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Description of the Creation of “I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light” by Kathleen Thomerson - in her own words. August 2004
The Hymn “I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light” was written as a scriptural meditation and prayer. It was inspired by many Bible verses, including Genesis 1:17, Isaiah 60:19, Psalm 75:16, Psalm 139:12, Ephesians #:17, 5:8, Galatians 4:6, Hebrews 1:3, I Thessalonians 5:5, II Peter 1:19, I John 1:5-7, and Revelation 21:23. As I wrote the words of the first stanza, I heard the melody to which they were to be sung. It is interesting that I did not hear any harmonies, only the melodic line. The harmonization was worked out later in my mind, and at a piano, without changing any of the melody.
The particular event which resulted in my writing this hymn was an unexpected opportunity to visit my brothers and sisters in Christ at the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer in Houston. I lived in St. Louis at the time, the summer of 1966, and had been there for almost a year with my husband and our 2-year-old son. My mother stopped to visit us on her way to see her family in North Carolina. Two things happened: there was an airline strike which cancelled service between St. Louis and Mother’s home town, and a terrible heat wave arrived. Every afternoon we roasted in our rented house, with no air-conditioning, just fans, and the temperature reaching 105 degrees. Electric current was not at full strength, with power brownouts... Traffic lights didn’t function, and driving became hot and hazardous. After a week, with the airline still on strike, my mother said “Why should I melt up here when I could wait in my air-conditioned home in Houston?” My husband’s office at the university was air-conditioned, so we decided that those who didn’t have cool air, particularly 2-year-olds with heat rash, would retreat to Texas (not a usual move for getting cooler in the summer!) until the heat wave broke. I was very happy to think about going back to the Church of the Redeemer, and I started hearing the words and melody of “Child of the Light”. I remember walking around the house with a paper and pencil in hand, humming, writing down words, while my mother said, “Kathleen, if you are leaving soon, shouldn’t you be packing?” When we left I had the melody and first stanza of text down on paper, and finished the rest in Houston.
It was first sung at the Church of the Redeemer and I gave it to the Fisherfolk Ministry there. The church put copies in the pews, but the hymn began disappearing, so they decided to sell it in their bookstore. It appeared in several hymnal supplements, and then in the Episcopal Hymnal 1982. With many denominations issuing new hymnals in this decade, it is now in Roman Catholic, United Methodist, Evangelical Covenant, ELCA, Mennonite, and UCC of Japan hymnals. It is translated into several languages, including Welsh and Japanese.
In 1984 I wrote an anthem arrangement which is published by GIA, Chicago (G-2786), and there are also organ solo arrangements and anthems recently published by Concordia, Morning Star, Word Music, Choristers Guild, and Augsburg Fortress. |
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Thoughts
from our Music Ministry