Ukraine–5,000 Miles Away? For Me–Just One Smile Away!
Ukraine — 5,000 miles away? For Me — Just 1 Smile Away!
When Russia invaded Ukraine I didn’t smile for several days. Oh, my face smiled but my heart didn’t. I think the reason I was so disturbed beyond the senseless brutal slaughter of women, men, children, and pets — and it’s still going on — is because of a conversation some time back with a Ukraine family in a U.S. Post Office. We were updating our passports as was the Ukrainian family we met. Their English was perfect. It was not their voice inflection (if there was any) but the warmth of the entire engagement that prompted me to ask if they were traveling or were they from another country. I learned their home was Ukraine but their domestic (and business) situation required equal stints in America and Ukraine. Their children would be teens now. I’ve wondered about them and those of the 43 million who are still alive and going through hell on earth.
When My Smile Came Back
My smile came back three nights ago when I was happily jolted by reading the following in a book whose author, Kenneth W. Osbeck, gives backstories to our best-known hymns: In 1933 the Reverend S. K. Hine and his wife, British missionaries, were ministering to the people of Ukraine. It was there they learned the Russian translation of “O Store Gud” from a congregation of Ukrainians. They remember singing it as a duet and the telling effect it had on [the people]… Writing original English lyrics to this song did not occur to them [until] their crossing into Sub-Carpathian Russia (or Ukraine), where the mountain scenery was to play its part… [with] the awesome sight of “all the worlds Thy hands hath made.” Yes, the hymn the Hines gave to the English-speaking world is How Great Thou Art! — top favorite of mine and Mimi’s. It was given to the Hines by the Ukrainians. Then, inspired by their woodlands, forest glades, brooks, and lofty mountains the Hines completed the link. When I learned — of all places — Ukraine had given to me, to us, this great song, a big smile came from my heart and went all the way across my face from one of my ears to the other.
More Backstory with the Song’s Tell-tale Setting
The setting common to all aficionados of How Great Thou Art — having to do with either the origin of it or appreciation of it — is unmistakably exposure to God’s stunning creation. That was true for the Hines and it was true for the Swedish pastor Carl Boberg who started it all. In 1886 he was suddenly caught in a midday thunderstorm while visiting a beautiful country estate on the southeast coast of Sweden. Boberg was awestruck by the moments of flashing violence followed by a clear brilliant sun and the sweet songs of birds in the trees. It prompted the pastor to fall to his knees in humble adoration of his mighty God. He penned his exaltation… beginning with the Swedish words “O Store Gud, nar jag den varld beskader.” Several years later he was surprised to hear his poem sung to the tune of an old Swedish melody. Soon after, Boberg’s text was translated into German by Manfred von Glehn and entitled Wie Gross Bist Du. In 1927 I.S. Prokhanoff discovered the German version and translated it into the Russian language. It was six years later in 1933 when the Hines heard it sung by the Ukrainians — still with the endearing old Swedish melody. And the rest — as go the well-worn but true words — is history. And that history touched me indelibly.
From Ukraine to Algonquin Provincial Park via Pete Mackechnie (Et al)
It was our first night out. The truck from Pioneer Boys Camp in Ontario had dropped off six of us along with three canoes at a country store next to a stream in Algonquin Provincial Park — 4,744 square miles of maple hills, rocky ridges, forests, lakes, and rivers, all of which can only be explored by paddle or on foot. Chosen by the camp directors, Pete was second in command of this annual Wilderness Adventure. Four other high school kids had been picked and I — a college student — had been chosen to lead. We were equipped with paddles, food supplies, camping gear, and a map of the trail we were to traverse by paddle and portage meeting the truck back at the store one week later. We eagerly hit the trail paddling and toting until at dusk we came upon Big Trout Lake — a breath-taking scene of water, sky, wildlife, and woodlands. With our fire still glowing from supper, and the radiance of the setting sun reflecting on the tall cedars that graced the small island where we were camped, Pete, who had sneaked aboard a small guitar, asked if he could teach us a new song he had just learned. He said it was called How Great Thou Art. So, on an isle in Big Trout Lake I first heard and sang O Lord my God when I in awesome wonder… I was hooked forever!
Awesome Wonder
Strangely enough, in her Atlas of the Heart Brene‘ Brown reminds us that awe inspires us to acknowledge and let shine, while wonder fuels our passion for learning and our curiosity for adventure. Mimi and I will be experiencing both when How Great Thou Art is being sung at our funerals. Why did I smile when I learned the song came to us from our Ukrainian brothers and sisters in Christ? Simply because I could do no other!
