"This is My Father's World" is a Christian hymn written by Maltbie Davenport Babcock, a minister from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, and published posthumously in 1901.

History

When Rev. Babcock lived in

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, he took frequent walks along the

Niagara Escarpment The Niagara Escarpment is a long escarpment, or cuesta, in Canada and the United States that runs predominantly east–west from New York through Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin, and into Illinois. The escarpment is most famous as the cliff ove ...

to enjoy the overlook's panoramic vista of upstate New York scenery and

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, telling his wife Katherine he was "going out to see the Father's world". He died in 1901 at age 42. Shortly after his death Katherine published a compilation of Babcock's writings entitled ''Thoughts for Every-Day Living'' that contained the poem "My Father's World". The original poem contained sixteen stanzas of four lines each. The poem was set to music in 1915 by Franklin L. Sheppard, a close friend of Babcock. The tune name, TERRA BEATA, means “blessed earth” in Latin. Sheppard adapted the music from a traditional English melody that he learned from his mother as a child.McKim, L. H., 2004. ''The Presbyterian Hymnal Companion''. Westminster John Knox Press, .

Lyrics

When sung as a hymn Babcock's poem usually is condensed to three to six verses, with each verse corresponding to two stanzas in the poem. An example (from the ''United Methodist Hymnal'') uses stanzas 2-5, 14, and 16: The poem refers to several scriptures, including Jacob's exclamation "the Lord is in this place" from and the rockfall, earthquake, and still small voice of , and the final stanza concludes by paraphrasing . Some hymnals follow the 1915 setting in concluding with the 15th stanza instead: "This is my Father's world. The battle is not done. Jesus who died shall be satisfied, and earth and heav'n be one." Another, lesser-known variation of the singable hymn (as sung by the London Philharmonic Concert Society in 1988, for example) is “This is my Father’s House”, in which the lyrics and melody remain unchanged except to sing the titular line “This is my Father’s house” in place of “This is my Father’s world”.

In popular culture

An instrumental version is used in the

Ken Burns Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle American history and culture. His work is often produced in association with WETA-TV and/or th ...

documentary film, '' The National Parks'', and the corresponding sponsorship slot for The Park Foundation. One notable recording of the song was by

Amy Grant Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She began in contemporary Christian music (CCM) before crossing over to pop music in the 1980s and 1990s. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christia ...

. Her version is the opening track on her 2002 studio album '' Legacy... Hymns and Faith'' and also appears on her 2015 compilation album '' Be Still and Know... Hymns & Faith''. A child sings this hymn in the Criminal Minds season 1, episode 11 "Blood Hungry" in 2005. The theme song from

Penn Jillette Penn Fraser Jillette (born March 5, 1955) is an American magician, actor, musician, inventor, television presenter, and author, best known for his work with fellow magician Teller as half of the team Penn & Teller. The duo has been featured i ...

's podcast

Penn's Sunday School Penn Fraser Jillette (born March 5, 1955) is an American magician, actor, musician, inventor, television presenter, and author, best known for his work with fellow magician Teller as half of the team Penn & Teller. The duo has been featured i ...

is based on the hymn. While Penn is an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, he states that this was his favorite hymn growing up. The Orange County

Supertones The Orange County Supertones (a.k.a. The O.C. Supertones, or simply The Supertones) were a Christian ska band from Orange County, California. The band was signed to Tooth & Nail Records and its imprint, BEC Recordings, before becoming an indepen ...

include the final verse in a song also titled, "This Is My Father's World" on their album Loud and Clear.

Howard Shore Howard Leslie Shore (born October 18, 1946) is a Canadian composer and conductor noted for his film scores. He has composed the scores for over 80 films, most notably the scores for ''The Lord of the Rings'' and '' The Hobbit'' film trilogies. ...

quoted the first seven notes of the hymn verbatim in his Shire theme from his Music of ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy. The tune appears as a recurring theme in the soundtrack of the 2004 film ''

A Bear Named Winnie ''A Bear Named Winnie'' is a 2004 made-for-television drama film directed by John Kent Harrison. It stars Michael Fassbender and David Suchet. It concerns one of the real-life inspirations behind A. A. Milne's ''Winnie-the-Pooh''. Plot At the outb ...

''.

References

{{Authority control American Christian hymns 1901 songs Music of New York (state) Public domain music