Had a bit of a drama with a hymn last week.
I'd written one for the Ely Diocesan Clergy conference, which was supposed to reflect the theme of the conference and the subjects for the keynote addresses - except that the keynote addresses were so good that they made me reinterpret not only what should go in the hymn, but quite a lot of stuff about my life and ministry, too.
The process of rewriting the hymn (which ended up being a corporate activity, as I found I couldn't do it on my own) made me realise a lot of stuff that hadn't been right with me - feeling that I had to succeed, get things done, and tick all the boxes all in my own strength. Anyway, I can't even really begin to describe the process, but the end product, hymn-wise, is quite different from what I posted here before. Here it is:

Lord of all time, our end and our beginning,
shaping the whole in which we play our part,
open our eyes to see your way unfolding,
and keep eternity within our hearts.

Lord of all truth, inspiring and surprising,
keep us alert and watching through the night,
seeking the signs of your salvation dawning
in lives illumined by your glorious light.

Lord of all hope, your song of consolation
echoes through time, in this and every place;
Now and in every future generation
we'll sing this story of transforming grace.

It doesn't even begin to do justice to what the keynote speaker was saying, but it's closer than it was. For any of you who are interested, the speaker was Stephen Cottrell, Bishop of Reading, and a lot of what he said can be found in his book, 'Hit the ground kneeling' - everyone should read it!

Meanwhile, I've had to reassess what I'm doing when I write hymns - if what I write has just been perpetuating what I now recognise to be an unhealthy pattern of trying to justify myself and living up to other people's expectations (ie all about 'doing' things right - very worthy, but not very honest), then I'll have to change what I write, or take a break for a while, until I find that I can write something more honest.