Earth and All Stars
The Sacrament Meeting on the first Sunday of the month at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is called Fast and Testimony meeting. Members of the Church fast for two meals and donate the money to the church. The Fast Offering,as it is called, is used to provide help for needy throughout the world. Instead of the usual meeting with prepared talks given by members,the lectern is left empty and members who feel moved to do so can give their testimonies. A lot of the time this takes the form of personal experiences by members that have given them increased faith in certain church principles like faith, tithing, etc. Attending a Fast and Testimony meeting can be a bit odd if you are not used to it, but it is moving and spiritual experience.
This past Sunday should have been a Fast Sunday meeting. I'm assuming since it was also a holiday, it was not. Bishop Campbell had decided to have a "Music Testimony" meeting. There would be no prepared talks and members could come up and name their favourite hymn and why they liked it. After that the congregation would sing a verse.
C pulled out the hymnal and selected a hymn. He likes 'How Great Thou Art'. I wistfully asked him if he could mention a favourite of mine,'A Mighty Fortress is Our God'. Being a nonmember, I didn't think I would be allowed to speak, but I wanted the share this Lutheran standard with others. The two hymns make a good pairing.
I would have liked to share my favourite hymn,but it wasn't in the hymnal. It isn't in any hymnal except the green hymnal of the ELCA. It is the only good thing about the green hymnal in my opinion. (I am a staunch red hymnal person, but that is the subject of another column.)
It is 'Earth and All Stars'. It is a cheerful song of praise that I remember fondly from my younger days. I used to think that part of the reason I liked this song was because it was written by John Ylvisaker, a popular Lutheran composer that once taught a class at summer Bible School. In doing research for this column, I learned that it was not written by Ylvisaker, but by Herbert Brokering in 1964. It was written in honour of the 90th anniversary of St. Olaf College. (St Olaf is where all good Minnesota Lutherans go to school. It's like BYU for the Latter-Day Saints or Notre Dame for the Catholics.)
The tune is the sort that can stick in your head without being annoying. I like the refrain,
"He has done marvelous things. I,too,will praise him with a new song!". Thy lyrics talk about all sorts of things. For instance, the first verse is, "Earth and all Stars, loud rushing planets. Sing to the Lord a new song! O,victory, loud shouting army. Sing to the Lord a new song!" The second verse is,"Hail,wind and rain,loud blowing snow storms, sing to the Lord a new song! Flowers and trees, loud rustling leaves, Sing to the Lord a new song!"
Some of the lyrics don't make since. Verse five starts out "Classrooms and labs,loud boiling test tubes." I have been around a lot of labs and I can tell you that test tubes do not boil loudly. Verse three has the phrase "loud humming cellos". Cellos can hum, quite well in fact. I wouldn't call them loud though. Loud seems to be a recurring theme now that I think about it.
That doesn't really matter to me. For some reason I have always found this song very touching. I usually tear up when I hear it and I started to tear up just reading the words.
When C and I got married, we needed a recessional song. The minister suggested that the organist play my parents' favourite hymns. There was just one problem. My mother dislikes all music except '50s rock and roll. My dad's favourite hymn is, "On Eagle's Wings", which is usually sung at funerals. I suggested"Earth and All Stars". It isn't you typical Lutheran recessional, but that was what was played.
I wish I could have shared this this the rest of the Ward. Some of them may not like the more contemporary lyrics, but it's hard to resist the refrain, "He has done marvelous things. I,too will praise him with a new song!"
This past Sunday should have been a Fast Sunday meeting. I'm assuming since it was also a holiday, it was not. Bishop Campbell had decided to have a "Music Testimony" meeting. There would be no prepared talks and members could come up and name their favourite hymn and why they liked it. After that the congregation would sing a verse.
C pulled out the hymnal and selected a hymn. He likes 'How Great Thou Art'. I wistfully asked him if he could mention a favourite of mine,'A Mighty Fortress is Our God'. Being a nonmember, I didn't think I would be allowed to speak, but I wanted the share this Lutheran standard with others. The two hymns make a good pairing.
I would have liked to share my favourite hymn,but it wasn't in the hymnal. It isn't in any hymnal except the green hymnal of the ELCA. It is the only good thing about the green hymnal in my opinion. (I am a staunch red hymnal person, but that is the subject of another column.)
It is 'Earth and All Stars'. It is a cheerful song of praise that I remember fondly from my younger days. I used to think that part of the reason I liked this song was because it was written by John Ylvisaker, a popular Lutheran composer that once taught a class at summer Bible School. In doing research for this column, I learned that it was not written by Ylvisaker, but by Herbert Brokering in 1964. It was written in honour of the 90th anniversary of St. Olaf College. (St Olaf is where all good Minnesota Lutherans go to school. It's like BYU for the Latter-Day Saints or Notre Dame for the Catholics.)
The tune is the sort that can stick in your head without being annoying. I like the refrain,
"He has done marvelous things. I,too,will praise him with a new song!". Thy lyrics talk about all sorts of things. For instance, the first verse is, "Earth and all Stars, loud rushing planets. Sing to the Lord a new song! O,victory, loud shouting army. Sing to the Lord a new song!" The second verse is,"Hail,wind and rain,loud blowing snow storms, sing to the Lord a new song! Flowers and trees, loud rustling leaves, Sing to the Lord a new song!"
Some of the lyrics don't make since. Verse five starts out "Classrooms and labs,loud boiling test tubes." I have been around a lot of labs and I can tell you that test tubes do not boil loudly. Verse three has the phrase "loud humming cellos". Cellos can hum, quite well in fact. I wouldn't call them loud though. Loud seems to be a recurring theme now that I think about it.
That doesn't really matter to me. For some reason I have always found this song very touching. I usually tear up when I hear it and I started to tear up just reading the words.
When C and I got married, we needed a recessional song. The minister suggested that the organist play my parents' favourite hymns. There was just one problem. My mother dislikes all music except '50s rock and roll. My dad's favourite hymn is, "On Eagle's Wings", which is usually sung at funerals. I suggested"Earth and All Stars". It isn't you typical Lutheran recessional, but that was what was played.
I wish I could have shared this this the rest of the Ward. Some of them may not like the more contemporary lyrics, but it's hard to resist the refrain, "He has done marvelous things. I,too will praise him with a new song!"
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