Music Notes from Denise, July 2, 2025

This Sunday we will celebrate our country’s birthday along with readings full of joy and hope. In Isaiah 66 we read “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her…As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.” And in Psalm 66 we read: “Come now and see the works of God, how wonderful he is in his doing toward all people.” In our gospel reading in Luke 10 Jesus says “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me…rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Our Processional hymn will be This is my song. It’s a hymn that we have been singing each summer to commemorate our country’s Independence Day. Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) wrote music for a pageant that celebrated the history of Finland, and in 1900 he revised the final tableau into FINLANDIA, which became a hymn-like tone poem that celebrated the hope and resolution of Finland’s struggle against Russian oppression. It has since become a favorite orchestral standard in many lands. The tune seemed appropriate for a song written by Lloyd Stone (1912-1993) who was a public school teacher in Hawaii.  The first two stanzas of “This is My Song” were written for a collection of songs in Sing a Tune (1934) during the time of peace between the two world wars: This is my song, O God of all the nations, A song of peace for lands afar and mine. The final stanza of this hymn was written by Georgia Harkness (1891-1974) at the request of the Wesleyan Service Guild of the Methodist Church to give the popular hymn a more religious tone.  Harkness was the first woman to teach theology in an American seminary, after not being allowed to study in one herself at a younger age as a Cornell graduate. She was always interested in global missions and ecumenical Christianity as well as being a pioneer for women in ministry. Her final stanza is a prayer that transforms the hymn into a promise for each of us to take part in Christ’s mission in the world. This is my prayer, O God of all earth’s kingdoms, Your kingdom come; on earth your will be done. Let Christ be lifted up till all shall serve him, And hearts united learn to live as one. So hear my prayer, O God of all the nations. Myself I give you; let your will be done. (hymnary.org)

Our Sequence hymn illuminates our thankfulness for our country as we celebrate its birthday: O God, we thank you for this land, written by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette in 2019. It was written to be sung to the tune Melita which is the familiar tune for the Navy hymn “Eternal Father, strong to save”.  This hymn brings our love of country into our present world where we seek justice for our neighbors, our creation, and look for ways to bring Christ’s vision of a new day for God’s being in our world. (carolynshymns.com; all rights reserved, used with permission)

The Offertory will be a patriotic song made famous by Willy Nelson, Living in the Promiseland, written by David Lynn Jones in 1986. It was suggested by our own Mike Kelly as a good song for our celebration of this weekend’s holiday as well as illustrating our gifts to Circle of Concern and the wonderful work they are doing in our community. Doug Edmonson and John Lange agreed to sing it as a duet. The song begins with words from the Statue of Liberty: Give us you tired and weak, and we will make them strong. Bring us your far off song, and we will sing along. Leave us your broken dreams, we’ll give them time to mend. There’s still a lot of love, living in the promiseland. The prayer of everyone is to know how freedom feels. There is a winding road across the shifting sand, and room for everyone living in the promiseland. (1986 Bluewater Music Corp. Used with permission from musicnotes.com)

Our final hymn will be another by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, Go two by two, that was written specifically for our Gospel reading in Luke 10. It’s sung to the tune for the hymn, I would be true.