Faith, While Trees Are Still in Blossom

Faith, While Trees Are Still in Blossom
This hymn by Anders Frostenson was written in 1960 and translated by Fred Kaan in 1972. The scripture reference is Hebrews 11:1-2, but it also fit the Old Testament reading for June 26, which was Genesis 22:1-14

Anders Frostenson was born in Killeberg in Småland in 1906. He studied languages, literature, and theology in the University of Lund, taking a degree in English, Slavic languages, and philosophy in 1928 and in Theology in 1932. He then served as a priest in several cities in Sweden, including Stockholm. In 1941 he married Ulla Lidman, a missionary and parliamentary representative. They had three children. He retired in 1971. In 1955 he was appointed Royal Minister to the castle at Drottningholm. In 1981 he earned a doctorate in theology at Lund. Frostenson has written and translated into Swedish over six hundred hymns, but most of them have not been translated into English. I have not been able to discover if Pastor Frostenson is still alive.


Faith, while trees are still in blossom,
plans the picking of the fruit;
Faith can feel the thrill of harvest
when the buds begin to sprout.

Long before the dawn is breaking,
faith anticipates the sun.
Faith is eager for the daylight,
for the work that must be done.

Long before the rains were coming,
Noah went and built an ark.
Abraham, the lonely migrant,
saw the light beyond the dark.

Faith, uplifted, tamed the water
of the undivided sea,
And the people of the Hebrews
found the path that made them free.

Faith believes that God is faithful:
God will be what God will be!
Faith accepts the call, responding,
“I am willing, Lord, send me.”