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Simple Series #01 Your Glory Falls || $.99 iTunes
“Nature gave the word glory a meaning for me. I still do not know where else I could have found one.”
So said C. S. Lewis, as if he was from the Rocky Mountains.
Thousands of years before, the ancient poet looked up and wrote what we know as the nineteenth song in the book of psalms. He had no trouble gasping at the beauty of the changing sky in one phrase, then in the next contemplating that there is something eternal and pure and beyond those skies–and realizing that his own heart and life needed to reflect it.
Not to be outdone, I wrote this song a fishing season or so back, while waiting to be picked up for a day on the river in Eleven Mile Canyon. It is a true Colorado boy’s song to the Creator. It was inspired by Psalm 19, so I thought I’d include part of that text below so you can see how I used it as a way to enter into my own song of worship.
In the next post/podcast, we’ll talk more about the ancient psalmists’ sun, wind and clouds, and their harmony with my Colorado’s quaking aspen trees and rainbow trout.
Meantime, if this song gets to you, make it a prelude to an hour on the porch with a nice beverage and a copy of “The Weight of Glory” by C. S. Lewis. If the nearest porch looks to a place where created things have been suppressed, a potted plant will do. But don’t just look at creation. Listen to her song, for as Lewis observed, “we are summoned to pass in through Nature, beyond her, into that splendour which she fitfully reflects.”
from Psalm 19:
The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,
which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
Who can discern his errors?
Forgive my hidden faults.
Keep your servant also from willful sins;
may they not rule over me.
Then will I be blameless,
innocent of great transgression.
and from Psalm 135:
The LORD does whatever pleases him,
in the heavens and on the earth,
in the seas and all their depths.
He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth;
he sends lightning with the rain
and brings out the wind from his storehouses.
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“Your Glory Falls” by Timothy Floyd Thornton copyright Bricklayer Music Publishing (ASCAP) 2009, registered with CCLI.
Tags: audio, colorado, creation, cs lewis, glory, psalm 19, song, weight of glory, worship
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Thank you for the gift you both are. To give away something as deeply personal as a song, both written and performed, is an amazing gift. I’ve loved this song since the first time I heard it performed (at a great little venue…) and now to have it to play whenever I want is really a gift. You are such an invitation to explore all the Kingdom holds whether it be by music, word or good conversations over coffee or with a Peterson in hand. Thank you for the gift you both are.
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Tim & Laurie,
I already posted this over on FB, but I thought I’d share my thoughts here as well.
I love the way nature declares the glory of God. I’m always amazed at watching the wind blow through fields of grass, and how the sun sets and leaves a million different colors in the sky. I really believe that there are more than just 4 types of clouds, there has to be at least hundred, if not thousands or millions, of kinds of clouds. I mean, if everyday is new, then wouldn’t everything created that day be completely new and different from all the days before? I think God is that cool and creative.
Also, last weekend I visited a friend of mine in Wyoming, and we went to Fort Collins, CO one day to go hiking. And when we got to the top of the mountain we were climbing, I stopped and put a finger to my lips to quiet my friend, and said “here that … there’s nothing … it’s silent”, and it was such a beautiful noise to not hear anything and just be there surrounded by God’s creation. I love times like that.
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Thanks, Kyle. I missed it on Facebook.
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Thanks for the comments, Mike! Good on ya for remembering that song since it was played for the first time in…what was that venue called? The Living Room?
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tim! amazing vox! so great – pushin’ new things and i DIG!!!!
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Awesome! Love the vocals, Tim. Really nice, stripped back arrangements. We are big fans.
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Tim and Laurie Thornton are creatives and ministers who proclaim the kingdom of God through music, writing, speaking, and relationships. Show up and say hello in person at one of their appearances below. 
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