Is Dan Schutte's hymn "Here I Am, Lord" appropriate for Mass?

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Gorgias, I see too many misrepresentations here to address. I’ve muted this thread. Best wishes.
 
I really don’t like it. It’s sappy, it’s me oriented and I don’t think it’s a very good hymn period.
 
KyPerson said:
I really don’t like it. It’s sappy, it’s me oriented and I don’t think it’s a very good hymn period.
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You must not like scripture very much then. Many of the verses in the hymn are scriptural references.

This link illustrates it:


Click on the highlighted verses to see the biblical reference. Granted the hymn is a cobbling together of various scriptural verses. But the lyrics appear to have a solid scriptural foundation.

As for the music, well that’s a matter of taste. My own runs “Gregorian”, but not everyone agrees with me 😉
 
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I also am concerned over hymns where the congregation speaks as God. The transcendence of God is mildly undermined. The problem is that people as you say do not notice that sort of thing, but it does affect them.
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I remember in my younger years some people thought that listening to rock music with words spoken in reverse (supposedly) was doing the same thing. The hymn, though it uses first person, does speak of the majesty of God. I just cannot accept this sort of subtlety of grammar as significantly affect people.

Furthermore, each verse starts with some description of the majesty of God, describing his transcendence. I get people do not like this song for any number of reasons. But that is more the nature of people than of music. Yet when I read some of the reasoning here, it almost seems like there is a search to justify not liking a song.
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The sense I get from this song, is “Here I am, you like me as I am, no need to change”.
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I am curious about why you get this. Only the first three words, the ones from the Bible, or even remotely suggested anywhere in the song.

“Here I am, Lord. Is it I Lord? I have heard you calling in the night. I will go, Lord, if you lead me. I will hold your people in my heart.”
 
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Wow! I had no idea. It’s still one of my favorites, written by an atheist or not!
 
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