Let the message about the Messiah dwell richly among you,
teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom,
and singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs,
with gratitude in your hearts to God
(Colossians 3:16, HCSB, formatting mine).
The following anthem by John Rutter, "For the Beauty of the Earth," has been one of my very favorite choral anthems ever since a children's choir in which my sister took part sang it in the rotunda of the Texas Capitol. (For those who have not been there, the acoustics resemble those of a grand old church.) I was in junior high then, and the piece has only grown in my affections since.
This morning this song bubbled up in me, seemingly from nowhere or perhaps from the beauty around us, as Ebony and I strolled by the pond in the newly brisk autumn air. To have it stuck in my head seemed apt in light of Thanksgiving in the U.S. next week, all the more so since making music is one of my native expressions of gratitude. I pray it pours a bit more thanksgiving to the Lord of all into your own heart as you listen.
How about you? How do you express your gratitude to God? Do you have any special practice for Thanksgiving (or otherwise) to facilitate this? It would be my pleasure to learn from you in the comments.
(If Rutter's work is new to you and you'd like to hear more, this link sends you to the John Rutter YouTube playlist, and this one links to the Amazon page for the album I own which includes the song mentioned in the post. This Christmas album is also delightful.)
Love this song!!! Thank you! What a joyful one to have "stuck" in your heart. :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. Much different arrangement than the one we sing in church.
ReplyDeleteYes. Quite a lot of hymns have multiple tunes, as we learned when we changed church in 2002, but in this case I think the tune is Rutter's own and shapes all the rest of the arrangement. I like them both, but this one makes my heart sing more. Glad you enjoyed it too.
ReplyDeleteSo glad. You're welcome!
ReplyDeleteThat is beautiful, and you're right, appropriate for Thanksgiving. Glad you're enjoying autumn air walks now.
ReplyDeleteWe do a thankful tree, placing paper leaves tied with yarn on a tree branch held steady in a pot. Always nice to hear what the girls have to share. I do feel more prepared for Thanksgiving after this first year of consistently keeping track of my gratitude. Blessings to you.
Oh, tinuviel, I love John Rutter. His songs are heavenly - a breath of heaven, don't you think? Thanks for sharing a song in your head -- so now it's in our heart while visitingw ith you, friend! :)
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