Archives for June 14, 2015

Devotion

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!

We are part of a world that is so much larger than ourselves that sometimes we might wonder what our place in it really is. We might wonder if in the grand scheme of time we matter at all. Perhaps we look at the enormity of the needs or suffering of the world and wonder whether anything we do has any significance.

Verse 3 of "This is My Father's World" is a helpful reminder of whose place this is and who is ultimately in control (hint: it's not you and me). It doesn't take much time spent with a newspaper or on-line or just walking around with your open eyes to see a world that is deeply stained and broken. The one we see in the mirror looks that way too. Our sinful selves have been throwing quite a party and now there is quite a mess to sort out. It is easy to get sad. It is easy to get despondent. It is easy to lose hope.

The hymn suggests that we aren't the creators or the owners of this place. God can transform the bleakest situations (remember Good Friday? remember Joseph sold into slavery? remember grieving Martha and Mary? remember no food? remember no place and no home?) This is indeed God's world and God remains intent on bringing salvation, resurrection and new hope for all God's creation.