Nothing is lost on the breath of God

Nothing is lost on the breath of God. Colin Gibson* (1933-). Written in 1994 as a response to the death from cystic fibrosis of a young man of nineteen, and dedicated to his devoted mother, this hymn addresses the profound sense of loss that follows any such traumatic experience. It was first published in the local hymn book supplement of the Mornington Methodist Church, Dunedin, in Hope Publishing’s Supplement 96, then in Colin Gibson’s 1998 American collection Songs for a Rainbow People, the New Zealand hymn book Faith Forever Singing (2000), and a number of other hymnals and funeral resources. Its initiating image, ‘Nothing is lost on the breath of God’, is derived from Hildegard of...