We cannot own the sunlit sky, the moon, the wild-flowers growing, for we are part of all that is within life’s river flowing. With open hands receive and share the gifts of God’s creation, that all may have abundant life in every earthly nation.

Dr. Ruth C. Duck (1947–2024), theologian, minister, and educator, skillfully invites Christians to engage with matters of social justice through personal reflection and profound compassion. Her experience as a professor of worship at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary (1989–2016) and as an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ amplified her witness and gave her space to practice the unity and love she had preached. In the words of Robin Knowles Wallace, emerita professor of worship and music at Methodist Theological Seminary, Ruth C. Duck’s hymn texts “call for a world that looks more like God’s vision for the world, with flourishing nature. . . and flourishing human relationships based on justice, mercy and love” (Duck, 2025).

The world today bears witness to the influence of controlling forces through unjust governmental practices, war, and the unequal distribution of wealth. Power resides in a while excluding others, creating a world of inequality and injustice. The gospel of unity seems lost among the rampant voices of division.