Eco-Spirituality

AS A TREE THAT REACHES UP

Tune:

RICCARTON BUSH 77.77D
Melody: William L. Wallace
Harmony: Colin Gibson
ABERYSTWYTH 77.77D
Joseph Parry, 1841-1903
 

1. As a tree that reaches up
   To embrace the rays of light
   So my spirit yearns for God
   Tranquil source of all delight.
   When the barriers dissolve
   And a wholeness grasps my mind
   All my heart is filled with peace,
   Peace each human heart can find.

2. To sustain their patterned growth
   Plants must all embrace the Earth
   So I place my searching roots
   Deep in God the source of worth.
   All the worth displayed by life
   Emanates from cosmic ways
   And the worth that I reflect
   Is expressed in prayerful praise.

3. From the web of Eco-life
   There is much that we can learn
   As we make time to reflect
   And in silence to discern
   That the parts of life are one
   And God’s loving shall embrace
   Stars and planets, Earth and Sun
   Seen in ev’ry human face.

Text © William Livingstone Wallace
Riccarton Bush Melody © William Livingstone Wallace
Harmony © Colin Gibson
 
Click Here for Sheet Music – Riccarton-Bush
Click Here for Sheet Music – Aberystwyth
 
Click Here for MP3 – Riccarton-Bush
Click Here for MP3 – Aberystwyth
 

Click Here for Full Index to William L. Wallace’s Series

Hymns “Cosmic Mystery”

 
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William (Bill) Livingstone Wallace is a retired New Zealand Methodist Minister and one of our most prolific contributors. Bill says that his work springs from communicating with the fire in his gut and his observation of both the internal and external aspects of the Cosmos. Since an early age, he has been both sympathetic to and critical of the church, announcing at the age of 13 his belief in evolution. In his youth, he struggled with the disconnection between art and spirituality in his own and other denominations and with the way in which all of the liturgies prior to the sermon were regarded as preliminaries and longer sermons were viewed as superior to more concise ones.

He holds a B.A. in philosophy and a Dip. Ed. and is the author of nine published collections of his hymns as well as other resources on our website. His aim is to help people be empowered by the divine within them and the Cosmos and to work to overthrow the forces of personal and institutional greed which destroy both the ecosystem and human society.

Click Here for a Full Biography of William L. Wallace

Click here for a complete list of his work on ProgressiveChristianity.org