This Memorial Day a favorite hymn text comes to mind.
We sing it each year at the Interfaith Thanksgiving Service,
and I have it in my heart year-round.
This is my song, O 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 holy 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:
O hear my song, thou God of all the nations,
a song of peace for their land and for mine.
Just this morning I discovered additional verses to this hymn,
and offer it as the prayer of my heart this Memorial Day:
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.
The first two verses were written by Lloyd Stone when he was 22 years old.
He planned to become a teacher, then one day joined a circus bound for
Hawaii and remained there for the rest of his life, writing poems and songs.
This is his best known work. Additional verses were written by Georgia
Harkness, a Methodist theologian with a passion for poetry and the
dream of global, ecumenical Christianity. The hymn text is usually sung
to the tune Finlandia, by Sebelius.
This is my prayer, O Lord of all earth’s kingdoms,
thy kingdom come, on earth, thy will be done …
O hear my prayer, thou God of all the nations,
myself I give thee –let thy will be done.
Remembering and giving thanks this Memorial Day, and ever grateful for those streams of mercy, never ceasing!
Elizabeth
Last Friday evening was Relay for Life, and the Jackson Springs Presbyterian team braved the stormy weather to participate in this year’s event. How good it was to celebrate our survivors and to remember with love those who fought the good fight, but didn’t win the battle against cancer. Together we work and pray for the day when there will be no more victims of this dread disease!
Opening Prayer for Relay for Life
“Great and Loving God, in whom we live and move and have our being, we give thanks and praise for the gift of life that you give each of us. Every heartbeat, every breath we take, every moment of life we enjoy, is an ongoing, gracious gift from you. Help us to live not with a sense of entitlement, but with a sense of gratitude, never taking for granted this good gift of life, but instead using it to love, serve, comfort, heal, and encourage others. May all the money raised here tonight be used to that good end. Bless these many volunteers. Keep them strong and healthy as they walk for others. Bless those cancer survivors who are with us this evening, whose own battle against this terrible disease inspires us. Give them continued health. Even as we celebrate their victories, our hearts are heavy as we remember loved ones who didn’t win that fight. Comfort, encourage, and strengthen everyone who grieves this day. Give us the faith to see that in you death, suffering, and evil do not have the final word. Love has the final word. For the sake of this love we are here. For the sake of this love, we will walk. And for the sake of this love we will work – until this disease can no longer claim another victim. With hearts filled with hope, we pray for the coming of that day. Amen.”
As we participate in this event from year to year, we are making an important contribution to cancer research, and we are able to encourage and help each other along the way. Giving thanks for opportunities to serve, and for those streams of mercy, never ceasing-
Elizabeth
A friend is dying, and as I search for ways to be a help along the way,
these words from “For the Dying” fill my mind and heart:
May death come gently toward you,
Leaving you time to make your way
Through the cold embrace of fear
To the place of inner tranquility.
May your leave-taking be gracious,
Enabling you to hold dignity
Through awkwardness and illness.
May you see the reflection
Of your life’s kindness and beauty
In all the tears that fall for you.
May you find for each one you love
A different locket of jeweled words
To be worn around the heart
To warm your absence.
May someone who knows and loves
The complex village of your heart
Be there to echo you back to yourself
And create a sure word raft
To carry you to the further shore.
May there be some beautiful surprise
Waiting for you inside death,
Something you never knew or felt,
Which with one simple touch,
Absolves you of all loneliness and loss,
As you quicken within the embrace
For which your soul was eternally made.
(from To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings, by John O’Donohue)
“In life and in death we belong to God,” we’re reminded again and again. How important it is to speak this eternal truth to each other as we journey through life together!
I give thanks for those “streams of mercy” carrying us through this life and into the life to come.
Elizabeth