Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
~ traditional hymn
There’s an old hymn you might know titled How Great Thou Art. I discovered it about a decade ago on a country gospel compilation
and have loved it ever since. Through that time and until a few weeks ago as I was walking through a riverside park in suburban Detroit, I gave little thought to the words or their current relevance.
Then as I strolled among the emergent greens of an Eastern spring, something shifted and suddenly I got it.
All those church-goers through the hymn’s century-long history who assumed they were singing to someone else, to the God-on-high that’s outside of themselves, were missing the deeper truth behind the words.
All this time, they and I have been singing to ourselves!
How Great Thou Art is a declaration addressed not to some white-bearded deity, but to the singer. To me and to you: How great thou art.
For you are the God That You Are. And how great thou art!
The God That You Are is mighty. The God That You Are is strong. The God That You Are is fearless. The God That You Are knows only effortless, easy abundance.
The God That You Are is love.
We hear variations of this so often: You are love…God is love…Love is everything…Love is all that is…Love is all there is…
All these are true, even if they have been tritened in the over- and superficial use of those phrases.
But the basic truth is that the energy of love suffuses all. The energy of love fills all. And the energy of love is all there is.
And if that’s so, then you are that energy. You are love.
How can something that is love be less than? How can something that is love be not good enough? How can something that is love be not valuable?
You are all these things. And from that place, it’s time to step into an appreciation, acceptance and embrace of what you are.
For once you recognize, truly and viscerally, that there is nothing but love and that that’s what you are, you can no longer hold yourself down. You can no longer diminish and demean who and what you are.
All you can do is acknowledge how great thou art. How great thou art.
There is a God Presence within and around you that in this moment is expressing itself in human form. It has the eyes the allow you read this. It has the ears that allow you to hear this. More than anything else, it has the heart that allows you to know this.
So stop for a moment. Take a deep breath. Take a deep breath and breathe in the truth. And that truth is the underlying greatness of the love that defines who and what you are.
It’s time to reclaim. It’s time to re-energize it. It’s time to open to the truth of this statement.
Thank You Mark David for this loving reminder. May Peace follow you everywhere you go
Julie