O for a world where everyone

O for a world where everyone. Miriam Therese Winter* (1938- ). The main verb of the opening sentence is postponed to line 2: ‘O for a world where everyone / respects each other’s ways’. The hymn is therefore sometimes named as ‘O for a world where every one respects’, which loses the strong rhythm of the Common Metre in the five stanzas. The hymn was written for the Presbyterian Women’s Triennial Conference in 1982, and revised by Winter for her Woman Prayer, Woman Song (1987). It is a strong plea for social justice, for a world ‘where goods are shared/ and misery relieved’ (stanza 2); and there is an echo of Winter’s version of the Magnificat*, beginning ‘My soul gives glory to my God’*,...