Joyful, joyful we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness, drive the dark of night away,
Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day.
All Thy works with joy surround Thee, earth and heaven reflect Thy rays,
Stars and angels sing around Thee, center of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain, flowery meadow, flashing sea,
Chanting bird and flowing fountain, call us to rejoice in Thee.
Thou art giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blest,
Well-spring of the joy of living, ocean-depth of happy rest.
Thou our Father, Christ our brother, all who live in love are Thine;
Teach us how to love each other, lift us to the joy divine.
Mortals join the happy chorus which the morning stars began;
Father love is reigning o'er us; brother love joins man to man.
Ever singing, march we onward; victors in the midst of strife;
Joyful music leads us Sun-ward in the triumph song of life.
Words by Rev. Henry van Dyke 1907
Music by Ludwig von Beethoven 1824
Cherry blossoms in Milford, Pa. taken on Sunday, April 1.
@kerristephens Thank you Kerri! @nyusha Thank you Anna! @anazad511 Thank you AnaZad! @pandorasecho Thank you Dixie- it's a great word to focus on. So much deeper than happiness, which is nice, but temporal. Joy is that abillity to look up when things seem to be at their worst, and still be able to smile, sing, and praise. These blossoms just seemed to be the embodiment of that emotion to me. And so did the hymn. @sarah19 Thank you Sarah! @httpgeffed Thank you Colleen! @mrssmith Thank you Carla! It was always one of my favorites as a little girl. We had a beautiful pipe organ in the church I grew up and when we sang this song it seemed to make the colors come through the stained glass windows even brighter! @sarasdadandmom lol Terry! I am sorry. I will take a week's worth of lousy photos just for you. @annaluceya Thank you Anna! @filsie65 Thank you Phil! I am glad my pictures bring you joy! @woot Thank you Davide!
Thank you so much everyone! I can't tell you how much your kind words and reactions to this shot have meant to me, but let's just say there's a big smile on my face right now!!
@digitalrn Thank you Rick! I had planned to upload this sooner and I don't know how I forgot it! But when I remembered this morning, I knew the hymn would be perfect with it.
@beachradish@inertie@sangwann@peterdegraaff
Thank you beachradish, Inertia, Dione and Peter! My apologies for the mass thank you! I really appreciate the time you took to look and comment!
April 7th, 2012
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@nyusha Thank you Anna!
@anazad511 Thank you AnaZad!
@pandorasecho Thank you Dixie- it's a great word to focus on. So much deeper than happiness, which is nice, but temporal. Joy is that abillity to look up when things seem to be at their worst, and still be able to smile, sing, and praise. These blossoms just seemed to be the embodiment of that emotion to me. And so did the hymn.
@sarah19 Thank you Sarah!
@httpgeffed Thank you Colleen!
@mrssmith Thank you Carla! It was always one of my favorites as a little girl. We had a beautiful pipe organ in the church I grew up and when we sang this song it seemed to make the colors come through the stained glass windows even brighter!
@sarasdadandmom lol Terry! I am sorry. I will take a week's worth of lousy photos just for you.
@annaluceya Thank you Anna!
@filsie65 Thank you Phil! I am glad my pictures bring you joy!
@woot Thank you Davide!
Thank you so much everyone! I can't tell you how much your kind words and reactions to this shot have meant to me, but let's just say there's a big smile on my face right now!!
My apologies for the mass thank you. I'm trying to spend a little less time on the computer tonight and not doing so well!!
Thank you beachradish, Inertia, Dione and Peter! My apologies for the mass thank you! I really appreciate the time you took to look and comment!