Notes on the Notes – April 24, 2022

Earth Day Sunday

This Week’s Music:

“Joyful, Joyful, We Adore You” (VU #232)

“Joyful, joyful we adore you God of glory, life and love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before you, opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness, drive the gloom of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day.

All your works with joy surround you,
Earth and heaven reflect your rays,
Stars and angels sing around you,
Centre of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain,
Flowery meadow, flashing sea,
Chanting bird and flowing fountain,
Sound their praise eternally.

You are giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blest,
Well-spring of the joy of living, ocean depth of happy rest!
Source of grace and fount of blessing, let your light upon us shine;
Teach us how to love each other, lift us to the joy divine.

Mortals join the mighty chorus, which the morning stars began;
God’s own love is reigning o’er us, joining people hand in hand.
Ever singing march we onward, victors in the midst of strife;
Joyful music leads us sunward in the triumph song of life.”

This hymn of joy celebrates the constancy of God’s love for and in creation.  The words are not a translation of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” but were written in 1907 by Henry van Dyke as a gift to his host, James Garfield, president of Williams College, Massachusetts (and later president of the United States), while van Dyke was a guest preacher at the college.  The text was altered in the interest of inclusivity when it was published in Voices United.

See Libera perform the song at:  https://youtu.be/MAkXHhs9vOc

“Mother Earth, Our Mother Birthing” (MV #39)

“Mother Earth, our Mother birthing every creature from the ground.
Jesus too was flesh and breathing, kin to all that’s green and brown.
Celebrate with all creation: God has formed the web of life.

Sister Air, our Sister lifting every creature born with wings;
Jesus shared the breath of forests, breath that makes our spirits sing.
Celebrate with all creation: God has formed the web of life.

Brother Water, Brother pulsing deep through every vein and sea,
Jesus drank the very raindrops for our wine and in our tea.
Celebrate with all creation: God has formed the web of life.

Father Fire, our Father burning with the sacred urge to live.
Jesus’ death completes the cycle, bringing life beyond the grave.
Celebrate with all creation: God has formed the web of life.”

This hymn celebrates the four traditional elements of creation and the interconnectness of the Creation through time and place.   The words were written by Norman Habel in 1999.  In introducing the song, Habel says, “The occasion for this song was the 40th anniversary of the ordination of Rev. John Sabel, who is a poet and a disciple of St. Francis of Assisi.  The poem honours St. Francis by acclaiming Earth, Air, Water and Fire as our kin, components we have in common with planet Earth and with Jesus of Nazareth.”  We will be using the hymn tune, LAUDA ANIMA, more commonly known as the tune for the hymn “Praise My Soul, the King of Heaven.”

“O Beautiful Gaia” (MV #41)

“O beautiful Gaia,
O Gaia, calling us home.
O beautiful Gaia,
Calling us on.

Soil yielding its harvest,
O Gaia, calling us home.
Soil yielding its harvest,
Calling us on. 

Waves crashing on granite,…
Pine bending in windstorm,…
Loon nesting in marshland,…
Calling us on.”

The term Gaia (guy-ah) represents “Mother Earth,” inviting us to live into our care and respect for all creation. It asks us to consider our relationship to the earth in the context of our faith.
The words (printed here in abbreviated form) and music are by Caroly McDade, with verses created by singers gathered in Altantic Canada in 2006. The musical arrangement is by Lydia Pedersen (2006).

Hear the song sung by the Harmony Singers at:  https://youtu.be/K9669Urv5Ss

“Touch the Earth Lightly” (VU #307)

“Touch the earth lightly, use the earth gently,
Nourish the life of the world in our care:
Gift of great wonder, ours to surrender,
Trust for the children tomorrow will bear.

We who endanger, who create hunger,
Agents of death for all creatures that live,
We who would foster clouds of disaster,
God of our planet, forestall and forgive!

Let there be greening, birth from the burning,
Water that blesses and air that is sweet,
Health in God’s garden, hope in God’s children,
Regeneration that peace will complete.

God of all living, God of all loving,
God of the seedling, the snow and the sun,
Teach us, deflect us, Christ reconnect us,
Using us gently and making us one.”

The words for this hymn were written by Shirley Erena Murray in 1991.  Shirley Erena Murray (born 31 March 1931) is a New Zealand hymn lyrics writer.  In the words, she contrasts the harm being done to the earth with the hope for  “a new heaven, and a new earth,”  where we turn from our current path of destruction to return to God’s way of caring for Creation and each other.   Hear the hymn sung at Church of the Redeemer in worship at:  https://youtu.be/EcwyMmf3q0g

“Amen, Amen, Hallelujah, Amen” (VU #974)

“Amen, amen, hallelujah, amen!
Amen, amen, hallelujah, amen!”

Our benediction response this week was written by Jim Strathdee in 1985.