Several years ago, Geoffrey Nobes, former Bandmaster of Portsmouth Citadel Band, composed a tune to words from one of my hymns. His setting is truly wonderful – one that never fails to move and inspire me whenever I hear it, invariably bringing a tear to my eye. The words articulate the questions we sometimes find ourselves asking of God in this tumultuous world, with all its joys and blessings, certainly, but also its tragedies and suffering. How do we make sense of it all? How do we keep faith in the love of God, when so much seems to challenge it? Geoff dedicated this arrangement, beautifully played by the International Salvation Army Band, to the memory of his friend Bandmaster Derek Wilding of Lavenham Corps. I am enormously grateful to Geoff, the band, the Salvation Army, and Stephen Cobb, the Salvation Army’s Director of Music and Creative Arts, for granting me permission to include the video on my website, and I hope you will find the piece speaks as powerfully to you as it has spoken to so many others.
Nick Fawcett (devotional and reflective writer)
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This is so beautiful – words, music and film work together perfectly.
A moving blend of words and music- many thanks