Pied* Beauty

Glory be to God for dappled things, 

For skies of couple-color as a brindled cow, 

For rose-moles in stipple** upon trout that swim. 

Fresh-firecoal chestnut falls***, finches' wings; 

Landscape plotted and pieced---fold, fallow, and plough; 

And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim. 

All things counter, spare, original, strange; 

Whatever is fickle, freckled, (who knows how?) 

With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim; 

He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change: Praise Him.

---Gerard Manley Hopkins, 1877 

*Pied: Having patches of more than one color; i.e. the "Pied Piper" **Rose-colored dots or flecks ***Fallen chestnuts, red as burning coals

Joyful, Joyful We Adore You

Joyful, joyful, we adore You, 

God of glory, Lord of love; 

Make us bloom like flow'rs before You, 

Opening to our Sun* above. 

Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; 

Drive despair and gloom away; 

Giver of immortal gladness, 

Fill us with the light of day! 

All Your works with joy surround You, 

Earth and heaven reflect Your rays, 

Stars and angels sing around You, 

Center of unbroken praise. 

Field and forest, vale and mountain, 

Flow'ring meadow, cooling dew, 

Singing bird and flowing fountain 

Call us to rejoice in You. 

You are giving and forgiving, 

Ever blessing, ever blessed, 

Wellspring of the joy of living, 

Ocean depth of happy rest! 

God our Father, Christ our Brother, 

With the Holy Spirit One; 

Teach us how to love each other, 

Selflessly as You have done. 

 Mortals, join the happy chorus, 

Which the morning stars began; 

Father love is reigning o’er us, 

Christian love binds man to man. 

Ever singing, march we onward, 

Victors in the midst of strife, 

Joyful music leads us onward 

In the triumph song of life. 

---Henry van Dyke, 1907, 1911; adapted cmb 1990, 2007 

*Often a metaphor for Jesus "the 'Sun' of Righteousness; the 'Son' of God (Malachi)

The Spirit & Nature in Scripture

"By the word of Yahweh were the heavens made,
And all their hosts by the Spirit of His mouth." (Psalm 33:6)
"You send forth Your Spirit, they are created;
And You renew the face of the earth." (Ps. 104:30)
-----original translations

Te Deum Laudamus

("We Praise You, O God", an ancient liturgical text)

We praise You, O God; We acknowledge You to be the Lord.
All the earth worships You, O Father Everlasting.
To You all angels cry aloud, the heavens and all the powers therein;
To the the cherubim and seraphim continually call out.

The noble army of the martyrs praises You:
The Holy Church throughout all the world acknowledges You,
O Father of infinite majesty, along with Your true and venerable only Son,
And, also, the Holy Spirit, the Comforter.

When You took it upon Yourself to deliver humanity,
You humbled Yourself to be born of a virgin.
When You had overcome the darkness of death,
You opened the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers.

We pray You, therefore, to help Your servants,
Those whom You have redeemed by Your precious blood.
Make us to be counted as Your saints
In glory everlasting.

O Lord, save Your people and bless Your inheritance.
Govern them and lift them up forever.
Day by day we glorify You,
And we worship Your name forever in unending ages.