Spirit and Dust Exchange

Dear Magus and Alpinist,

This morning I dusted off an antiquated volume of Danish hymns, and came across the following canticle. I do not know the tune, but the text is intriguing. To what degree are dust and steam related, do you think?

--

1. How blest are that people who have an ear for the sounds
Which comes from above,
Who already here echo the eternal song,
Hallelujah;
So all God's angels are astonished to hear
How heavenly the earthly bells sound
When the Spirit with the tongues of the heart of dust
Sings out the depths of its longing.

2. How blest is the dust, which in the creator's hand
Came so close to God,
Enlivened by him with a royal spirit
To heroic deeds,
Gifted in grace, with hand and mouth
To gain and to gladness at all times
To become like his God, at the best
And speak with him as with a neighbour.

3. How blest is the heart in the human breast,
With fear and hope,
Which is moved with delight by the voice of heaven
And the call of the Spirit,
Which has no room in its lowly hut
For longs as deep as the sea is wide,
For hope which rises up higher
Than eagles or angels on wing.

4. How blest is the tongue in the human mouth,
With life and speech,
Which puts down its roots in the depths of the heart
To eternal solace
Which shines with the light in the word of life,
Which glows with the fire on the table of grace
And grants to the hearts that weep
God's peace and the gladness of heaven.

5. How blest are that people who have Jesus for king,
Mary's son,
As his brothers and sisters they all have things well,
Open and hidden,
God's peace in their heart, God's word in their mouth,
With the hope of glory at all times
For they, at the chosen of God the Father,
Share kinship with his only begotten.

6. How blest is each soul which in the Saviour's name
From the hand of grace,
Received healing for its hurt, and for all its loss
With life and Spirit,
With the Spirit of the Father and the life of the Son
With the strength of the martyrs in a trembling reed
With the power as the proof of glory
With the keys to paradise.