Sometimes we like big sit-down dinners with all the trimmings and all the family. Other times nothing is more refreshing than a perfect little snack. Our song is more like the snack. Please give it a sing-along listen and see if it doesn’t refresh.

The wind that blows

I’ve heard there’s an idea that comes from Jewish tradition that our very breath speaks the name of God. When Moses asked God what His name was, God gave the name “YHWH”, which sounds like breathing. Exhale, and sound like “YH”. Inhale and sound like “WH”. A baby’s first word and a dying man’s last breath say the name of God.

Though I cannot quote a Bible verse that says that about our breath, the idea is good and true that things around us in nature speak — or remind us — of God. For example, Psalm 19 says “the heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands…”.

Genesis 9 says of the rainbow: “And God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.”

Psalm 148 instructs the sun and moon, fire, snow, mountains, trees and many more parts of nature to praise the Lord.

How wonderful and helpful to our souls for us to notice these elements of God’s creation and be reminded to praise and thank Him, too.

Our song serves us that way — it gets us singing about things around us and thanking the Father for each.

When things around us scatter our thoughts

I’m a bit of a packrat. I’m like a squirrel that finds a choice acorn and then buries it, but later might not be able to remember where that treasure got hid. I know this because every shelf around my space is already filled with something that, given a little attention, might delight or serve some purpose I value. This stuff quietly, persistently, chides me to serve it so it can be made useful to serve. On a clear day it might occur to me how backwards it has become that, rather than this stuff serving me, it demands I serve it.

I know there is hope, because I’ve seen it. A few years ago a dear friend sent us a little book that sweetly shouts the answer. It’s called “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing” written by Marie Kondo. I’ve launched her plan a few times and gained ground, but life happened before I finished. Still, I left off in better shape, and I intend to return. I do recommend the book. It is short, easy to read, and delivers sound techniques for dealing with stuff and how to think about it all. The author goads and chides with good cheer and wisdom.

The point is that things around us affect our thinking — for good or for evil. As much as possible, we should pay attention to what stuff we allow in our homes and what we feed our eyes and ears. God’s works on display around us can steer our thoughts to Him, and that is good. We can learn to put things around us that steer our thoughts toward love, joy and peace. And we can learn how to get rid of stuff around us that would steer our thoughts off the road.

One clear voice

Simplicity is one of the things that makes this song effective and attractive — to kids of all ages. It seems we live in a world that touches us with a variety of media, through which we find that almost everyone out there “has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has an interpretation …” some offered with skill and intent to bless, others just to sell or even complain. Around our house, when we are bombarded with such stuff, you might hear “Take me to Mayberry!” — a lament crying for simplicity — calling for one clear voice.

(A few years back Peter Cetera recorded “One Clear Voice”, a song that still stirs my soul and encourages me to seek simplicity, truth, light — to seek HIM. Find it on YouTube, etc.)

When the cry for “Mayberry!!” rises in our throats, let’s remember that the good path back to quiet confidence is a path that leads us back to Him. “They looked unto him, and were lightened …” [Psalms 34:5a] . Unlike Peter Cetera’s song, our little song has not topped popular charts, but it just might help some of us rearrange the thoughts flying around this moment and lift us to a better place. Why not pause right now and thank the Father for the sky?

God bless you lots
-Dale R.

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Download this song sheet

LYRICS: Thank You Father For The Sky
Text: Myrtle Williamson (1926)
Tune: Elizabeth McEwen Shields (1926)

1. Thank you, Father, for the sky;
For the sun and rain and snow;
Thank you for the stars at night;
Thank you for the winds that blow.

2. Thank you for the birds and trees;
For the flow’rs that bloom so fair;
Thank you for the food we eat;
Thank you for your love and care.

Let’s stay in touch

Each time I post a new song and lesson here I send a brief, cheerful note to friends of this song site. The note gives a quick description of the song and lesson along with a link to the new song’s page. It is super-easy for you to get a note from me, too. Just click the green “Song of the Week” button below and you are almost there.

To sweeten the deal, you will also get instant access to the “Music Box” where I put all the free resources and downloads that go along with these song pages. Check it out now! Good stuff. (Side note — I still post announcements on social media, too, even though I have learned it is terribly unreliable at getting the message out and keeping us connected. Email gets that job done where social media fails. We do well to connect this way, and avoid getting throttled by social media.)

Song of the Week

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