Music Notes: Each Blade of Grass
There is a hymn in More Voices that is a particular favourite. When the book first came out, the choir used to practise a new hymn and sing it on at least a few Sundays before ‘releasing’ it for general use. We tended to be quite proprietorial about some of them, I admit, and Each Blade of Grass (MV 37) was definitely one such hymn, so it was a long time before everyone in the church was given the opportunity to sing it!
We agreed that the music had a Cape Breton feel to it, and somebody in the choir (probably Aline) heard Rita MacNeil’s voice singing it. The music is listed as ‘Anonymous,’ from the United States Sacred Harmony, the 1799 edition. The words were written by Keri K. Wehlander in 2005 and they are beautiful. The text could stand alone as a poem, but the way the words are moulded to the melody makes the hymn so very effective and evocative.
Each blade of grass, ev’ry wing that soars, the waves that sweep across a distant shore, make full the circle of God.
Each laughing child, ev’ry gentle eye, a forest lit beneath a moon-bright sky, make full the circle of God.
When do we not need to be reminded of these truths?
Each cosmic hue, ev’ry creature’s way, all form the beauty of this vast array, make full the circle of God.
We are called to cherish, to love, and to protect. And I’d say we’re called to – as the late John Lewis would say – “make good trouble” when the circle of God is strained.
One of the joys of research is to discover links not previously apparent, and this was true for me with the author Keri Wehlander. She wrote the words to a few other hymns in More Voices, including In You There is a Refuge (MV 84) and the wonderful When Hands Reach Out Beyond Divides (MV 169), as near a call to the cause of social justice to be found in either hymn book we use.
When Hands Reach Out is a beautiful and emotional hymn that resembles Each Blade of Grass in that the text alone is strong, but welded to the music it becomes so much more powerful. And curiously, the music for MV 169 is also listed as ‘composer unknown.’ The stirring melody was taken from the Southern Harmony, 1854 edition: turbulent music for turbulent times; the United States of the mid 19th century was certainly divided on the most basic social issues, the same issues it grapples with today.
And yes, the choir held MV 169 very close for a very long time. The music is dramatic and poignant, and the words sound a clarion call:
When hands reach out beyond divides and hope is truly found, each chain of hate will fall away and bells of peace shall sound.
When fear no longer guides our steps and days of war are done, God’s dream for all shall live anew; our hearts will heal as one.
When race and creed blind us no more, a neighbor’s face we’ll see, and we shall dance the whole world round, for love will set us free.
Ah, the capacity of words and music to move and inspire us. As long as we are able, we must stand together and sing.
Sarah
