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“We are One, Big Family”
The Finnish Temple Cultural Celebration, Part 5
Text by Maurine Jensen Proctor
Photography by Scot Facer Proctor
Editors’ note: Most of
the pictures throughout this article (all parts) are not captioned
with the names of the performers. Can you, the readers, help us
caption each picture by identifying each person with a correct spelling
of their names and where they are from (branch, ward, and/or district
or stake)?
Please be sure and tell us
the exact person you are talking about by saying where they are
in the picture (example: third person from the left with the red
flower in her hair) and the exact picture to which you are referring—each
picture is numbered. Send all caption helps to sproctor3@cox.net
and we will update the articles every few days as we receive the
needed information. When you see someone you know — contact
them and let them know they’re being featured on Meridian
Magazine!
The Finns
The Finnish segment of the celebration
began in Lapland, in the extreme north of the country and continued
touching on aspects of Finnish life as it moved south to Helsinki.
Please
click on any photo to enlarge.
It is winter in the forest, where the
trees are waving in the wind.
The reindeer are playing when the wolves
come to scare them.
The reindeer are saved when the Lapland
boys in blue come to drive the wolves away and take them to safety.
Youth on Lap drums play a plaintive
rhythm as a father sings before leaving his family on a journey.
In a scene representing Turku, the
action changes to a seaside village.
A man with an accordion plays a jolly
song and everywhere there is action — people selling fruit
from stands and flowers from carts. Two young women are playing
their fiddles. Children are everywhere to be seen.
In Tampere, couples are dancing to
a lively tango. Others come on stage and set up a large Yule tree
and singing and dancing are all around it.
At last, the action moves to Helsinki
and the finale of the entire program, where the backdrop changes
to the temple and the cast is dressed in white.
Now we have the answer to the question
that our soloist asked at the very beginning of the show. “Oh,
where can I find my heaven?” It is in the temple, in the arms
of the Savior, in the joy and safety of temple covenants.
The answer is certain. “My house
will stand as a beacon, rising high, rising true.” “I
will shine on you my Light, and heal your wounds with my Hand.”
The Final Song
The last song of the evening was one
familiar to anyone who has the least knowledge of classical music
— a beautiful melody that had the audience rising together
to sing in at least seven languages.
The music was the heartfelt Finlandia.
Latter-day Saints know it as the music to Be Still My Soul.
All those who do not know Finnish sang
the words to the familiar hymn: “Be still my soul:
The Lord is on thy side.”
But the Finnish sang the words that
are the hallmark of their national soul:
Finland, behold, thy daylight now
is dawning,
the threat of night has now been driven away.
The skylark calls across the light of morning,
the blue of heaven lets it have its way,
and now the day the powers of night is scorning:
thy daylight dawns, O Finland of ours!
Jean Sibelius first wrote this song
in 1889 as part of the Finnish resistance to the encroachment of
Russia, its power-hungry neighbor to the east. But this night, as
part of the Lord’s way, the singing in multiple languages,
was a song of unity.
Each nation retains its identity, its
dress and poignant history. They are more themselves, not less in
this cultural celebration. At the same time, however, the temple
transcends all boundaries, and we are brothers and sisters. We are
one big family.
Please
click here to return to the beginning of The Finnish Temple Cultural
Celebration.
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