John McCutcheon Forgive Us
Little town that I was born in
Early every Sunday morning
We'd drive past those fields of corn
That led us to Saint James
Planted in those hard oak pews
Your neighbors sitting next to you
Said the words each of us knew
As well as our own names
"Our Father
Who art in Heaven
Holy is your name
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done
Give us this day our bread."
Then came the hardest part
The one that troubled every heart
Those haunting words of mystery
That long have followed after me
Forgive us, as we forgive
Forgive us, as we forgive
Forgive us, as we forgive each other
In the long years since those days
My soul and heart have often strayed
But still I bow my life to pray
Those sweet, familiar words
But, oh, the meanings shift and dart
Whenever I come to that part
It stirs my soul, it stills my heart
Like nothing I have heard
Forgive us, as we forgive
Forgive us, as we forgive
Forgive us, as we forgive each other
Forgive us, as we forgive
Forgive us, as we forgive
Forgive us
In that Pennsylvania town
That awful day, that awful sound
When madness struck the young girls down
A tale too often heard
These strangers from another time
They knew the grief, they knew the crime
But somehow, somewhere they could find
The strength to say these words:
Forgive us, as we forgive
Forgive us, as we forgive
Forgive us, as we forgive each other
Sometimes what's holy is so true
It's standing right in front of you
Nothing you can really do
There's nothing you can say
Except to humbly take your place
And in every trial that we face
May we somehow find the grace
To live the words we pray
Forgive us, as we forgive
Forgive us, as we forgive
Forgive us, as we forgive each other
Forgive us, as we forgive
Forgive us, as we forgive
Forgive us, forgive
