How Great Thou Art

Rather unexpectedly, my father-in-law, with whom I have been living for the past year, passed away Saturday night. Time has been sort of weird since then. We thought we had a little more time with him, but don’t we always think that? Or hope that?

He was in his early 70s and had been through a lot, medically. He had a fuller life than I can encapsulate in this little post. He was a remarkable person. He worked hard and was so interested in people, especially members of his family. He appreciated a good joke, even when it was one at his expense. He taught my husband about kindness, ethics, duty, respect. And he was so generous, giving of himself.

For Music Monday, I’m going to share a song I gave been listening to a great deal: How Great Thou Art. When my grandma died in 2014, I played this song a lot because she loved it, and it’s brought me comfort these days. I like to imagine him walking around, cocooned in joy and love, love of the people who have gone before him and the love of God, looking around in wonder at the glorious afterlife, saying: “My God, how great thou art.”

And it’s the Carrie Underwood version, which he would appreciate.