Happy Feast of St. Francis of Assisi!

It’s one of the world’s most favorite hymns, its universal appeal crossing all sorts of denominational lines – All Creatures of our God and King, by St. Francis of Assisi, whose feast is celebrated today. He expresses it so well!

All creatures of our God and king
Lift up your voice and with us sing
Hallelujah, hallelujah!
Thou burning sun with golden beam
Thou silver moon with softer gleam

O praise Him, O praise Him
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah!

Thou rushing wind that are so strong
Ye clouds that sail in heaven along
O praise Him, hallelujah!
Thou rising morn, in praise rejoice
Ye lights of evening, find a voice

Thou flowing water, pure and clear
Make music for thy Lord to hear
Hallelujah, hallelujah!
Thou fire so masterful and bright
That givest man both warmth and light

And all ye men of tender heart
Forgiving others, take your part
O sing ye, hallelujah!
Ye who long pain and sorrow bear
Praise God and on Him cast your care

Let all things their Creator bless
And worship Him in humbleness
O praise Him, hallelujah!
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son
And praise the Spirit, Three-in-One

I love this hymn for its majestic sweep across all of Creation, which with one accord ever sings and proclaims the glory of its Creator. I too wish to join this everlasting chorus!

Wandering can take place just about anywhere…today for me it was behind our house where there is a little woods just begging to be explored. It’s one of the joys of living here in the eastern United States, where at one time mostly unbroken deciduous forests covered the land from the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi River. One can only imagine what such a vast woodland must have been like, for it no longer exists to that degree. Its composition likewise has changed. Gone are the American chestnut, taken down by chestnut blight beginning in the early 1900s. Likewise, the American elm suffered the ravages of Dutch elm disease. Left to fill in the gaps are other trees – beeches and maples, oaks and hickories. They now are the dominant trees in the great American woodland. To this West Coaster – used to the dry slopes of the Sierra Nevada and its Ponderosa pines, or the scrubby chaparral of the Santa Ana mountains – these forests that loom so green in summer, so colorful in fall, and so barren in winter continue to amaze and inspire.