God is Love

I had such a beautiful experience this afternoon. My roommate and I attended ward choir practice for the first time today, and since things are just getting started we decided to do a hymn sing-in. Each of us chose a hymn to sing, and I noticed the hymn "God is Love" (#87) and requested it. And so we sang:

Earth, with her ten thousand flow'rs,

Air, with all its beams and show'rs,

Heav'ns infinite expanse,

Sea's resplendent countenance-

All around and all above

Bear this record: God is love.

Sounds among the vales and hills,

In the woods and by the rills,

Of the breeze and of the bird,

By the gentle murmur stirred-

Sacred songs, beneath, above,

Have one chorus: God is love.

All the hopes that sweetly start

From the fountain of the heart,

All the bliss that ever comes

To our earthly human homes,

All the voices from above

Sweetly whisper: God is love.

By the time we got to the third verse, I was so touched by the beauty of what we were singing that I got chills. And a bit teary-eyed. This song today was a reminder of the God I believe in, one who loves me, who loves all of creation, and who is ever present in our lives if we allow him to be. While sitting in that room with those people I had barely met, I felt such love and such powerful energy that by the end all I could do was reverently, "sweetly whisper: God is love."