1. Your hands: are they feeling cold?
Are they just like mine?
Are they feeling cold?
Come stand. Stand beside this Fire.
All of us will stand.
Stand beside this Fire.
2. Your heart. Is it weary too?
Is it just like like mine?
Is it weary, too?
Come stand. Stand beside this Fire.
All of us will stand.
Stand beside this Fire.
3. Your voice, longing to be heard.
Is it just like mine?
Longing to be heard?
Come stand. Stand beside this Fire.
All of us will stand.
Stand beside this Fire.
4. Your hope, is it flick’ring still?
Is it just like mine?
is it flick’ring still?
Come stand. Stand beside this Fire.
All of us will stand.
Stand beside this Fire.
Words and music by Bret Hesla and Paul Andress
© 2022 Bret Hesla. All rights reserved. Use with permission, please.
Licensed via OneLicense.net Contact: Bret.hesla@gmail.com.
In 2019, musician Paul Andress and I set out to write some short refrains. He wanted some new material to use at various spots in the services for his church, a Edina Community Lutheran in Minnesota. This is a community with a long history of embracing LGBTQIA+ inclusion, racial justice, and eco faith. To get ideas rolling, we sat down with Catherine Malotky, a friend, retired pastor, writer, thinker and member of Paul’s congregation. We talked through their typical service structure. What happens here? What needs to be said here. To help define the purpose of the beginning, gathering time, Catherine’s comment was, “Be clear about with whom we are gathering together, and whose vision is our common ground. Like an outdoor fire at night or when it’s cold, what is attracting us here and will propel us into the impact of the service? What is our source of heat and light?”
This song gives you some space to do that. It also has a feel of comfort, healing, and inclusion. You could sing it around an actual fire, or around a centering candle, or just lift up the Fire in the imagination of the group.