The Small Things
This hymn, written by our minister, was sung at the Synod Green Day in June. It goes to the folk tune ‘The Ash Grove’.
The great works of nature depend on the small things:
The icecaps need snowflakes, the orchards need bees,
The forests need fungi, the whales need their plankton
And microbes bring life to the soil and the seas.
For the bugs and the slugs and the weeds in the wasteland
For the worms and the germs and the moss on the wall
For the small and the plain, for the humble and hidden
We praise you, O God, the Creator of all.
Each part of the body has need of the others
The hand needs the eye and the ears need the feet
No part is too shameful, no part too important
To offer its gifts so the whole is complete.
For the tongue and the lungs and the life in each heartbeat
For the brain and the veins and the breath’s rise and fall
For the bones that uphold us and skin that enfolds us
We praise you, O Lord, the Creator of all.
Each child has a place at the heart of God’s kingdom
The last shall be first and the bound shall be freed
The hungry are fed and the trampled find justice
And peace gives the freedom to meet every need.
For each age and each stage of our living and growing
For the cheerful and tearful, the short and the tall,
For the wonder and treasure of each human person
We praise you, O Lord, the Creator of all.
Sue McCoan
