this is my father's world

I first posted this Thanksgiving reflection two years ago, and again last year.  As I once again find myself heading into the holiday with much on my mind, I wonder if it's becoming a bit of an annual marker ...

Today is a day for giving thanks, and no doubt many of us are sharing the day with family, around a special meal prepared and enjoyed together.  It's a day for pausing to reflect on the many things we have to be grateful for, and certainly the wonderment of the animals in our homes, neighborhoods and throughout our world is one of them. 

But today might also carry mixed feelings for more than a few of us, I suspect.  Maybe we're looking back on difficult seasons, losses and other personal disappointments recently behind us, or still ongoing.  And thinking about the suffering which animals still endure, in one form or another, may give us pause even on a day like this as well, just as we reflect on so many other looming tragedies and injustices in our broken world.

A friend's heartwrenching post this Summer made me think of the hymn "This Is My Father's World," which I've turned to more than a few times for comfort, just as it's helped me articulate an overwhelming sense of gratitude for God's creation at others.  Towards both ends, I thought today might be an appropriate day to share a touching rendition I discovered by Fernando Ortega:

Maltbie D. Babcock, author of the original poem, was a pastor and author who died in 1901 at the young age of 42.  He often began nature walks around Lockport, New York by telling his wife, "I'm going out to see my Father's world."  From his lyrics:

This is my Father’s world, the birds their carols raise,
The morning light, the lily white, declare their Maker’s praise.
This is my Father’s world: He shines in all that’s fair;
In the rustling grass I hear Him pass;
He speaks to me everywhere.

This is my Father’s world.  O let me ne’er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.
This is my Father’s world: the battle is not done:
Jesus Who died shall be satisfied,
And earth and Heav’n be one.

A happy Thanksgiving to you, and please know I'm very grateful and honored to count you as friends and colleagues in the cause for God's creatures, and beyond.

(thanks to YouTube user beanscot for posting the beautiful song and accompanying photos; "This is My Father's World" from Fernando Ortega's album Night of Your Return (RPI '96); many thanks to NetHymnal for information on this hymn and many others; "The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth" painting by Jennie A. Brownscombe (1914), via Museum De Lakenhal Leiden/Wikimedia Commons)