Saturday, December 09, 2023

Ocean is a Call to Worship


Ruth on an ice pan in the inland sea of Lake Ontario

Refrain
         Ocean is a call to worship 
         every morning, evening;
         in its rising, falling,
         hear the Spirit breathing.

When your people scatter,
broken, bruised and battered,
whisper on the waves and call us home.
          Refrain

When our temples totter,
Christ of wind and water,
calm the earth and soothe our shattered nerves.
          Refrain

When I'm listening, walking,
praying needs no talking'
wonder at the depth and breadth of love.
          Refrain

WORDS BY DANIEL CHARLES DAMON Words © 1998 Hope Publishing 

I was looking at the website for Blue Theology  https://www.bluetheology.com/ 
and came upon the words for a hymn by Dan Damon called Ocean is a Call to WorshipWhile I was the minister at St. Andrew's Halifax around the turn of the millenium, Dan and his wife came to worship during the North American Hymn Society meeting in the city. I chatted with them afterward and I ended up taking them for a walk along Crystal Crescent Beach the next day. They may have been playing hooky from the important work of the society but I know the walk was good for their souls.
I have to agree with the theology of this hymn. This year we were blessed to spend time by the raw North Atlantic off Newfoundland, and the much more temperate Mediterranean. We bobbed in the Dead Sea (I've never enjoyed that experience) and were fully immersed in the Red Sea as we enjoyed the wonders of snorkelling there. 
Wherever the sea or ocean may be, it is a call to worship the Creator. 








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