GOOD FAITH FOR THE COMMON GOOD

Good Faith and the Co= mmon Good

Occasional Offeri= ngs from Sam Candler on issues of faith, church, and the world.<= /p>

= THIS IS MY SONG

A f= ew weeks ago, I heard a most haunting hymn sung anew by six young men in an a capella group called “The = Bible Belters” (they are all students at Yale Divinity School). I have hea= rd the hymn before, and I have even sung it. But, somehow, when I heard these guys sing it in such tune, in simple and stirring six-part harmony, the song has stayed with me.

This is my song, Oh God of a= ll the nations,

A song of peace for lands af= ar and mine.

This is my home, the country where my heart is;

Here are my hopes, my dreams= , my sacred shrine.

But other hearts in other la= nds are beating,

With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

My country's skies are bluer than the ocean,

And sunlight beams on clover= leaf and pine.

But other lands have sunlight too and clover,

And skies are everywhere as = blue as mine.

Oh hear my song, oh God of a= ll the nations,

A song of peace for their la= nd and for mine.

The= words were written by Lloyd Stone in 1934, between the two world wars and meant t= o be sung to the tune “Finlandia,” by Jean Sibelius. (Read the words again, and try to hum them!) The hymn is not printed in every hymnal; but i= t is in The New Century Hymnal at #591. There, the editors note that the hymn ca= n be associated with Psalm 82:8: “Arise, O God, and rule the earth, For you shall take all nations for your own.”

All= of us have favorite songs from time to time. Mine have ranged from “Michael= Row the Boat Ashore” (I will always sing that!) to the Beatles’ “Let It Be,” to the Christian hymn “At the Name of Jesus.” But this month, my favorite is Lloyd Stone’s simple poe= try, in the song above.

Wha= t if we could all sing with such double intention: pride and thanks for our own cou= ntry combined with appreciation and honor that “other hearts in other lands are beating with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine?”

The= poet here captures nicely a harmonic tension that rings through modern civilizat= ions: the tension between the local and the global. All of us have local attachme= nts. They are where we learn and love. We honor the sacred shrines there. But ea= ch of us, one day, begins to realize that we need global and worldwide relationships, too. God, and God’s world, is always larger than we thought!

Most community traditions carry this tension easily. Consider the birth of a chi= ld, for instance. “Our new baby is the most beautiful child in the world,” we exclaim. We know that the statement is both true and misleading. It is certainly true for our local family (until the next baby arrives), but we have no intention of conducting a global contest for most beautiful child.

The= tension between local and global also exists in the best religious traditions. For instance, the phrase “God’s chosen people” is used in both Jewish and Christian communities; and the doctrine of “election” suggests that God chooses people. Lloyd Stone’s poetry suggests that = God does choose people and lands; but that choice might not be exclusive. Becau= se God has chosen you, does not me= an necessarily that God has rejected m= e.

This tension between local and global will always exist in the healthiest religi= ous traditions. That tension is the source of occasional disharmony; local and global threaten to separate from one another. But I believe this tension ca= n be resolved, like the harmony in any great song resolves itself. Sometimes, two notes sounding together in a song strikes us as discordant; but, later, what sounds unusual is exactly what gives our song its identity.

= 220;Lift every voice and sing,” wrote James Weldon Johnson; and his song has a= lso become one of the great hymns of our century. May each of our great religio= us traditions, around the world, lift their particular voices. It is not disharmony. It is God, the great conductor, drawing out the best melodies f= rom every tribe and nation, and blending them together in a harmony of peace and truth.

5 N= ovember 2007

Sam = Candler is Dean of the Cathedral of St. Philip in Atlanta, Georgia. Contact him at scandler@stphilipscathedra= l.org.
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