These Alone Are Enough
Take my heart, O Lord, take my hopes and dreams
Take my mind with all its plans and schemes
Give me nothing more than Your love and grace
These alone, O God, are enough for me
Take my thoughts, O Lord, and my memory
Take my tears, my joys, my liberty
Give me nothing more than Your love and grace
These alone, O God, are enough for me
I surrender, Lord, all I have and hold
I return to You Your gifts untold
Give me nothing more than Your love and grace
These alone, O God, are enough for me
When the darkness falls on my final days
Take the very breath that sang Your praise
Give me nothing more than Your love and grace
These alone, O God, are enough for me
© 2004, Daniel L. Schutte. Published by OCP. All rights reserved.
You can listen to the song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gATP1OQugz0
If the name of the Catholic hymnwriter Dan Schutte means anything to you then it’s probably as the author of the hymn, ‘I, the Lord of Sea and sky (Here I Am, Lord)’. That might be his best known work but it’s not his only composition. In fact, he’s written the best part of 200 hymns at the present count.
We are considering one of those hymns today, ‘These Alone Are Enough’, which is based on the Suspice prayer of Ignatius of Loyola (also known as the ‘Take, Lord and Receive’ prayer):
“Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will. All I have and call my own, You have given to me; to you, Lord, I return it. Everything is yours; do with it what you will. Give me only your love and your grace. That is enough for me.”
Do you ever hear a leader of worship blessing the offering in a service with words like these – ‘Everything we have, Lord, is yours and we give back to you your own. Receive the gifts that we offer and use them as you will. Amen.’? That is the essence of the Suspice prayer and of this song. The words speak of our total surrender and the giving of all that we have to God but not in a way that leaves us with nothing.
We trust that the God who loves us will provide all the things we will need but we are affirming that these material possessions and pleasures cannot fully satisfy us as human beings. Rather, our true fulfilment is found in God’s presence with us and our experience of God’s love and grace. These alone should be enough for us.
Prayer: Lord, these are simple words to sing but we acknowledge they are much harder to put into practice. As human beings, we get very attached to our earthly comforts and material possessions. May your Holy Spirit strengthen us to look to your love and your grace – your presence – as being enough for us and help us to trust you for everything else. Amen.