The day before yesterday Benjamin and I
went to Mönsterås (between Oskarshamn and Kalmar) to get parts for our garden
one-room-house. Suddenly I saw the sign: Carl Boberg Gård (Farm) and ....
we drove 2-3
km outside Mönsterås
and there it was:
We did not go in (it is private property) but the song sang in me.
Carl Boberg and some friends were returning home to Mönsterås from Kronobäck, where they had participated in an afternoon service. Nature was at its peak that radiant afternoon. Presently a thundercloud appeared on the horizon, and soon sharp lightning flashed across the sky. Strong winds swept over the meadows and billowing fields of grain. The thunder pealed in loud claps. Then rain came in cool fresh showers. In a little while the storm was over, and a rainbow appeared.
When Boberg arrived home, he opened the window and saw the bay of Mönsterås like a mirror before him… From the woods on the other side of the bay, he heard the song of a thrush…the church bells were tolling in the quiet evening. It was this series of sights, sounds, and experiences that inspired the writing of the song.
PS
We did not go in (it is private property) but the song sang in me.
How Great Thou Art" is a Christian hymn based on a Swedish poem written by Carl Gustav Boberg
(1859–1940) in Sweden in 1885. The melody is a Swedish folk song. It was
translated into English by British missionary Stuart K. Hine, who also added
two original verses of his own composition. It was popularized by George
Beverly Shea and Cliff
Barrows during the Billy Graham crusades. It was voted the United Kingdom's favourite
hymn by BBC's Songs of Praise.
"How Great Thou Art" was ranked second (after "Amazing Grace") on a
list of the favorite hymns of all time in a survey by Today's Christian
magazine in 2001.
Boberg wrote the poem
"O Store Gud" (O Great God) in 1885 with nine verses. According to J.
Irving Erickson:
Carl Boberg and some friends were returning home to Mönsterås from Kronobäck, where they had participated in an afternoon service. Nature was at its peak that radiant afternoon. Presently a thundercloud appeared on the horizon, and soon sharp lightning flashed across the sky. Strong winds swept over the meadows and billowing fields of grain. The thunder pealed in loud claps. Then rain came in cool fresh showers. In a little while the storm was over, and a rainbow appeared.
When Boberg arrived home, he opened the window and saw the bay of Mönsterås like a mirror before him… From the woods on the other side of the bay, he heard the song of a thrush…the church bells were tolling in the quiet evening. It was this series of sights, sounds, and experiences that inspired the writing of the song.
I think the song "How Great Thou
Art ..." from Mönsterås is available in all languages of the world,
where there is a Christian church. I have been to
many small and large churches also "in the Middle
of no-where", where it
is sung with great devotion in their own heart language.
The question is not
The question is not
how many languages
it is translated to, but is it
singing in my heart ... also today. Ingvar
PS
Was it on this road the thunder and nature inspired Boberg?
