Sunday, December 20, 2009

For the Beauty of the Earth


For the beauty of the earth
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the beauty of each hour,
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon, and stars of light.




For the joy of ear and eye,
For the heart and mind’s delight,
For the mystic harmony
Linking sense to sound and sight.



For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth and friends above,
For all gentle thoughts and mild.


For each perfect gift of Thine,
To our race so freely given,
Graces human and divine,
Flowers of earth and buds of Heaven.

from: For the Beauty of the Earth by Fol­li­ot Pier­point

This tune sounds heavenly when it is sung in the film, Little Women. Have you watched it lately? I think I will today. I need a walk in the brisk December air, a cup of tea or two, a snuggle under the quilt and a sleepy read of something heavenly. I'm very grateful for rest, for candle light, for cookie baking, for coffee, for knitting, for colorful artwork, for my soft rest last night. Later on today, two little girls will join us for the evening and a sleep. They smell so good, they smile so prettily, they laugh and they whine. Their parents will celebrate their anniversary downtown where the lights sparkle and the restaurants cook up wonderful holiday treats.

Here are some blurbs gleaned from Music of Silence:

. . . a life of love, listening and responding to God

. . . time as an opportunity or encounter

. . . the hours - the inner structure for living consciously and responsively through the stages of the day.

. . . the voices and the inaudible echo.

. . . the original hour was a soul measure.

As children anxiously wish for time to speed up so that Friday will come, we grownups wish for time to slow as we tend to our souls.
I pray a pocket of peace finds you today.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

A poetic post....so very soothing and thought-provoking. Love you pom pom! xxx

Lynn said...

hello Pom Pom - the week before last I had heaps of ironing to do so I watched 20 mins of Little Women each day as I ironed - beautiful film!

Elizabethd said...

Thank you Pom Pom, a pocket of peace sounds very comforting!

Scrappy quilter said...

A pocket of peace does sound very comforting. I pray the same for you today too friend. Hugs..

The dB family said...

Ahh, one of my favorite hymns. I hope you enjoyed a pocket of peace today too!

Blessings!
Deborah

Leslie said...

Lovely post, Pom Pom. I wish for the time to slow, too. Here is to many pockets of peace.

Kari of Writing Up A Storm said...

Oh, what a wonderful idea: to curl up and watch Little Women (for the 100th time)! I think I will do just that! xo Kari

Bradley W. Maston said...

Beautiful pictures. What an eye for God's beautiful, wondrous creation! Thank you for the lift!

debbie bailey said...

I was reading today's post and found myself singing along without realizing it! I love that song. I learned it when our choir sang it. My daughter also has sang it in youth chorale. It's a favorite around here! Have a wonderful Christmas time.

Followers