Song of the nations

My friend and I are connected by a song which was specifically sung for the 4^th of July weekend.

She heard the song at the church she attends when at her lake place.

The song, "This Is My Song," was also played where my family was in Sunday attendance, at a little country church filled to capacity with Independence Day vacationers.

“This Is My Song” isn’t a new song for either of us. Each time we hear it we’re touched by the words and the images they stir in us.

The beauty of the song was, in fact, the main reason for my friend’s email. She wanted to share the verses she’d taken the time to write down.

“I am going to take the liberty to type the verses to you now,” she said, “as I feel so strongly about them.”   

My email back to her said the song is a favorite of mine as well. Only, I added, the name I give it is “Song of the Nations.” It’s what comes to me when it’s heard.

The phrase “My Song” in the song title doesn’t do justice to the sweeping scope of the verses. The song has a motif that encompasses the world. It's a song all of us on earth carry within us.

The line in the song which really grabs me is in Verse 2. It’s the line that says my country’s skies are bluer than the ocean.

The music goes on ahead of my musings. I stay behind in the images. I’m picturing people everywhere looking up. 

We find solace, freedom and inspiration in our native skies. They cap our space and are an unlimited boundary over our heads. 

Bright with sunlight the skies can be so blue we are lost in the wonder of it. Nothing can be more beautiful we think.

The verse goes on to point out that other places also have their beauty, “and skies are everywhere as blue as mine.”

The message sticks. Home skies are our roof and shelter wherever we are. We consider things of personal experience as unique. They are – to each of us. 

But we mustn’t rule out that others have the same conviction and passion in what they hold dear and see as evidence of their blessings.

The verse ends with the words: "O hear my song, thou God of all the nations, a song of peace for their land and for mine.”

“This Is My Song” masterfully teaches the idea that peace is a song within the universal heart. It reminds us to think and act globally as a way to peace.

“This Is My Song”

1. This is my song, O God of all the nations, a song of peace for lands afar and mine. This is my home, the country where my heart is; here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine; but other hearts in other lands are beating with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

2. My country's skies are bluer than the ocean, and sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine; but other lands have sunlight too, and clover, and skies are everywhere as blue as mine. O hear my song, thou God of all the nations, a song of peace for their land and for mine.  

The third verse my friend emailed, not included here, has the words “Let  . . . hearts united learn to live as one.”

“This Is My Song” is a song not exclusive to one individual or one country. It’s a song of all peoples, all nations. It's a song of our human experience. It is our song. 

Ro Giencke – July 9, 2014