February 20, 2018
This Is My Father’s World
This is my Father’s world, and to my list’ning ears
all nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world; I rest me in the thought
of rocks and trees, of skies and seas; his hand the wonders wrought.
This is my Father’s world; the birds their carols raise;
the morning light, the lily white, declare their maker’s praise.
This is my Father’s world; he shines in all that’s fair.
In the rustling grass I hear him pass; he speaks to me ev’rywhere.
This is my Father’s world; oh, let me not forget
that though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.
This is my Father’s world; why should my heart be sad?
The Lord is king, let heaven ring; God reigns, let earth be glad!
Text: Maltbie D. Babcock (1858-1901)
I live in God’s world, but I do tend to think of parts of God’s world, such as the backyard, as mine. Coincidentally, the squirrels and birds definitely believe the backyard is theirs! They chatter relentlessly when we dare venture into the peace of their yard. But this is God’s world, nevertheless.
In a recent confirmation class, we reflected on God’s world. Creation in this lesson was defined as “God’s loving, wise, and powerful action to bring everything into being for the good of all and the glory of God.” And that is what we sing: “The Lord is king, let heaven ring; God reigns, let earth be glad.”
This is a part of the hymn that tugs at me. The earth is not glad. We humans have treated the world as ours to do with as we please. What pleases us often harms one another and this world. To this point, another word that our confirmation lesson defined was stewardship: “…taking good care of something that doesn’t belong to you as though it were your very own.”
I am reminded of the responsibility of living in God’s world. God created and entrusted it to us. The birds singing, the squirrels scampering, and me reading in the backyard are all part of God’s vision for the creation. And the birds, the squirrels, and I have a responsibility to care for that backyard as if it were our very own.
An additional message that I cling to is this: “…though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.” I get so discouraged with the clanging human discord and the ecological devastation in this world. This hymn reminds me that, in spite of the deviations created by humans from God’s plan for this world, God is still in charge. Why should my heart be sad? After all, even the birds, the morning light, and the white lilies sing their maker’s praise.
And praise was the final word we defined in that confirmation class: “To rejoice in the worth of something or someone; to lift up the name of God with love and gratitude by our every thought, word, and action.” God’s desire is that we live together, valuing the worth each brings, working for the good of all, and caring for the world as if it were our very own.
This truly is my Father’s world. “Irest me in that thought. The Lord is king; let heaven ring. God reigns; let earth be glad.”
Anita Dorf
[Yesterday | Lenten Index | Tomorrow]