I’m not sure if it is the melody, or the comfort that God is the creator of everything in this world, or both, but I have always been drawn to the hymn “This Is My Father’s World.”
The hymn was written by a minister from New York named Maltbie D. Babcock, but the hymn was not published until after Babcock’s death. A friend of Babcock’s set the words to music, and listed his name only as “S.F.L.” Though much of it is speculation, many sources believed that “S.F.L.” (Franklin L. Sheppard) had arranged the hymn to a tune that was similar to an English melody his mother had taught him.
Almost ten years ago, I came to the realization that playing the first chord in a minor key (the relative minor to whichever key you normally play this song in), makes the entire song take on a rich, minor feel. It reminds me that though the truth of God’s creation is real, the presence of sin, struggle, injustice, and the “not yet” of God’s kingdom is also real. Or, as the hymn puts it, “That though the wrong seems often so strong, God is the ruler yet.”
I hope you enjoy our funky, minor arrangement.