HYMN FOR PENTECOST 18 Let all Things Now Living
Text: Katherin Kennitcott Davis (1892-1980). Tune: Ashgrove Welsh Folktune Jesus healing the ten lepers. James Tissot 1 Let all things now living a song of thanksgiving To God the Creator triumphantly raise, Who fashioned and made us, protected and stayed us, Who guideth us on to the end of our days. His banners are o’er us, His light goes before us, A pillar of fire shining forth in the night, ‘Til shadows have vanished and darkness is banished, as forward we travel from light into light. 2 His law He enforces: the stars in their courses, The sun in His orbit, obediently shine; The hills and the mountains, the rivers and fountains, The deeps of the ocean proclaim Him divine, We too should be voicing our love and rejoicing, With glad adoration a song let us raise, ‘Til all things now living unite in thanksgiving To God in the highest, hosanna and praise. REFLECTIONS The story of the ten lepers is widely known and well remembered in the memory of the church. Only one of those healed, and he an outsider, a Samaritan, who stops to give thanks. Jesus almost seems hurt that his countrymen do not give thanks. But this is a true story about human beings. We want something terribly, we cry for it, and then when a miracle happens, we return to normal life almost forgetting the good thing that has happened. I remember that I once had terrible arthritic pain in my knee that was almost deranging. I could not sleep for the hurt and could hardly move when I was trying to make it through the day. I went to physical therapy and within two weeks I was almost without pain and able to sleep and go about my daily tasks. While I was grateful and still am—occasionally the pain flashes through me—I can’t really remember how awful it was. I am busy with other things and hardly think to thank God! It is good the nine could go on their way into a new and normal life. The miracle, however, needs thanksgiving. Every day we receive myriads of gifts to thank God for.. As the hymn says, God keeps all life going with his tender care and love. It is something we forget until pain or loss hits us. Then we reach out to the Lord. But take this story and this hymn as reason to give thanks throughout each day. We have been given so much that we do not deserve. Even those who are still suffering know that even so much of the good in their lives comes from the Lord. “Til all things now living unite in thanksgiving/To God in the highest, hosanna and praise.”
HYMN INFO Katherine Davis was born in St. Joseph, Missouri and attended Wellesley College where she Katherine Davis studied piano and composition. After graduation she studied at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. On completing her studies she returned to Wellesley where she taught piano and music theory until retirement. During her teaching she studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. She often used pseudonymns for her work. This hymn, written to the folk tune Ashgrove in 1939, has a unique form which means the rhymes are very tight. We hear echoes of Exodus 13 and the Lord's guiding the people through the wilderness, plus images from Psalm 148. It has been used in harvest festivals and thanksgiving services ever since. She is also the writer of The Little Drummer Boy and many other choral pieces.. LINKS The Gracias Choir https://youtu.be/ZtfPG7vOpTo?si=QdEtCMrkwxSgyTC- Lutheran choir https://youtu.be/C59-Hai_SlI?si=lA6J9-Q1O5Yq6g_4 NB: For those thinking of Christmas gifts, you might consider the book Jesus the Harmony . It has a poem for every day of the year and Bible references for each poem placing Jesus in what has been called "the red thread of salvation." Many have been using it for daily devotions; others in group Bible studies. Click here to check it out. https://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Harmony-Gospel-Sonnets-Days-ebook/dp/B08L9S4Z1T/ref=sr_1_3_nodl?dchild=1&keywords=Grindal&qid=16145
