Saturday, September 10, 2011

Remembering and Hoping

This is my song, Oh God of all the nations,

A song of peace for lands afar and mine.

This is my home, the country where my heart is;

Here are my hopes, my dreams, my sacred shrine.

But other hearts in other lands are beating,

With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.


My country’s skies are bluer than the ocean,

And sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine.

But other lands have sunlight too and clover,

And skies are everywhere as blue as mine.

Oh hear my song, oh God of all the nations,

A song of peace for their land and for mine.


May truth and freedom come to every nation;

may peace abound where strife has raged so long;

that each may seek to love and build together,

a world united, righting every wrong;

a world united in its love for freedom,

proclaiming peace together in one song.


***********************

Ten years ago, I posted some hymn lyrics on my web site in reaction to the horrible events of 9-11. Ten years on, it still seems we can use the sentiments of "This is My Song" (sometimes called "A Song of Peace.")

The lyrics were written in 1934 by Lloyd Stone, an American poet and the last stanza by Georgia Harkness, a Methodist theologian born in New York in 1891 (she also wrote additional verses that sometimes appear in hymnals). It is sung to "Finlandia" by Finnish composer Jean Sebelius in 1899 as a secret protest against censorship.

There is a perfectly lovely version on You Tube by the St. Paul's Concert Chorale in Maryland at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cvz9PvczUMI. God bless us, everyone.


8 comments:

Karyn said...

Amen, Theresa :)
Hugs
Ma TK

Lynn said...

Thank you Theresa. The words say it all.

diamondc said...

How beautiful thank-you for sharing this lovely song with us all on such a Rememberance of September 11th 2001.

My heart goes out to all who lost Family Friends and all who servived this horrible tragedy.

Catherine
diamondc

CalamityJr said...

Our church choir sang this, but I had forgotten - thanks for the reminder.

Sherre said...

What a beautiful blog entry, Theresa! I love this hymn and it's perfect on this occasion. Thank you so much for sharing it!

Laura said...

Thank you for soothing my soul.

Debbie said...

Amen. We sang this hymn in church just a few weeks ago. It is most appropriate this weekend.

Lizzy Pizzy said...

One of the most awesome things about prayer is that it is not limited by time and geography. Our Lord hears and answers each and every one. So our prayers - even from around the world - all continue to ask for the same as that lovely hymn. May God bring a special blessing today of comfort, healing and of course peace to all those still carrying the burden of 9/11
Liz x