Song brings light in dark times

As pastors and music directors searched for ways to respond to the recent shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, many of them turned to a song originally written for worship in the Eden chapel. On the Sunday following the shooting, churches around the country sang or listened to recordings of “Let Me Be Your Light,” a song written by Eden Theological Seminary professor Christopher Grundy

Professor Grundy originally wrote a brief refrain for chapel immediately after the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in January of 2011. After that service, he posted the song on the internet, with sheet music, for others to use. Since that time, after each of the tragic mass shootings of the last two years, downloads of the song and the sheet music have risen dramatically in the wake of tragedy. The day after shooting at Sandy Hook, the song was shared on Facebook and played more than 1000 times. Churches in some 19 states downloaded the sheet music.

“I can’t say that I’m delighted that the song is being used – I’m disappointed that it’s useful again. I am glad that the song has found its way to people who need it though.” Grundy says that he put a Creative Commons license on the song – allowing others to use for free – since it didn’t seem right to profit from tragedy.

You can hear the song at soundcloud.com. Search for "Christopher Grundy."