Antiphon (I)
Let all the world in every corner sing,
"My God and King!"
The heav'ns are not too high,
His praise may thither fly;
the earth is not too low,
His praises there may grow.
Let all the world in every corner sing,
"My God and King!"
Let all the world in every corner sing,
"My God and King!"
The church with psalms must shout:
no door can keep them out.
But, more than all, the heart
must bear the longest part.
Let all the world in every corner sing,
"My God and King!"
This one needs a little background.
The central panel is an impression of the porch and church door of the church where George Herbert was Rector, St Andrews, Bemerton.
The porch was a later addition but the door goes back to Herbert's time, and a bit more.
The central panel is an attempt to interpret the second stanza of the above Herbert poem Antiphon (I):
The church with psalms must shout,
No doore can keep them out:
But above all, the heart
Must bear the longest part.
Let all the world in ev'ry corner sing,
My God and King.
The remainder of the tapestry is all about corners and colours, representing the multi-dimensional praise of the church reaching every corner of the world. The encircling ring touches earth and heaven; the heart both encircles the church and reaches beyond the church walls. It too touches earth and heaven.
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