This hymn on ecology and stewardship of the earth, after thanking God for all the beauty He created for us to enjoy, challenges our thinking. These lines, “We turn from our wasteful destruction of life” and “All nature around us is ours but on lease,” should prod us into a more caring attitude about the world around us.

The word prairies has been changed to meadows.

Walter Henry Farquharson was born May 30, 1936, at Zealandia, near Rosetown, Saskatchewan, Canada. After study at his hometown high school, the University of Saskatchewan (where he obtained a B.A. in 1957), and St. Andrew’s College in Saskatoon, he was ordained in 1960 and went for a year of postgraduate study at Edinburgh, Scotland. Back at St. Andrew’s in 1961, he received the B.D. and became minister at Saltcoats (Saskatchewan) United Church and teacher of English at the local high school.

Three of his hymns were included in The Hymn Book, Canada, 1971. A larger collection of his work appears in Worship the Lord, set to music by Ron Klusmeier, 1977. In a review of this book in the October 1978 issue of The Hymn, Kenneth W. Inkster says, “[Farquharson] has become our best Canadian writer of contemporary hymns. They allow all congregations to sing their faith and to celebrate the church’s involvement with the world. They breathe the spirit of Scripture as they express the thoughts of Christians in the 1970s.” The writer of more than 80 hymns and songs, he is at this writing (1986) involved in the preparation of a collection of teaching and worship songs for children. His interest in gardening and landscaping is reflected in this hymn.

The author says about this stewardship hymn: “The stewardship of the earth given to humankind calls forth a loving and creative response. All earth blossoms like Eden in the purposes of God. Men and women together tend the life that God has given them to enjoy in freedom and love.

“To treasure all of life, this good earth with its rich resources, to love it and care for it, this is each gardener’s opportunity, calling, and joy. And we are all called to be God’s gardeners.”

ANNIVERSARY was written to celebrate the twenty-fifth birthday of Jane Marshall’s own congregation, Northaven United Methodist Church in Dallas, 1980. She was born in 1924, attended Highland Park School in Dallas, and earned B.Mus. and M.Mus. degrees at Southern Methodist University. At the latter institution she later served on the English, music, and seminary faculties. She has served as organist at First United Methodist Church in Corsicana, Texas, where she taught in the public schools; St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church; Highland Park United Methodist Church; and Northaven United Methodist Church in Dallas. Her professional affiliations include membership on the Conference Board of Diaconal Ministry, United Methodist Church; the Fellowship of United Methodists in Worship, Music, and the Other Arts; Mu Phi Epsilon; Phi Kappa Lambda; the American Guild of Organists; and the American Choral Directors Association. She has also been a member of the board of directors of the Choristers Guild. In 1965 she received the Woman of Achievement Award from Southern Methodist University. She served as chairperson of the Hymn Supplement Task Force of the United Methodist Church. At this writing she is adjunct professor of church music at Perkins School of Theology at SMU.

Her published works include many anthems for adult and children’s choirs, and she frequently writes for church music journals. In an article entitled “Approaches to Writing Hymn Tunes” in the April 1984 issue of The Hymn she says: “Writing a hymn tune is like shopping for art objects and then packing them all into one small suitcase to bring home. Selection and compression-choosing what to leave unbought and stuffing the rest into that tiny space is a dual process familiar to any composer, but the compression part of it has special urgency for writers of hymn tunes. To arrange it all so art arrives at its final destination ready to speak its powerful, evocative best in a fresh way with integrity is the goal, and many a handler has struggled into the wee hours before reaching it.”

📖 Reference: Companion to the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal by Wayne Hooper and Edward E. White. Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1988.