Hymn | The Transfiguration | 6 August 2026

Written in a hospital bed, this Transfiguration hymn finds divine light amidst life’s deepest mists.

O Father, see the love You give

1.
O Father, see the love You give,
Your children called to be;
the dawn climbs through the mountain mist
and wakes our hearts to see.

2.
Elijah's word, a torch of fire,
your splendour blazes bright;
the curlew's cry on moorland winds
still stirs our souls to light.

3.
The Lord is light and saving strength,
our stronghold through the day;
his glory crowns the mountain's height
and drives all fear away.

4.
What we shall be is hid from us,
yet hope makes pure our sight;
till Christ reveals his face again
in everlasting light. 

Hymn information

First line: O Father, see the love You give
Text: Michael McFarland Campbell
Metre: CM
Tune:
Theme: Transfiguration of the Lord, Ecclesiasticus 48.1-10, Psalm 27, 1 John 3:1-3

© 2026 Michael McFarland Campbell. Permission granted for local church use with attribution. Not for commercial reproduction without permission.

Reflection

The Transfiguration is a feast of overwhelming light, but it begins on a steep climb through the mist.

When we pray from places of vulnerability—a hospital room, a time of illness, or simply the quiet interior spaces of our daily lives—the mountain peak can feel distant. Yet divine glory rarely arrives in neat, detached packages. It breaks through like a torch in the dark, or reaches us through the sharp, solitary cry of a curlew carried across the moorland winds.

To sit in a place of physical weakness or deep reflection is to become acutely aware of our surroundings: every shifting texture, sound, and shadow. Grace does not erase the mountain mist or the cold winds; it shines directly through them, turning ordinary human landscape into a sacred place of encounter.

We do not yet see the full picture of who we are or what lies ahead.

“What we shall be is hid from us.”

Verse 4

But the promise of the Transfiguration is that our present obscurity is never the final word. Hope cleanses our vision, allowing us to spot the quiet, steady daylight breaking through the fog, holding us safe until all is revealed in everlasting light