The Green Hills Of Earth, Thread for The Shuttle.

February 1, 2003 | Luis Gonzalez

[alrea]

Rex's Blues / Townes Van Zandt

Ride the blue wind high and free
She'll lead you down through misery
Leave you low come time to go
Alone and low as low can be


If I had a nickel I'd find a game
If I won a dollar I'd make it rain
If it rained an ocean I'd drink it dry
And lay me down dissatisfied


It's legs to walk and thoughts to fly
Eyes to laugh and lips to cry
A restless tongue to classify
All born to grow and grown to die


Tell my baby I said so long
Tell my mother I did no wrong
Tell my brother to watch his own
Tell my friends to mourn me none


Chained upon the face of time
Feeling full of foolish rhyme
There ain't no dark till something shines
I'm bound to leave this dark behind


Ride the blue wind high and free
She'll lead you down through misery
Leave you low come time to go
Alone and low as low can be

[ladyinred]

Your post at #20 is so moving Luis. Thank you for sharing this with us on this very sad day. As I watched the launch of the Challenger live and saw the horrific explosion it is something I will never forget. The disbelief that what I was seeing was really true, the horror of realizing it was, and the pain for the families watching on the beach lives in my memories.

Once again the disbelief, then the realization of the truth has returned as we lose another shuttle crew. May God be with those they left behind.

[JudyB1938]

Thank you and the others who have shared comforting words on this thread. We all cry together.

[RightWhale]

. I hope its aftermath won't damage U.S./Israeli relations

No, it won't. Not at all. Probably to the contrary, if it has any effect.

[El Gato]

We will have a partner country in mourning this time.

Two of them, one of the women, the payload specialist, was born and grew up in India, and was something of a heroine there. There's plenty of tears to share.

[El Gato]

It wasn't terrorism or sabotage NASA security is pretty damn tight. No this was an equipment failure.

I think it's way too early to say that so definitely. Even the tightest security can be circumvented, especially by insiders. It's hard to imagine that the piece of insulation that fell off the external tank and hit the shuttle wing on liftoff could have caused damage that was not visible to the crew, nor on instrumentation, and yet could lead to loss of control on re-entry.

You have to admit though that a shuttle with an Indian (now naturalised US citizen?) and an Israeli Air Force Colonel onboard would make a tempting target for the more wacked out members of the "Religion of Peace". The possibility at least bears serious consideration.

[JenB]

Thank you; this is the only thing that I thought of when I heard the news. This poem... it's the only words to say what I feel. This must not be the end...

[f.Christian]

1 Corinthians 13


The Greatest Gift


The Greatest Spiritual Gift
1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned,[1] but have not love, it profits me nothing.
4Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
11When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
13And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

[BARLF]

Thank you Luis,

BTTT

[The Wizard]

As the planes go speeding by,
Interrupting all the clouds,
I sit below and watch the formations tumble.

The sky's so blue and pretty,
way above us all.
I smile and hope the world won't fall and crumble....

But "The Beauty Of The Sky" keeps hanging overhead
And it will be there hanging, no matter what is said*

May they be at peace today, and may their people know they are with Thee

*excerpt from "The Beauty Of The Sky" copyright 1966 GWM ASCAP

[knighthawk]

Sad ping

[humblegunner]

See my profile page.
A sad day indeed.

[lainde]

Thank you Luis and Freepers for the beautiful literature...It is very comforting.

[kassie]

My heart cries for the loss of these great people. God have mercy on their souls and comfort their loved ones.

[kassie]

Your poem is beautiful also.

[CounterCounterCulture]

''It kind of sounded like something hit the top of our house, almost,'' said Courtenay Hanson, 34, who was eating breakfast with her husband and children in their home north of Dallas. ``We were sitting at the kitchen table, and the house rumbled. The windows rumbled.''

They walked outside a few minutes later.

''We could see two white streaks,'' she said. ``We watched them go from over our house out into the horizon.''

Courtenay's 4-year-old daughter, Caitlin, watched the streaks and asked what had happened.

''We just said that there was an accident with a space shuttle,'' Hanson said. 'She just asked if people got hurt. We said, `Yeah, they did.' She asked if they went to Heaven. We said 'Yeah, they did.' ''

Excerpted source

[El Gato]

Take an unrelated national tragedy

The "unrelated" part is as much speculation at this point as "related". We just don't know yet. The fact that a woman originally from India and a man from Israel, one who participated in the bombing of the Iraqi Osirk(sic) reactor no less, were on board, certainly gives one pause. I hope "unrelated" does indeed turn out to be the case, but it's certainly too soon to say.

[Theophilus]

Thanks - but not mine :-)

The United States Navy

Eternal Father — The "Navy Hymn"

Download Eternal Father by the U.S. Navy Band's Sea Chanters
A .WAV File (668 kbytes)	An .MP3 File (987 kbytes)

(Information from The Presbyterian Hymnal Companion
by LindaJo H. McKim, Westminster/John Knox Press, Louisville, Ky. 1993)

The "Navy Hymn" is Eternal Father, Strong to Save. The original words were written as a poem in 1860 by William Whiting of Winchester, England, for a student who was about to sail for the United States. The melody, published in 1861, was composed by fellow Englishman, Rev. John Bacchus Dykes, an Episcopalian clergyman.

The hymn, found in most hymnals, is known as the "Navy hymn" because it is sung at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It is also sung on ships of the Royal Navy (U.K.) and has been translated into French.

Eternal Father was the favorite hymn of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and was sung at his funeral in Hyde Park, New York, in April 1945. It was also played by the Navy Band in 1963 as President John F. Kennedy's body was carried up the steps of the U.S. Capitol to lie in state. Roosevelt had served as Secretary of the Navy and Kennedy was a PT boat commander in World War II.

The original words are:

Verse 1: Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bidd'st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

Verse 2: O Christ! Whose voice the waters heard
And hushed their raging at Thy word,
Who walked'st on the foaming deep,
And calm amidst its rage didst sleep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

Verse 3: Most Holy Spirit! Who didst brood
Upon the chaos dark and rude,
And bid its angry tumult cease,
And give, for wild confusion, peace;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

Verse 4: O Trinity of love and power!
Our brethren shield in danger's hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect them wheresoe'er they go;
Thus evermore shall rise to Thee
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.

There are have been alternate verses. These and their authors are:

Lord, guard and guide the men who fly
Through the great spaces in the sky.
Be with them always in the air,
In darkening storms or sunlight fair;
Oh, hear us when we lift our prayer,
For those in peril in the air!
Mary C. D. Hamilton (1915)

Eternal Father, grant, we pray,
To all Marines, both night and day,
The courage, honor, strength, and skill
Their land to serve, thy law fulfill;
Be thou the shield forevermore
From every peril to the Corps.
J. E. Seim (1966)

Lord, stand beside the men who build,
And give them courage, strength, and skill.
O grant them peace of heart and mind,
And comfort loved ones left behind.
Lord, hear our prayers for all Seabees,
Where'er they be on land or sea.
R. J. Dietrich (1960)

Lord God, our power evermore,
Whose arm doth reach the ocean floor,
Dive with our men beneath the sea;
Traverse the depths protectively.
O hear us when we pray, and keep
Them safe from peril in the deep.
David B. Miller (1965)

O God, protect the women who,
In service, faith in thee renew;
O guide devoted hands of skill
And bless their work within thy will;
Inspire their lives that they may be
Examples fair on land and sea.
Lines 1-4, Merle E. Strickland (1972) and
adapted by James D. Shannon (1973)
Lines 5-6, Beatrice M. Truitt (1948)

Creator, Father, who dost show
Thy splendor in the ice and snow,
Bless those who toil in summer light
And through the cold antarctic night,
As they thy frozen wonders learn;
Bless those who wait for their return.
L. E. Vogel (1965)

Eternal Father, Lord of hosts,
Watch o'er the men who guard our coasts.
Protect them from the raging seas
And give them light and life and peace.
Grant them from thy great throne above
The shield and shelter of thy love.
Author unknown

Eternal Father, King of birth,
Who didst create the heaven and earth,
And bid the planets and the sun
Their own appointed orbits run;
O hear us when we seek thy grace
From those who soar through outer space.
J. E. Volonte (1961)

Creator, Father, who first breathed
In us the life that we received,
By power of thy breath restore
The ill, and men with wounds of war.
Bless those who give their healing care,
That life and laughter all may share
. Galen H. Meyer (1969)
Adapted by James D. Shannon (1970)

God, Who dost still the restless foam,
Protect the ones we love at home.
Provide that they should always be
By thine own grace both safe and free.
O Father, hear us when we pray
For those we love so far away.
Hugh Taylor (date Unk)

Lord, guard and guide the men who fly
And those who on the ocean ply;
Be with our troops upon the land,
And all who for their country stand:
Be with these guardians day and night
And may their trust be in thy might.
Author Unknown (1955)

O Father, King of earth and sea,
We dedicate this ship to thee.
In faith we send her on her way;
In faith to thee we humbly pray:
O hear from heaven our sailor's cry
And watch and guard her from on high!
Author/date Unknown

And when at length her course is run,
Her work for home and country done,
Of all the souls that in her sailed
Let not one life in thee have failed;
But hear from heaven our sailor's cry,
And grant eternal life on high!
Author/date Unknown

William Whiting (1825-1878) was born in Kensington, England, and educated at Chapham and Winchester. Because of his musical ability, he became master of Winchester College Choristers' School. While best known for Eternal Father, Whiting also published two poetry collections: Rural Thoughts (1851) and Edgar Thorpe, or the Warfare of Life (1867). He died at Winchester.

John Bacchus Dykes (1823-1876) was born in Hull, England, and by age 10 was the assistant organist at St. John's Church, Hull, where his grandfather was vicar. He studied at Wakefield and St. Catherine's College, earning a B.A. in Classics in 1847. He cofounded the Cambridge University Musical Society. He was ordained as curate of Malton in 1847. For a short time, he was canon of Durham Cathedral, then precentor (1849-1862). In 1862 he became vicar of St. Oswald's, Durham. He published sermons and articles on religion but is best known for over 300 hymn tunes he composed. He died in Sussex at age 53.

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[reformed_dem]

What a wonderful thread. I still remember the feeling I had 17 years ago. Today was supposed to be a happy and beautiful day - my son made his Confirmation. On our way out the door, my husband came running in and told me what happened, we turned on the TV and couldn't believe our eyes. I pray for them and their families.

[B-Chan]