The timing of this hymn is awful, and I am not in a mind to find the bigger purpose today.

Bring, O morn, thy music! Night, thy starlit silence!
Oceans, laugh in rapture to the storm-winds coursing free!
Suns and planets chorus, praise to Thee, Most Holy —
Who was, and is, and evermore shall be.

Life and death, thy creatures, praise thee, mighty Giver!
Praise and prayer are rising in thy beast and bird and tree:
Lo! they praise and vanish, vanish at thy bidding —
Who was, and is, and evermore shall be.

Life nor death can part us, O thou Love eternal,
Shepherd of the wandering star and souls that wayward flee!
Homeward draws the spirit to thy Spirit yearning —
Who was, and is, and evermore shall be.

I’m struggling to sing today. This tune is so cheerful (Nicea – known as Holy, Holy, Holy) and strident, it’s feeling utterly off key.

And that’s about all I have to say.

Some of the shock is wearing off and the reality is setting in, and taking a broad view of creation feels terribly ineffective right now. Things are bad on the ground, in reality. Looking skyward doesn’t help one bit.