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Nu falmer skoven

11/29/2021

1. Nu falmer skoven trindt om land,
og fuglestemmen daler
alt flygted storken over strand
ham følger viltre svaler.

2. Hvor marken bølger nys som guld
med aks og vipper bolde,
der ser man nu kun sorten muld
og stubbene de golde.

3. Men i vor lade, på vor lo,
der har vi nu Guds gaver,
dervirksomhed og velstand gro
i tøndemål af traver.

4. Og han, som vokse lod på jord
e blonde aks og vipper,
han bliver hos os med sit ord,
det ord, som aldrig glipper.

5. Ham takker alle vi med sang
for alt, hvad han har givet,
for hvad han vokse lod i vang,
for ordet og for livet.

6. Da over os det hele år
sin fred han lyser gerne,
og efter vinter kommer vår
med sommer, korn og kerne.

7. Og når engang på Herrens bud
vort timeglas udrinder,
en evig sommer hos vor Gud
i Paradis vi finder.

8. Da høste vi, som fugle nu,
der ikke så og pløje;
da komme aldrig mer i hu
vi jordens strid og møje.

9. For høsten her og høsten hist
vor Gud ske lov og ære,
som ved vor Herre Jesus Krist
vor Fader ville være!

10. Hans Ånd, som alting kan og ved,
i disse korte dage
med tro og håb og kærlighed
til Himlen os ledsage!

N.F.S. Grundtvig, 1844

1. The leaves are falling everywhere
And now the feathered legions
That filled with song the summer air
Have left for milder regions.

2. Where waving fields of golden grain
Have filled the hearts with gladness
There only stubbles now remain,
As marks of death and sadness.

3. But we have stored the gifts of God
In barns and bins o’erflowing.
And winter brings no anxious thought
As chilly winds are blowing.

4. For He who feeds the roaming bird
And clothes the fading flower
Is ever near us. with His word,
The word of life and power.

5. To Him we all give thanks and praise
For everything He gave us,
For harvest joy and all good days,
for what He does to save us.

6. He sends His peace the year around:
Through winter days depressing,
Through spring and summer, harvest-crowned,
He sends the word of blessing.

7. And when our day on earth is done
We find beyond the river
A world where God is shield and sun
And summer dwells forever.

8. Then as the birds beneath the skies
That fear not for the morrow
We reap the fruits of Paradise
Forgetting toil and sorrow.

9. For harvest here and harvest there
To God we bring thanksgiving
Who would with us His heaven share
As Father of the Living.

S. D. Rodholm, A Harvest of Song: Translations and Original Lyrics, (Des Moines: Committee on Publications of the American Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1953), 82-83.

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November 2021 COver & Highlights

11/15/2021

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Highlights for November, 2021

In the cover photo, the family of Kim Rudningen gathers around the Eucharist (Thanksgiving) table in the sanctuary of Volmer Lutheran Church in Dagmar, MT, at the occasion of her son’s First Communion a few years ago on Easter morning. Christian unity as and through the Body of Christ is especially manifest in this congregation, Nathanael-Volmer Lutheran Church, as it is the union of two sister congregations.

As the seasons have turned, Grundtvig’s hymn “Nu falmer skoven” is appropriate to start this issue. May we give thanks for S. D. Rodholm having translated this “Harvest Hymn” and many other lyrics so the messages and sentiments of our Danish tradition can be passed to generations of English-speaking Americans. In an experiment, the Church and Life website has a link to a YouTube video so you can sing along with Danish song leader Phillip Faber.

The new president of the Danish Interest Conference (DIC), Andrés Albertsen, reviews the history and purpose of the DIC and gives an encouraging word for its future.
Our columnist from Denmark, Hanna Broadbridge, calls attention to two Danish companies that have not forfeited their founders’ commitment to Christian principles as they have risen to international stature.

Whatever one’s spiritual path, prayer is an essential element. The poetic petitions of Harold Slater give voice to our yearnings as individuals and in our collective humanity. Three of his gems are scattered through the issue

In the third and final installment of her article, Jone Salomonsen suggests that through connecting to the natural environment of a place, as did inhabitants of earlier centuries, even millennia before, people are connecting with the common roots of humanity.

Grundtvig’s “Human first, then Christian” and valuing proximity to nature were central elements of life that those who established the DIC did not want to lose as their church merged with other Lutheran synods. The DIC board of directors tries to carry this forward. Minutes of its annual meeting, provided by secretary Sonja Knudsen, may not be the most exciting reading, but the intention is to be informative and transparent. One order of business was the election of Virginia “Ginny” Blood to the board. She wrote the summary of the Danebod Folk Meeting that appeared in the previous issue, and in this issue, we learn of her background, which evidences both the rigor and fervor. that she brings to the board.

“The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest.”
—William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

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Nu falmer skoven

November 2021 COver & Highlights

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