We are not our own. Earth forms us

We are not our own. Earth forms us. Brian Arthur Wren* (1936- ). This text was commissioned by the Liturgical Studies Program of Drew University, New Jersey, USA. It was written to a melody composed by the author and finished on 4 September 1987. It was published in Wren’s Bring Many Names (1989). Part of the note to this hymn says: ‘The writing included one false start and numerous revisions. The melody (named from the village where I live [YARNTON]), came at an early stage, and was a useful aid to writing, as was the decision, after writing three stanzas, to complete the hymn in chiasmic form. Thus, the opening and closing theme is “we are not our own,” the second and penultimate theme is...