We Live On Terra

Words Copyright © 1996 Mark A. Mandel
To the tune of "God Lives On Terra" by Julia Ecklar

I was born in Washington on a chilly autumn morn
but my soul yearned to fly away from the world where I was born
and well before my sixteenth year I found myself a way,
which led to this community in which I sing today.

Now, there are worlds of fantasy that books and films can give,
where long ago a child decided he preferred to live,
and aye, those worlds are wonderful, but there one cannot stay
for God gave us one single world in which to live each day.

For we live on Terra, with its cities, skies, and seas:
no stranger suns, no alien minds, no psi or sorceries.
But when I make a new friend or hear a foreign tongue
I'm glad we live on Terra, a world forever young.

Yes, I've sampled Terra's wonders, and I thank God for them all,
and I thank God that my mind's not bound within one world so small,
and I thank Him for the gifts of story, song, and poetry,
that bring into this world so many worlds so dear to me.

For we live on Terra, mortal women and mortal men,
but we search the stars for hopes and dreams and bring them home again
to inspire and enlighten us and to make our paths more clear,
for God so loved Terra that He chose to put us here.
Yes, God so loves Terra He's starting us out from here.