What ‘The Secret Garden’ Lost in the Translation

We’ve just seen the delightful movie “The Secret Garden.” But the scene of the children around the fire, chanting some gobbledygook to bring Colin’s father home, bothered me. So I referred to the book and found no such scene. What I did find was the scene of the children in the garden singing a doxology--you know, a hymn of praise to God:

“Praise God from whom all blessings flow, praise Him all creatures here below, praise Him above ye Heavenly Host, praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.”

Remember, in the book, how excited Colin was to hear it, his interest in where Dickon learned it (in church) and how it tied in?

Are we going to allow the rewriting of children’s classics to meet the godless standard now being set for us in this “politically correct” society? We are truly in danger when the integrity of children’s classics is destroyed.

JUDITH A. SHARPE

Cerritos