Note from the songwriter:

THE STORY
I have a wonderful relationship with Christ Church Unity here in Orlando. After having just finished writing a Rosh Hashanah sermon about tithing-how we calculate our spiritual tax, I got a call from the pastor of CCU telling me that their board wanted to support my writing by tithing directly to me. I was astonished and quite overwhelmed. I decided to put this money to work. On Rosh Hashanah morning, my family and I stuffed cash into envelopes and taped them to the bottom of every seat in the sanctuary with a note asking each person to seriously consider what they do when they receive money. If they did something meaningful with it, I asked them to share their story with me. Amazingly, no one in my congregation ever asked me where the money came from. I collected stories for 3 months. On Chanukah we invited the members of CCU to share in our Chanukah celebration service. On that night all was revealed. Reverend Alice Anderson of CCU preached beautifully about light, and I followed by sharing all the stories I had collected about the wonderful things done with CCU’s generous tithe to me. The church then knew where their money went, and our temple knew where it came from. That night we were all shining brightly and this song was debuted.


Night by Night
Lyrics and Music by Beth Schafer © 2008

Night by night, got to spread some light to the darkest parts of the world
Night by night, what a beautiful sight. Miracles shine so bright night by night
Seeking out the holy-none could be found
Temple left in ruins, spirits were down
And by our swords lay all our broken hearts
We lit a flame and prayed for a new start
Night by night....
There are those who wake us from our sleep
We know their pain and hear them when they weep
Their story’s ours. Let’s not forget our past.
Rededicate ourselves to dreams held fast
Night by night...
Who can retell the things that befell us? (Night by night)
Who can recall the woes that we shared? (night by night)
You can be the hero that takes on the fight
And show that there are people who still care.
Night by night....
When we all do what’s right, praying with all our might
watching our souls take flight, miracles shine so bright
We’re gonna spread some light night by night