WALK WITH ME
Music & Lyrics by ©Maggie Wheeler 8/2017/ 2018/ 2020
Here is some background about the song and how the verses were added.
** Note **. In the recording of this song verses 4 & 5 are reversed - We sing them in the order below.
The 1st three verses of song came to me early in the month of August,2017 while walking a labyrinth. The verses came with the distinct urging that I should make sure to remember them. I sang those 3 verses all the way in & out of the labyrinth and quickly recorded them on my phone.
I WALK IN THE SPIRIT I WALK IN THE LIGHT
#1-*I WALK THROUGH THE DARKEST HOURS OF NIGHT
AND I CALL ON MY ANCESTORS TO MY LEFT AND MY RIGHT TO WALK WITH ME TO WALK WITH ME
#2-*I WALK IN THE SERVICE OF DOING WHATS RIGHT
#3-*I WALK WITH THE KNOWLEDGE THAT WE’LL BE ALRIGHT
I shared the recording with my friend Sara Thomsen (singer / songwriter & choir director from Duluth) as she was on a 200mile water walk along the Missouri. She and her fellow walkers were on their way into Standing Rock the next day & Sara asked if she could add a verse for the water… And, so came verse 4:
#4-*I WALK FOR THE WATER, THE WATER IS LIFE
A few weeks later in the beginning of September my 18 year- old nephew was happily dropped off at boarding school for his senior year of high school. He went to bed that night and passed away in his sleep from an undetected virus in his heart. It was then that I understood the origin of the song and the urgency with which it came.
My sister in law asked me to sing at her son’s memorial, to sing a song that would have meaning for the community and would allow for those gathered to sing along. It was at this time that I added verses 5 & 6:
#5-*I WALK WITH MY NEIGHBORS TO FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT
#6-*I WALK WITH THE PROMISE OF HEALING IN SIGHT
When the Parkland shooting happened and once again our nation was in mourning over the senseless loss of young lives I added verse 7 & many of the members of my choir gathered at the March For Our Lives in Los Angeles to sing this song in the streets.
#7-*I walk for the children and their right to survive
Late in 2018 I had the honor of gathering with other song leaders at Esalen in Big Sur for a campus wide community song festival and ‘Walk With Me’ was among the songs I shared. While walking the beautiful paths there I added this 8th and final verse. There are always so many in the world who are suffering. At that moment children were being separated from their families at the border and as I walked in this place of beauty I thought about all the cries we cannot hear with our ears but if we are paying attention we can feel them in our hearts.
#8-* I walk for the suffering may we answer their cries
When I sing this song I always return to the first verse at the end and repeat the last line 3x.
AND I CALL ON MY ANCESTORS TO MY LEFT AND MY RIGHT TO WALK WITH ME TO WALK WITH ME
** It is August,2020 as I write this – the world has changed significantly in recent months. As we face a global pandemic, simultaneously our nation has been given the opportunity to face it’s long history of systemic racism. In these months I have added yet another verse to this song.
#9 – I walk for the safety of every Black life
I WALK IN THE SPIRIT I WALK IN THE LIGHT
*I WALK THROUGH THE DARKEST HOURS OF NIGHT
AND I CALL ON MY ANCESTORS TO MY LEFT AND MY RIGHT TO WALK WITH ME, TO WALK WITH ME
AND I CALL ON MY ANCESTORS TO MY LEFT AND MY RIGHT TO WALK WITH ME, TO WALK WITH ME
AND I CALL ON MY ANCESTORS TO MY LEFT AND MY RIGHT TO WALK WITH ME, TO WALK WITH ME