Lynne Thomas has taken an old favorite and added an uplifting and inspiring message complete with a lighthearted melody.

Every funeral that Lynne Thomas has attended has featured the song Amazing Grace. Lynne believed the song's soul-wrenching music and lyrics, though beautiful, could also be as captivating if they contained a more uplifting and positive message along with a more upbeat melody. So, she began doing what she does best, and started composing melodies and lyrics.

Lynne is a songwriter, singer and publisher living in Dallas, Texas and has dedicated her time to writing music and publishing it through her company Brighter Side Publishing. She has written and co-written songs for various record labels in a variety of genres from hymns to country/pop.

It was friendship and a heartwarming story that gave Lynne the ultimate inspiration for her version of Amazing Grace. Jan Price, a good friend, was, according to Lynne, one of the most spiritual ladies she's ever met. Jan told Lynne the story about the Rainbow Bridge after her dog Maggie had died. As the tale goes, a beautiful meadow with a bridge in the distance awaits pets on this side of heaven. When a pet dies it goes to this meadow where it plays with other pets, and waits patiently for its owner who is still alive on Earth. A few years after Maggie had died, Jan had a near death experience and told Lynne that she went through the tunnel of light and saw her beloved Maggie waiting for her at the Rainbow Bridge. Jan has now crossed that meadow and has been reunited with Maggie where the two of them have crossed over the Rainbow Bridge into heaven, never to be parted again.

Lynne has re-written some of the lyrics for this new version of Amazing Grace and also provides the vocals. Arranged as a Celtic waltz, Roberta Rast of The Kildares lends her fiddling prowess while Mike McClain provides the music of accordian, piano, guitar, bass and drums to the recording. Friend, Rubia Sherry, provided the cover art for the song. You can listen to Lynne perform the song here, on Brighter Side Publishing's website.

Amazing Grace

by Lynne Thomas (2011)

Amazing grace how sweet the sound
That set my spirit free
I once was lost but now am found
Was blind but now I see

'Twas doubt that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
So precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed

And now this flesh and heart have ceased
By grace my sins atoned
No pain, just joy, I am at peace
When God says welcome home

On wings of love we'll meet again
On Gabriel's ridge
With feathered, scaled, and our furry friends
Together we'll cross Rainbow Bridge

Amazing grace how sweet the sound
That set my spirit free
We'll celebrate in paradise
Through all eternity

Those gone before are waiting there
Old friends I've longed to see
Such love beyond all answered prayers
So please don't mourn for me

So please don't mourn for me
By grace I Am set free
Amazing grace

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