A pandemic schooled the world on what it takes to battle and survive the devious power of a micro monster. It was and still is a lesson we weren’t prepared to learn. The lesson came with an abundance of heartache and trampled on what we thought was normal.

And yet, the human spirit survives and even thrives in desolate times just like new seedlings take root in rough places.

With strength from Above and within, survival eventually morphs into revival. After a horrific event in our family back in 2019, I didn’t think I could commit to revival and yet… I find myself creeping back towards hope for things to come and the old hymn “Revive Us Again” keeps looping in my head.

The tune composed by John J Husband and text by W.P. Mackay has made the top of the hymn chart in our church for decades. This year, it carries a particularly profound meaning. 

In 2021, we came up for air looking for the restoration of “normal.” 

As Alfred Adler put it: 

“ The only normal people are the ones you don’t know very well.”

Did you notice that the title of the tune is Revive Us AGAIN.

The pandemic is not the only event guilty of wreaking havoc with our precious “normality.” There’s no quota on how many bad things can happen in a lifetime. Some know this all too well.

Being human is a trip on a gravel road with steep inclines, wild curves and deep pot holes. Even if our roots latch on to an old petrified stump and the parched path strips us to our core, in time, we grow new branches that host tiny buds. That’s when the Hallelujahs spill out and we sing “Thine the Glory.”

The old hymn tune inspired the theme of the latest season of my podcast, Key Ideas. When you tune in, you’ll hear part of this original arrangement of “Revive Us Again.” This score includes two endings—the first is shorter and remains in F. The second ending makes the piece around three and a half minutes long and modulates to G major.

The vibrant setting reflects a renewable spirit powering through a rugged path of hills and valleys. The driving left hand pulse gains momentum and energy as each section climbs its way up to the mountain peak of the piece on page 5.

Follow this link to catch Key Ideas, or listen wherever you find your podcasts.