"All My Hope on God Is Founded," ELW 757
1. All my hope on God is founded
who will all my trust renew,
who through change and chance will guide me,
only good and only true.
God unknown, God alone,
call my heart to be thine own.
2. Mortal pride and earthly glory,
sword and crown betray our trust;
what with care and toil we fashion,
tow'r and temple, fall to dust.
But thy pow'r, hour by hour,
is my temple and my tow'r.
3. Great thy goodness, e'er enduring;
deep thy wisdom, passing thought;
splendor, light, and life attend thee,
beauty springing out of naught.
Evermore from thy store
newborn worlds rise and adore.
4. Still from earth to God eternal
sacrifice of praise be done,
high above all praises praising
for the gift of God's own Son.
Christ doth call one and all:
ye who follow shall not fall.
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I almost made it through this week without rambling! One of my favorite words is "bifurcated," so for today you may consider that pause officially bifurcated.
Joachim Neander (1650-1680) wrote the words to this hymn and many others, including "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation." He spent much of his short adult life wandering the then wilds of Germany for hymnodic inspiration, and in the early 19th century a large cave was named Neanderhজhle after him. Years later, after limestone was quarried near that cave, the resulting wide valley became Neander Valley (in German, Neanderthal). Yep, in 1856, "Neanderthal Man" gave Joachim the distinction of being the only hymnist with a fossil hominid named after him!
So... can we talk?? You got any "change and chance" happening in your life this day? Any betrayal in the form of "mortal pride and earthly glory" going on around you? Are you having any trouble seeing, hearing, feeling ... being a person who dwells in "hope"?
In the midst of all the change and chance of our lives, O God, may your Holy Spirit guide our shout-out to our always-listening Lord: [Insert said shout-out here!] And all God's people shouted, Amen!
Keith Muschinske, '89
Chaplain, USAF, Retired, Eagle River, Alaska
The Luther Seminary
2481 Como Avenue
Saint Paul, Minnesota 55108, United States
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