How Great Thou Art
A Christian hymn based on a Swedish traditional melody and a poem written by
Carl Boberg (1859–1940) in Sweden, in1885.
O Lord, my God
When I in awesome wonder
Consider all
The worlds Thy hands
have made
I see the stars
I hear the rolling thunder
Thy power throughout
The universe displayed
Then sings my soul
My saviour God, to Thee
How great Thou art
How great Thou art
When through the woods
And forest glades I wander
And hear the birds sing
sweetly in the trees
When I look down
From lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook
And feel the gentle breeze
Then sings my soul
My saviour God, to Thee
How great Thou art
How great Thou art
Then sings my soul
My saviour God, to Thee
How great Thou art
How great Thou art
It is well
With my soul
It is well
It is well with my soul
When Christ shall come
With shout of acclamation
And take me home
What joy shall fill my heart
Then I shall bow
In humble adoration
And then proclaim
My God, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul
My saviour God, to Thee
How great Thou art
How great Thou art
Then sings my soul
My saviour God, to Thee
How great Thou art
How great Thou art
How great Thou art
How great Thou art
Reflection O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder
consider all the worlds your hands have made.
In spite of being stunned by all the stars
astounded by the rolling thunder
confounded by your power
throughout the universe displayed
I wrestle with you.
I grapple, grunt and battle over everything from my preference to indulge my introvert self, guilt for being a single mom and not remarrying, worry about our church surviving this Covid crisis, fear about the future of our country, mourning for the misery of many I see and cannot mend. And at the end of every dark night of battle, I rise again in the company of angels at the place of awesome wonder, awakened in this world of sunrises and thunder, morning doves and all the multiverse displayed, and my soul sings
How awesome is this place. How awesome this moment.
(Genesis 28.14)
“And it is well with my soul, it is well,” until I turn on the radio and hear voices bound to send me to dust off my red cap or put on my blue shirt, add my tongue to the trouble and my temper to the tumult that is taring our country apart. And the dark night of wrestling begins again. “Oh God, are you not paying attention? Do you not see what we are doing to ourselves and to each other? Make the bad guys stop. Let the good guys prevail.”
Last week we remembered to wear our white robes as sure and certain signs of who and whose we are, people blessed and meant to be a blessing. This week we must strip down further and return to our bare naked selves; innocent, vulnerable and free as the day that we were born, free to be born again
as through the woods and forest glades we wander
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees…
And our souls sing, How awesome is this place! How awesome this moment.
If we are truly followers of Jesus, we rise again every single morning, savor the beauty and grandeur of the world, handle the twists and tangles of creation, and choose over and over and over again to align our lives in God’s desire for our holiness.
Which means, if our candidate for president loses, we choose a holy way to grieve, respond and move on. If our candidate wins, we choose a holy way to celebrate, respond and move on. In either case, we honor our feelings, wake up in the morning in the company of angels and we all bow down in humble adoration
And then proclaim
My God, how great Thou art!
After a long, dark night of grappling, grunting and battling over everything from proper protocol in the face of Covid-19, the role of media information and disinformation, what is truth? who gets to decide? to - who will be the next president of the United States, we, the people of God, rise again together at the place of awesome wonder, waking up in this world of sunrises and thunder, morning doves and all the multiverse displayed, Then our souls shall sing together
My saviour God, to Thee
How great Thou art
How great Thou art.
