Arise, your light is come

Arise, your light is come. Ruth C. Duck* (1947-2024). This was one of Ruth Duck’s earliest hymns, published in Because We Are One People (Chicago: Ecumenical Women’s Center, 1974). It was based on verses from Isaiah 60 and 61. She said that it was inspired by ‘Lead on, O King eternal’* and ‘Rise up, O men of God’*, presumably in the sense that these texts, the latter especially, offended her and caused her to write an inclusive text (see Wootton, 2010, p. 264). It was included by Erik Routley* in Rejoice in the Lord (Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1985), which was a great encouragement to Duck to continue writing. The tune that she proposed for this hymn is FESTAL SONG, by William Henry Walter...