It has been exceedingly difficult to contemplate the war against Ukraine. Our forefathers fought World War II, hoping to put an end to such evil dalliance by dictators, hoping to bring peace to a Europe and world which had known such infrequent stretches of peace.

 

As I pondered this recently, I remembered probably my favorite hymn from our Unitarian Universalist hymnal, number 159. “This Is My Song” seems suitable for a world anthem, with its wishes for any who sing it to appreciate the beauty which surrounds us, but to remember that beauty exists in all other lands too. Consider the words:

 

    This is my song, O God of all the nations,

    A song of peace, for lands afar and mine.

    This is my home, the country where my heart is,

    Here are my hopes, my dreams my holy shrine;

    But other hearts in other lands are beating

    With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

 

    My country’s skies are bluer than the ocean,

    And sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine,

    But other lands have sunlight too, and clover,

    And skies are everywhere as blue as mine.

    O hear my song thou God of all the nations,

    A song of peace for their land and for mine.

 

For a moving rendition of this song, Google “Schola Diffusa: This Is My Song.” Schola Diffusa formed during the early days of the Covid 19 pandemic with singers all over the country singing from their homes but blended into an amazing choir. There are other versions of the song out there too—Joan Baez sang it some years back, though she incorrectly called it the national anthem of Finland.

 

It is indeed a national song of Finland, thanks to the music composed by Jean Sibelius (1865-1957).  He composed the song he called Finlandia in 1899-1900. With a little research, I learned that the words above were composed by a southern Californian named Lloyd Stone. Stone (1912-1993) was a music major at the University of Southern California who was studying to become a music teacher. Instead, he joined a circus headed for Hawaii, and remained there the rest of his life, writing poetry and songs—I couldn’t tell if he remained with the circus. “This Is My Song” was his work in 1934. Stone’s poem was set to the music of Finlandia shortly after Stone wrote the words by Ira B. Wilson.

But the song’s story doesn’t end there. An early Methodist theologian named Georgina Harkness (1891-1974), who had a passion for poetry and the arts, wrote additional verses. Here’s her third stanza:

 

    May truth and freedom come to every nation,

    May peace abound where strife has raged so long.

    That each may seek to love and build together

    A world united, righting every wrong;

    A world united in its love for freedom

    Proclaiming peace together in one song.

 

Sibelius’ music is also part of a Christian hymn called “Be Still My Soul”, the words of which were first composed by the German Catharina von Schlegel (1697-1768) in 1752, and set to the tune Finlandia in the 20th century. You can watch a version of this sung by a full church at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, including now-King Charles III and his two sons.

 

The history of “This Is My Song” makes it no less poignant in these troubled times. Would that it might be translated into Russian and sung with conviction just now.

 

(Note:  I owe gratitude to Wikipedia for historical information for this essay.)