father lives, but the child does not know.

On, eager, hungry, busy-seeking child,
Rise up, turn round, run in, run up the stair.
Far in a chamber from rude noise exiled,
Thy father sits, pondering how thou dost fare.
The mighty man will clasp thee to his breast:
Will kiss thee, stroke the tangles of thy hair,
And lap thee warm in fold on fold of lovely rest.

Lord, loosen in me the hold of visible things;
Help me to walk by faith and not by sight;
I would, through thickest veils and coverings,
See into the chambers of the living light.
Lord, in the land of things that swell and seem,
Help me to walk by the other light supreme,
Which shows thy facts behind man’s vaguely hinting dream.

Text:  George MacDonald, 1824-1905. From The Diary of an Old Soul
Music: © Eric M. Pazdziora, 2008

(If the player above doesn’t work, click here: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=330597&content=songinfo&songID=6618037

George MacDonald captures the nature of the spiritual life better than any other writer I know.

There are some more songs with MacDonald texts, though not sung by me, at my SoundClick site, for those interested.

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1. Playlist
2. Andrew Murray: “In Spirit and Truth,” or the True Worshippers
3. Bless Thou Jehovah (R. A. Torrey)
4. Recent Compositions and Commissions
5. Practical Tips for Worship Leading