A Thanksgiving Hymn by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette

Don't Fear, You Good Earth
A Thanksgiving Hymn by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette

“Do not fear, O soil; be glad and rejoice, for the LORD has done great things!… Do not fear, you animals of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness are green; the tree bears its fruit, the fig tree and vine give their full yield…”   Joel 2:21-23, Lectionary Reading for Thanksgiving 2018

Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate the goodness of what God has done and to remember our responsibility to care for God’s gifts.  As we have been blessed, so we are called to bless the earth and to care for it. 

“‘Do not fear’ is the most common command in Scripture. Distinctive of Joel [Thanksgiving Day lectionary reading, Year C] is the divine address to soil (v. 21) and wild animals (v. 22; cf. 1:10). Not only are God’s people restored (v. 23) but also nature’s potency, indicated in the renewal of the land. Joel’s prophetic message, one that conveys both judgment and restoration, bears a distinctly ecological thrust.” [1]

This hymn gives thanks for God’s care for creation (verses 1 - 3), acknowledges our sin that damages and destroys it, and is a prayer that we may be good stewards of what God has made.
    

Don’t Fear, You Good Earth    
FOUNDATION 11.11.11.11
("How Firm a Foundation")

Don’t fear, you good earth; now rejoice! Have you heard?
The Lord has created you by his own word.
Don’t fear, all you fields for God sends you the rain.
The farms overflow with the wine, oil and grain.

Don’t fear, all you creatures who live in the field;
The pastures are rich and they give their full yield.
You creatures, now sing— for the meadows are green;
Around us, good gifts of creation are seen!

O God, as the prophet proclaimed long ago,
You care for your earth and your gifts overflow.
Though sin leads to things that disrupt and destroy,
You work to redeem and to bring life and joy.

This season, we gather to thank you and say:
O God, you continue to bless us today!
May we who’ve been blessed by the gifts of your hand
Now care for the water, the air and the land.

Tune: Traditional American melody ("How Firm a Foundation") 
Text: Copyright © 2018 by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette. All rights reserved.
Email: bcgillette@comcast.net   
New Hymns: www.carolynshymns.com

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[1]Footnote on Joel 2:21-22, “The Book of Joel,” by William P. Brown in the Discipleship Study Bible, New Revised Standard Version with Apocrypha, edited by Bruce C. Birch, Brian K. Blount, Thomas G. Long, Gail R. O’Day and W. Sibley Towner, Louisville, KY:  Westminster  John Knox Press, 2008, p. 1247

Carolyn Winfrey Gillette is the author of over 400 hymns that have been sung by thousands of congregations around the world, and are found in 20 books and thousands of web sites, including www.carolynshymns.com with a special page of creation care hymns. Many of her hymns are published at Sojourners and are also found in Christian Century magazine, The New Yorker, National Public Radio and PBS-TV. She and her husband Bruce are Presbyterian ministers who have served congregations in Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey. They will start serving the First Presbyterian Union Church in Owego, NY starting on December 1^st. View the Sojourners video on Carolyn’s hymns here.
 

Permission is given for use of this hymn by congregations that support Presbyterians for Earth Care. If you do not have PEC in your church budget, please consider sending a donation for use of the hymn.  Thank you.