o hear our song, God of all the nations

 

This is my song, O God of all the nations,

A song of peace for lands afar and mine;

This is my home, the country where my heart is;

Here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine:

But other hearts in other lands are beating

With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

This was sung during Mass today, I'm sure because of our Independence Day holiday this weekend.

My country's skies are bluer than the ocean,

And sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine;

But other lands have sunlight too, and clover,

And skies are everywhere as blue as mine:

O hear my song, thou God of all the nations,

A song of peace for their land and for mine.

The hymn, sung to the melody from Finlandia by Sibelius, speaks of his great love for his homeland, but without that sense of superiority that can border on the dangerous. 

May truth and freedom come to every nation;

May peace abound where strife has raged so long;

That each may seek to love and build together,

A world united, righting every wrong;

A world united in its love for freedom,

proclaiming peace together in one song.

It's so moving, especially at a time in world history when the real possibility of war threatens everything dear and familiar to us.