I wrote this hymn in July 1997, at the YMCA of the Ozarks, near Potosi, Missouri, during a family reunion to celebrate my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. I had felt an urge to record the theme of God’s eternal kingdom, but the words weren’t forthcoming. One morning I woke at 5:30 and couldn’t get back to sleep (the only day that I week I rose so early). In the
morning silence, I prayed that if God wanted this hymn written, He would give me the words. Following
that prayer, the lyrics gushed out, and the hymn was finished in minutes. Afterward, I walked along the shore of Sunnen Lake, marveling at the beauty around me: a quiet mist shrouding the water, the bright orange sun climbing over green hills, Canada geese flying low across the lake. I mused about how long nature had been like this, compared to man’s short stay on earth. God’s perspective and time span are so much
larger than ours, it is awesome to contemplate.
