From Our Mother's Arms

Everyone has a mother! Regardless of how one perceives their mother's successes or failures as a mom, everyone can be thankful for the gift of life in the same manner that this hymnist writes . . .

Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things has done, in Whom this world rejoices;
Who from our mothers’ arms has blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.

O may this bounteous God through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts and blessèd peace to cheer us;
And keep us in His grace, and guide us when perplexed;
And free us from all ills, in this world and the next!

All praise and thanks to God the Father now be given;
The Son and Him Who reigns with Them in highest Heaven;
The one eternal God, whom earth and Heaven adore;
For thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore.

                                                                               Martin Rinkart, 1636

These noble and beautiful lines have a remarkable story behind them. Wikipedia says this about Rinkart:

Martin Rinkart was a Lutheran minister who came to Eilenburg, Saxony at the beginning of the Thirty Years' War. The walled city of Eilenburg became the refuge for political and military fugitives, but the result was overcrowding, and deadly pestilence and famine. Armies overran it three times. The Rinkart home was a refuge for the victims, even though he was often hard-pressed to provide for his own family. During the height of a severe plague in 1637, Rinkart was the only surviving pastor in Eilenburg, conducting as many as 50 funerals in a day. He performed more than 4000 funerals in that year, including that of his wife.

Pastor Rinkart wrote the hymn Now Thank We All Our God as a table prayer for his children. Such an astounding poetic affirmation of daring to living fully and thankfully in the midst of chaos, overwhelming grief, and hardships!

The three stanzas of the hymn remind us of the beginning of life, the middle journey, and passing on to eternity with God. Stanza two summarizes the prayers that all godly mothers have for their children.

On this Mother's Day I will once again look back at how God has blessed me throughout my life "from my mother's arms." We could probably sit on my patio in the gentle spring breezes, sip a nice coffee or tea, and share wonderful memories of our mothers. Or we could sing this hymn wherever we might be and add our voices to the stream of sturdy, frail, hopeful, questioning, faithful children of God who have sung these strains for hundreds of years.

Blessings to all who have a mother, and blessings to all mothers! May the Lord help us all to live in thankfulness each day for His countless gifts of love and His presence in our lives every day that we live.

Photos of my mother, one with me at age 12, and crown vetch along Route 35 in southern Ohio, the road I drove many times to visit my parents in their later years. Mom loved flowers, and she so enjoyed this ground cover. It always makes me think of her when I see it.

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MUSIC LINKS

A Choir sings NOW THANK WE ALL OUR GOD (John Rutter's setting with fanfare).

Bach used this chorale as the basis for many works including:

    Nun Danket Alle Gott - Cantata BWV 192, J.S. Bach

    Organ Choral Prelude, BWV 657

    From Cantata BWV 79