Morning Has Broken
So, St. Patrick's Day is near, and we need music to celebrate the Day. That's Day, with a capital D, because me Mum, and me Mum's Mum, all descend from a long line of Callahan’s and Foleys, and that includes the Lenahans, mind ye, which means that, in spite of my Teutonic last name, me Irish blood won't brook any ingnorin' the Day, do y'see? Éirinn go brách, and all that, y'hear?
Now, rather than some Irish Jig, with which I have no quarrel, mind you, I still thought I'd put forth one of everybody's all-time favorite Celtic bits of music. Perhaps many folks don’t know it’s Celtic origins,but it's Irish nonetheless - just like most folks are on St. Paddy's Day. Luck o' the Irish, for sure.
So then. With incredibly poignancy this song - a hymn, actually, written by Eleanor Farjeon in 1931 - is impossible to dislodge once it has planted itself in your soul - and that's OK.
Set to a traditional Celtic melody, these haunting words bring praise to the Creator for one of His first gifts - the morning. "God said, 'Let there be light' and behold, there was light." I think the beauty of this hymn, music and words alike, stem in part from the complete lack of tension - it speaks of the time of original glory before the Fall, and brings great hope for the present.
In fact, speaking of hope, there is no end of lovely settings to this piece but the best known is the one by the former Cat Stevens. I wondered if I should use his version for this page because of some unfortunate decisions he made later in life, but in the end I thought that since art can be appreciated apart from the artist and there's hope for everybody, Cat Stevens is the guy. Besides, nobody does this piece like him, yes?. Thus, I'm including this version (with the magnificent piano work by Rick Wakeman).
I suggest that you click on the link, listen to this delightful music, and enjoy meditating on these amazing words.
(Hey, this is a YouTube link, so if the commercial comes skip to the music. Sorry.)
MORNING HAS BROKEN
Morning has broken like the first morning,
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird,
Praise for the singing! Praise for the morning!
Praise for them, springing fresh from the Word.
Sweet the rain's new fall sunlit from heaven,
Like the first dewfall on the first grass.
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden,
Sprung in completeness where His feet pass.
Mine is the sunlight! Mine is the morning
Born of the one Light Eden saw play!
Praise with elation, praise every morning,
God's re-creation of the new day!
SOMETHING TO PONDER –
Why not start that lovely music again and consider this.
"Morning Has Broken" with elegant simplicity recreates the time of the first day of creation. It is based on the first words of the first book of the Bible as it talks of the first day:
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
Then God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good; then He separated the light from the darkness.
God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night.
And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day.
While this lovely music haunts you, may I make a suggestion? Consider the beauty and peace of the created world in the beginning. Oh, I know about Adam and Eve, and how life changed and got hard after the Fall. But in the beginning it was not so.
In the beginning, in those first days, the Father Creator “…created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.”
LINGER HERE FOR A MOMENT...
Linger here, for a moment, would you please? Think of all that existed before the Fall, and just linger here. Lambs walking unmolested among the lions, lush plants springing up untended, sweet and gentle rains, “like the first dewfall on the first grass, Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden, sprung in completeness where His feet pass.” There was God, walking with His people, with no barriers between God and His children.
Linger here, stay here, think of the garden, think of the peace, think of the close fellowship with a Father Who had all the things you could want in a Father, laughing and playing with His first human children. Oh, my words fail, but perhaps you have the picture in your mind. Now consider this. We were made in the image of God – He cared enough about us to share His image with us.
Consider this as well: You began with a glory bestowed upon you. You are in the image of the Creator! Certainly, the Fall changed the close fellowship with the Father, but the Father restored this through His very firstborn Son, Jesus, so we can have that fellowship again. You were created with a glory bestowed, and that glory still exists for you!
Linger, please, in the garden before the Fall, linger with your Father, and walk with Him. He’s very much interested in you, His child, His image, and He would love to be talking with you. The same Father Who set the worlds spinning with a Word, Whose mighty arm upholds all things, has a very personal interest in you. Enjoy your Father, enjoy your glory.
So before you start the rest of your day, think of this:
Mine is the sunlight! Mine is the morning
Born of the one Light Eden saw play!
Praise with elation, praise every morning
God’s re-creation of the new day!
Linger with your Father, and then walk forth peaceably with Him to whatever your day holds for you.
Yours is the morning, and the new day - and not just St. Paddy's Day, mind ye!