Music by Daniel Kallman
Text by Christine Kallman
Unison voices, keyboard
An uplifting call to unity, love, and reconciliation. For congregational singing. Also available as a choir anthem.
View score and obtain license.
Proclaim the Love That Breaks Down Walls was a winning commission of the Northern Texas-Northern Louisiana ELCA Prize celebrating the visionary-missional leadership of Bishop Kevin S. Kanous, 2000-2016, as part of the 2017 LutheranArts Martin Luther Hymn Prize honoring the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.
PROCLAIM THE LOVE THAT BREAKS DOWN WALLS (HYMN)
by Christine Kallman
Proclaim the love that breaks down walls,
that bridges deep and dark divides.
Declare to all shut out by hate and fear:
You are no longer strangers here.
In humbleness let us confess
the fortresses our hearts erect
between ourselves and those we would condemn.
Let love unveil God’s light in them.
Entrusted with a costly love,
we strive for justice, dare to go
beyond the stubborn borders of our ease,
to see the world our neighbor sees.
Oh Spirit, breathe a gentler way
into our harsh divisiveness.
Instill in us compassion’s ardent spark,
A lamp to guide us through the dark.
God, help us gather up the strength
to build anew, to work at peace
as sisters, brothers standing face to face,
held in your reconciling grace.
© 2017, Christine Kallman
Meter 8.8.10.8