Katy Rose Collection: Art, Words
Art Demo, Amazing Grace
(Click on the video above for a snapshot of this week’s art project!)
I’m struck by the beauty of time and how we can give to each other through God-given gifts like words and songs. I picture John Newton 300 years ago, sitting by candlelight, writing the words to Amazing Grace, and then how those words traveled over seas and land to touch so many. This week it was heard by our little class on women hundreds of miles and years away. Creating is such a gift.
Perhaps you might like to take a few minutes and create something similar this week.
Uncertainty & Wildflowers
For the beauty of the earth. Hymns from the past that transform today.
The year was 1863. In America, the Civil War was in full swing with families torn apart and people like Harriet Tubman sneaking through fields and rivers, risking their lives to help.
Across the Atlantic, lingering dread filled the air as scarlet fever took 30,000 lives across England.
And up on a hilltop outside the town of Bath, 28 year old Mr. Pierpoint sat watching the waving wildflowers. It was spring and River Avon sparkled as it ran past.
Ah! The sight was inspiring, a breath of fresh air.
He thought of the mercy of God's creation before him, and the words started to form…
For the beauty of the earth,
for the glory of the skies,
for the love which from our birth
over and around us lies.
Christ, our Lord, to thee we raise; This our sacrifice of praise.
And then…
For the wonder of each hour
of the day and of the night,
hill and vale and tree and flower,
sun and moon and stars of light.
Christ, our Lord, to thee we raise; This our sacrifice of praise.
He was an Anglican poet, weaving the beauty and gratitude and grace all together for others to consider as well. The words eventually formed a hymn, frequently accompanying the Lord's Supper.
The year is 2024. Back over in America, there is turmoil and uncertainty. There always will be here on earth. I sit by a stream where my children play, wildflowers all around. I think of the words to this hymn, not knowing anything about its history or writer, only that it seemed apt in the moment as I'm thankful for God's gift of nature around us. I hope that would make Mr. Pierpoint glad to know.
FOR THE BEAUTY OF THE EARTH,
by Folliott Sandford Pierpoint, 1863
For the beauty of the earth,
for the glory of the skies,
for the love which from our birth
over and around us lies.
Refrain:
Christ, our Lord, to you we raise
this, our hymn of grateful praise.
For the wonder of each hour
of the day and of the night,
hill and vale and tree and flower,
sun and moon and stars of light, [Refrain ]
For the joy of human love,
brother, sister, parent, child,
friends on earth, and friends above,
for all gentle thoughts and mild, [Refrain]
For yourself, best gift divine,
to the world so freely given,
agent of God's grand design:
peace on earth and joy in heaven. [Refrain]
Friday Hymn: My Father Watches Over Me
Around 1940, Russell and Darlene Deibler had the chance to leave Papua New Guinea before the oncoming enemy soldiers landed, but they chose to stay. They'd arrived years prior in order to share the love of Jesus and that’s where they would remain. They were soon captured and forced to march through rugged country and into the jungle. Then Darlene watched as Russell was taken away. She and a few others almost starved in the jungle where they were held captive for months. Scavenging for food, they discovered a type of seed that, if cooked long enough, expanded and made their stomachs feel full.
As the jungle rain poured down, Darlene stirred and stirred that seed over the fire, singing at the top of her lungs words she'd learned as a child:
I trust in God, I know he cares for me,
On mountain bleak or on the stormy sea;
Though billows roll, he keeps my soul,
My heav'nly Father watches over me.
That hymn, My Father Watches Over Me, was written about 30 years before by a pastor named William Martin. Surely he would have been touched to see those words ringing out in such a moment.
Hymns and scripture provided sustaining comfort through Darlene’s harrowing journey, which only intensified in the coming months in a prison camp. Years later, recounting the horrific and miraculous stories, Darlene shared unrelentingly about the nearness of the Lord and the profound love she felt. She had memorized scripture as a girl and so, even though her Bible was taken, He comforted her constantly through His Word stored up in her heart.
In sharing her story with thousands of people in the years since, she said, “I thank God for every storm that has shipwrecked me on the Rock Christ Jesus. There I stand. “
I first heard Darlene Deibler Rose’s story about ten years ago through a staticy old recording (found here) and have since listened to it more times than I know, especially in challenging seasons of my own life. Perhaps, if you haven’t heard it before, it might encourage you too.
My Father Watches Over Me
Words by William Clark Martin, USA 1864-1914
sources: “Evidence Not Seen" by Darlene Deibler Rose
Hymnary: My Father Cares For Me