Desert Island Hymns

For the start of our second week, where members of St Nicholas Methodist Church, Topsham pick the one hymn they would take with them to a Desert Island, Jill Gullidge has opted for “Breathe on me breath of God”.

“Breathe on Me, Breath of God" is an English Christian hymn written by Edwin Hatch, a Church of England vicar and the Professor of Classics at the University of Trinity College in Canada. It was first published privately in 1878 and publicly published in 1886.

Edwin Hatch spent his childhood in a non-conformist background before being ordained into the Church of England. In 1876 he wrote "Breathe on Me, Breath of God" and published it privately in a pamphlet entitled "Between Doubt and Prayer" giving it the Latin title of "Spiritus Dei" (Spirit of God). The hymn was later published into the public sphere in 1886 in Henry Allon's "The Congregational Psalmist Hymnal". It was republished posthumously by Hatch's widow in 1890 in "Towards Fields of Light: Sacred Poems".

The handbook to the Psalter Hymnal, where "Breath on Me, Breath of God" was later published, referred to the oft quoted statement about Hatch's faith being "as simple and unaffected as a child" being an appropriate description of the hymn. it was also described by the United Methodist Church as: "The simplicity of this profound hymn belies the education and knowledge of its author". Hatch knew that though he had written the hymn using simple words, they had profound meaning with references to creation of man by God in Genesis and in the spiritual breath of God which came to humanity via Jesus at Pentecost.

What happened to Edwin Hatch to redirect him at Oxford was that 'God breathed on him', changing the whole course of his life. But, to continue the simile, he had to be standing close enough to God to be breathed on. If we insist on preserving our own personal space to the extent that we keep spiritual matters at arms length, we will not be close enough to God for his spirit to pervade our lives. We may find it more comfortable to dodge God's challenges, but our lives will be the poorer.

Breathe on me, Breath of God,

Fill me with life anew,

That I may love what Thou dost love,

And do what Thou wouldst do.

Breathe on me, Breath of God,

Until my heart is pure,

Until with Thee I will one will,

To do and to endure.

Breathe on me, Breath of God,

Till I am wholly Thine,

Until this earthly part of me

Glows with Thy fire divine.

Breathe on me, Breath of God,

So shall I never die,

But live with Thee the perfect life

Of Thine eternity.