In times of war, hymn seems to say it all

Certain times this summer, it has been necessary to turn off the news programs, lay aside the daily papers and op-ed columns and sit on the shore, purposely mindless of the violence and turmoil around the world.

It’s quite easy to do, actually, thinking peaceful thoughts when so far away from war. Watching sailboats gliding back and forth, lobster boats meandering around the islands, counting osprey nests on spindle markers or spruce tops. Oh, the serenity, if we only look close to home.

Sometimes, it soothes the troubled soul to do anything but think: to pick bowls of blueberries or rock in the hammock while the sun erratically beams through tree branches – bright, dim, bright, dim – with a dizzying effect similar to psychedelic lights on a dance floor.

The other day, after reading of more bloodshed in Lebanon – or in Israel’s Haifa, or in Baghdad, Iraq, or in a southern mountain range in Afghanistan – the only thing to do was to snip, and sniff, a bouquet of sweet peas growing on a trellis near the gladiola bed.

At night, after hearing over and over such strange sounding names: Hezbollah, Shiites, Kurds, Taliban, Fallujah, Sadr City, Kibbutz Saar, we wander out to the front steps and stare up at the stars and huge white moon, hoping to feel a calm that eventually will bring sleep.

Get immersed in a new book, we tell ourselves. Or gather a basketful of every variety of hydrangea blooming right now. Or attend an art exhibit or musical performance. Or stretch back in recliners on the deck, watching puffs of white clouds – and cheerful goldfinches in the apple tree – overhead.

Or attend church and sing a hymn written in 1847; the words by H. E. Fosdick were written in 1930. They bring tears to our eyes:

“Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, for the facing of this hour.” “Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, for the living of these days,” read the refrains.

The third and fourth verses follow:

“Cure thy children’s warring madness, Bend our pride to thy control; Shame our wanton, selfish gladness, Rich in things and poor in soul. Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, Lest we miss thy kingdom’s goal.

“Set our feet on lofty places; Gird our lives that they may be Armored with all Christ-like graces In the fight to set men free. Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, That we fail not man nor thee. Amen.”