Note: I made a slight adaptation in the refrain after Sara made this recording. This is one of fifteen hymn texts on my CD, To the Tune of a Welcoming God.
God’s Wisdom Calls to Us
In the hov’ring of the Spirit o’er the formless watery deep
In the Word the split the darkness, giving night and day their keep
In the ocean tides and valleys low and mountain ranges steep
God’s wisdom calls to us …
Through the teeming of the waters where the fish and dolphin dine
Through the greening of the forest where the winding ivies vine
Through the plants that in their goodness bear both fruit and flower fine
God’s wisdom calls to us … / Refrain
Sacred, sacred is our planet; sacred, sacred are her creatures;
Sacred, sacred all the people; this wisdom be our cry.
On the breezes where the wing-ed birds with gracious joy do soar
On the grassland where the lions sound their regal mighty roar
In the musty mossy bear cave—in its hibernating snore
God’s wisdom calls to us …
In the whispered word of hope that dared to kiss the earthen clay
In the Breath that filled the lungs where our first kin in waiting lay
In the mys’try of our destiny to be imago Dei
God’s wisdom calls to us … / Refrain
Sacred, sacred is our planet; sacred, sacred are her creatures;
Sacred, sacred all the people; this wisdom be our cry.
Now the fragile planet cries for help; the creatures loud lament
The flora and the fauna fade; the web of life is rent
The waters bleed with oil as their salty spray is spent
God’s wisdom calls to us …
Comes today the clarion call to claim our kinship with the earth
And to stem the rising poverty that marks too many-a birth
And to tell the monied forces of creation’s priceless worth
With wisdom let us stand … / Refrain
Sacred, sacred is our planet; sacred, sacred are her creatures;
Sacred, sacred all the people; this wisdom be our cry.
Refrain (after vv. 2, 4, 6)
Text: David R. Weiss, b. 1959 (text, © 2011 David R. Weiss)
Tune: American, 19th century, BATTLE HYMN (Battle Hymn of the Republic, Lutheran Book of Worship 332 – public domain)
Permission is given to photocopy God’s Wisdom Calls to Us for use in worship.
Author’s Note: This “Battle Hymn for Creation” moves from biblical imagery to contemporary crises—in hopes of moving us to action.
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