Summertime's Soundtrack(s) and Fathers

Summertime…"I Love Beach Music”…

Summertime… In years past, we always used to blast Sonicflood’s “You Are My Refuge” as we reached our destination. (Don’t judge.)

Summertime...weddings…Rhosymedre or “Lovely.”
R. Vaughan-Williams’ setting is lovely, indeed. Texts to the tune include “My Song is Love Unknown” and “Our Father, by Whose Name.” The latter, written by F. Bland Tucker for the Hymnal 1940, was not familiar to me, but certainly adds a new dimension to our meditations as we listen, whether at weddings or other services.

“Our Father, by whose name
All fatherhood is known,
Who dost in love proclaim
Each family Thine own,
Bless Thou all parents, guarding well,
With constant love as sentinel,
The homes in which Thy people dwell.

O Christ, Thyself a child
Within an earthly home,
With heart still undefiled,
Thou didst to manhood come;
Our children bless, in every place,
That they may all behold Thy face,
And knowing Thee may grow in grace.

O Spirit, who dost bind
Our hearts in unity,
Who teaches us to find
The love from self set free,
In all our hearts such love increase,
That every home, by this release,
May be dwelling place of peace.”

Summertime…Father’s Day…
So thankful for my Dad, who looked and looks to our Heavenly Father as his pattern, who proclaims His love and loves constantly, whose goal it is to grow in grace, who puts others first, who strove to make our home a place of peace…