The words of a favourite hymn can be a lifeline in difficult times, providing an outlet for feelings that may threaten to overwhelm us. Hymns also help us celebrate life - to see joy in the ordinary stuff of the everyday, as well as in those moments when we feel particularly touched by God's love. Pam Rhodes' reflections in this absorbing volume - on subjects such as weariness and comfort, faith and forgiveness, prayer and guidance, community and creation - are given added resonance by the inclusion of background information on the writers of the 160 or so hymns featured. Often poignant, their stories arouse a deeper appreciation of words that have inspired people down the centuries, as well as of the work of new writers, who are expressing the great, eternal truths afresh for us today.