Words & Music: , 1986. She wrote this se­lect­ion in Feb­ru­a­ry 1985 as a chor­al an­them, and lat­er adapt­ed it as a hymn. She wrote that she was

…pon­der­ing the death of a friend (life and death, death and re­sur­rect­ion), pon­der­ing win­ter and spring (seem­ing op­po­sites), and a T. S. El­i­ot poem which had the phrase, ‘In our end is our be­gin­ning.’ These seem­ing­ly con­tra­dic­to­ry ‘pairs’ led to the the­sis of the song and the hope­ful mes­sage that out of one will come the other when­ev­er God choos­es to bring that about.

Her hus­band, Dr. Ron­ald Sleeth, heard Hymn of Prom­ise short­ly be­fore he died, and asked that it be sung at his fun­er­al.

HYMN OF PROMISE © 1986 Hope Publishing Company
380 South Main Place, Car­ol Stream, IL 60188 (800-323-1049)
Used by permission.

The words & mu­sic to this hymn are un­der co­py­right.
If you wish to print, co­py, cut/paste or du­pli­cate them, you must
ob­tain per­miss­ion from Hope Pub­lish­ing Com­pa­ny (800-323-1049).

In the bulb there is a flower; in the seed, an apple tree;
In cocoons, a hidden promise: butterflies will soon be free!
In the cold and snow of winter there’s a spring that waits to be,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

There’s a song in every silence, seeking word and melody;
There’s a dawn in every darkness, bringing hope to you and me.
From the past will come the future; what it holds, a mystery,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity;
In our doubt there is believing; in our life, eternity,
In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

The words & mu­sic to this hymn are un­der co­py­right.
If you wish to print, co­py, cut/paste or du­pli­cate them, you must
ob­tain per­miss­ion from Hope Pub­lish­ing Com­pa­ny (800-323-1049).