Lift Your Eyes to Light

Lift Your Eyes to Light

Kyle Pederson (2022)

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Voicing: TBB
Accompaniment: piano
Text: Kyle Pederson

LYRICS

Lift up your eyes to light,
stop stumblin' around 
and mumblin' aloud 
with your head down
Lift your eyes to light. 

Lift up your eyes to light, 
stop slumpin' down
stop your grumble and growl
well you better now
Lift your eyes to light. 

What you see is what you get
so what are you casting your eyes on?
Are you staring at the dirt
and all of the hurt
and limiting your own horizon?
Lift your eyes and set your gaze
on giving life and living grace
and when the world has you down on the ground
go and turn your face

What you love is what you become
so what is your heart attending?
Are you spending your time in the gossip and grime,
playing with lies and pretending?

Breathe new life
Go love so wide
Hold hope so high
That joy may be known 
where the light hasn't shown.

Program Note:

Lift your eyes to light. I don’t recall the exact context where I heard that phrase, but it immediately resonated. Given everything our communities, choir, and world have experienced recently, we could all use a bit of light. And despite the bleakness that certainly exists, there really is light everywhere…in the small acts of kindness, in moments of courage, in the grace and compassion shown by those we love--and by complete strangers. This piece encourages us to tend to our hearts and to others, remembering that each of us has the power to bring light into our own lives—and into the lives of others.