Song

Abiding Love

Intimate male lead with communal response · contemplative, mystical, restrained, luminous · slow meditative pilgrimage rhythm

A contemplative Eastern Mediterranean sacred folk meditation on friendship, divine love, and the gradual unveiling of spiritual understanding through the Gospel of John.

[Intro]
I am the vine; you are the branches.
Whoever abides in me bears much fruit.

[Chorus]
Master, speak to us plainly.

[Verse 1]
No longer do I call you servants,
for the servant does not know
what his master is doing.

[Verse 2]
Now I call you friends,
and it is friends who know
what the master is doing.

[Chorus]
Now you are speaking plainly,
not in figures.

[Verse 3]
As the Father has loved me,
so have I loved you.
Abide in my love.

[Bridge]
This is my commandment,
that you love one another
as I have loved you.

[Chorus]
Now you are speaking plainly,
not in parables.

[Verse 4]
Come to know God's truth:
anyone who does not love
does not know God.

[Final Chorus]
Because God is love.

[Outro]
You should go and bear fruit;
your fruit should abide,
and love should multiply.

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