Today our beautiful words are from the hymn How Great Thou Art. If you missed my post, Get Joy by Kicking But, you can catch up here.
When searching for beautiful words, I often start off looking at poetry, and many times end up with a hymn. But, as with this example, many hymns start off as poems.
Swedish author Carl Moberg wrote How Great Thou Art, after he experienced a sudden summer thunderstorm in 1886. Later, the poem was set to a Swedish folk tune.
After Rev. Stuart Hine heard the song in Russia in the early 1920s, he translated it to English and created his own arrangement of the Swedish melody.
The hymn was relatively unnoticed until the mid 1950s when George Beverly Shea received a copy of the song from a friend. Billy Graham had asked Shea if he would perform in his new crusades. Shea selected How Great Thou Art for the first night. It became the official song of every Graham Crusade since.
George Beverly Shea passed away in 2013 at 104. He received many awards, honorary doctorates, and a Lifetime Achievement Award Grammy Award in 2011.
How Great Thou Art is one of the most popular hymns of all time, second only to Amazing Grace. Many contemporary artists have covered it, Elvis Presley being my favorite, although Carrie Underwood and Alan Jackson’s are popular. But no one comes close to Mr. Shea. His beautiful baritone voice sounds like rolling thunder and never lost power over the years!
Read more of the story, memories, and see a crusade clip from Billy Graham here. I’m also including a video from 1957.
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