This amazing song of creation from the Iona community mates the joy of the world to the imperative of mission. The tune, GOODNESS, was by John Bell and he created music that sounded like an old Scottish tune, except it was new. The text was attributed to the Iona Community and so was by John Bell and Graham Maule. I’ve been trying to figure out what is so attractive about their lyrics and the closest I can come to is that it is as if Wisdom literature was set to music.
The sheet music is available very cheaply with 61 other fantastic songs in Heaven Shall Not Wait at Wild Goose Publications.
I had to make up chords again and strip my backing back to just strummed guitars. I’m not sure if should be a little slower… probably.
1 The goodness of God is the source of our gladness,
Surrounding the world with a harness of care,
Enabling surprise and allowing for sadness,
The hope of recovery, present as air.
2 The life of the world is a heavenly treasure,
A pleasure to ponder, a summons to move,
A radical bias of God in creation
Assuring the small and weakest of love.
3 The song of the earth has an infinite chorus,
Resounding from birth through the silence of death,
Expressive of anguish, frustration and laughter,
It praises the Lord of music and breath.
4 The gifts of the poor are the means of our mending,
As, touching their need, we are healed by their pain:
The almost forgotten are meant by their Maker
To challenge the rich to forfeit their gain.
5 In Jesus the goodness of God was incarnate,
The life of the world was redeemed and restored,
The song of the earth found the key to its meaning,
The gifts of the poor were never ignored.
6 And Jesus is present in word and in Spirit
Where all that is greatest belongs to the least,
Where sign matches song in complete correspondence
And those who were low sit high at the feast.
© 1987 WGRG, Iona Community, Glasgow G2 3DH, Scotland.
There’s a segmnent on last week’s “Songs of Praise” (on iView, episode titled “Enduring Hymns”) featuring John Bell starting around 12:45. He describes hymn singing, quite rightly, I think, as a duty and a joy.