By Rev. Anders Nelson
Mabel-Henrytown Tri-Point Parish – Mabel First Lutheran Church, Scheie Lutheran Church and Henrytown Lutheran Church
As we celebrated Memorial Day last week, I was reminded of the rich collection of hymns that celebrate our national identity, giving thanks for the grand experiment in demo-cracy that we get to be a part of here in the United States and remembering the sacrifice given by those whose service has allowed for such freedoms to exist. There are plenty of famous and beautifully written pieces within the Lutheran Hymnal (as I’m sure there are within other traditions’ hymnals, too!), but my favorite has always been one entitled “This Is My Song,” a hymn sung to the tune “Finlandia” with text written by both Lloyd Stone and Georgia Harkness.
This song not only celebrates our own national identity, but recognizes the beauty and goodness that other lands hold at the same time. Yes, our country holds beautiful landscapes, hard-working and hearty people, as well as a rich and storied history, and other countries, peoples, and locations bear with them equally beautiful, strong, and rich aspects as well. For a hymn to be able to invite us into the work of celebrating our own place as well as the places beyond our lived-experience, it’s a beautiful and helpful reminder of our shared humanity and shared belovedness with those all over the globe.
The last line of the second verse rings most true in our world that is experiencing so much turmoil, pain, and war. It reads: “So hear my song, O God of all the nations, a song of peace for their land and for mine.” Peace, in this line, isn’t just something for us to experience or for the people who are allied with us, but peace that might exist and persist in all places, that we all might be able to strive together for a world in which conflict can be resolved and gentleness, love, and peace prevail. This isn’t an easy task, by any means! If it were, generations before us certainly would have brought about such a world. And yet, despite the difficulty of bringing to life such a reality in our midst, it is nonetheless our call as people of faith to pray for peace in our lives and in the world, peace that surpasses all understanding, the same kind of peace that Christ leaves with us (John 14:27).
So may it be our prayer, dear companions in faith and life, that we might see peace in our midst and in our world, and that peace might arrive for our neighbors close to us and far from us. May peace be experienced by those whom we love and those whom we find it hard to love. May peace be abundant not only here, but everywhere, and may we be instruments of that peace, ushering it in through God’s love in the spaces where we dwell. “So hear my prayer, O God of all the nations; myself I give you; let your will be done.”
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