tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87493534538859234462024-02-06T23:01:12.431-05:00Songs of PraisesSacred Music and MusingsThomas Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16651679675833246170noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8749353453885923446.post-35519095020064607512015-04-04T11:13:00.001-04:002015-04-04T11:44:57.911-04:00O Sacred Head, Now Wounded<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMIzcS9BiNyXvIG_8nZYr_K2MTMpJlvTkJ9zirfycZEeWT_W-6XrMoeLRvPUud-l4M6kYqiaZiLcZHIf1tAhA5cn1L_V-kVf10voht1beYUahDCioMraCiuIoE95UJAqiErT8rc8IB2MQ/s1600/The+Crowning+With+Thorns+(Jan%2BJanssens%2C%2Bca%2B1647).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMIzcS9BiNyXvIG_8nZYr_K2MTMpJlvTkJ9zirfycZEeWT_W-6XrMoeLRvPUud-l4M6kYqiaZiLcZHIf1tAhA5cn1L_V-kVf10voht1beYUahDCioMraCiuIoE95UJAqiErT8rc8IB2MQ/s1600/The+Crowning+With+Thorns+(Jan%2BJanssens%2C%2Bca%2B1647).jpg" height="400" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The Crowning With Thorns (Jan Janssens, ca 1647)</b></td></tr>
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span></span></i>
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: x-large;"><b>And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head, and began to salute him,</b></span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: x-large;"><b>Hail, King of the Jews!</b></span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: x-large;"><b>And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing their knees worshipped him.</b></span><span style="font-size: large;"> ~ </span><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+15%3A17-19&version=KJV" style="font-size: x-large;">Mark 15:17-19</a></span></i><br />
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Though we can hardly comprehend it, the physical agony entailed in Jesus' crucifixion is something of which we've all heard much discussion and seen many depictions. And we've probably often pondered the inconceivable weight of all human sin that Christ took upon Himself in the Garden of Gethsemane, so crushing that He sweat blood (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+22%3A44&version=KJV">Luke 22:44</a>).<br />
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But an overlooked dimension of Christ's Passion may be His <i>humiliation</i>. It is somehow especially heartbreaking that the most innocent and loving being ever to walk the earth, the glorious and praiseworthy Creator and Savior of the world, should--alone and helpless--be savagely mocked, ridiculed, and slapped around by the very people for whom He was laying down his life. That humiliation is symbolized by the purple robe and, especially, by the Crown of Thorns that was pressed into His head as the mockers pretended to hail Him King of the Jews. When we see these, we should remember that through OUR sins we were there, heaping scorn upon our Savior with the rest of them. And yet we know that our souls were saved through that very suffering our sins brought upon Him.<br />
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A hymn that conveys this message most movingly is <i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/o/s/a/osacredh.htm">O Sacred Head, Now Wounded</a></span></b></i>.<br />
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<b>THE TEXT</b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwVZqTOU_lJxVtE34HhG-v4Y7ZgYcBgoKMVQa4pmW-Ae0sc9mu5e0B5wU69O3427erLP3FbbFJLn6guOvMYSo-uEFANXWXVN-FrGir9wYqmUVU38wTzcc5VPJsrBQ5eNoXMayyxlfjFOE/s1600/Bernard_of_Clairvaux.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwVZqTOU_lJxVtE34HhG-v4Y7ZgYcBgoKMVQa4pmW-Ae0sc9mu5e0B5wU69O3427erLP3FbbFJLn6guOvMYSo-uEFANXWXVN-FrGir9wYqmUVU38wTzcc5VPJsrBQ5eNoXMayyxlfjFOE/s1600/Bernard_of_Clairvaux.jpg" height="200" width="160" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Bernard of Clairvaux</b></td></tr>
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This hymn is based on a long medieval Latin poem, <i>Salve mundi salutare</i>, with stanzas addressing the various parts of Christ's body hanging on the Cross. The last part of the poem, on which the hymn is based, focuses on Christ's head. Historically, the poem has been attributed to French <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cistercians">Cistercian</a> monk and scholar <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_of_Clairvaux">Bernard of Clairvaux</a> (1091-1153). Bernard was a man of exceptional piety and spiritual power, a confidant of Popes and a preacher to the King of France. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther">Martin Luther</a>, 400 years after Bernard's death, called him “the best monk that ever lived, whom I admire beyond all the rest put together.” Nevertheless, <i>Salve mundi salutare</i> is now widely credited to medieval poet <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnulf_of_Leuven">Arnulf of Leuven</a> (c.1200–1250), abbot of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villers_Abbey">Cistercian abbey</a> at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villers-la-Ville">Viller-la-Ville, Belgium</a>, about whom little else is known.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGNHLoVnP2Mo-Dx6GqajLlBNDx8G62bTfWVG7_eC7Q9fjaV6mBjbvLEd-l6AjFyD1a6Y26RwJ6M4uiukC4xF-EO-g0Z9WLqihGmhn-ALzoyQ4hkaPvTt770QTQLyedqsjrE7nsbhi_rj0/s1600/PaulGerhardt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGNHLoVnP2Mo-Dx6GqajLlBNDx8G62bTfWVG7_eC7Q9fjaV6mBjbvLEd-l6AjFyD1a6Y26RwJ6M4uiukC4xF-EO-g0Z9WLqihGmhn-ALzoyQ4hkaPvTt770QTQLyedqsjrE7nsbhi_rj0/s1600/PaulGerhardt.jpg" height="200" width="149" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Paul Gerhardt</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNWdx8Y5I9qFoWqJqdn_S8Z-Aa8jgM6KRcvdSqzOcx0S1ZOkcH2XMLQbpbabTvKPtVjF5H4PXUf1zyz2AwilQxTObN7IiXZBpCYvpjN6z0iXERMODGQUFEp4SDXI_CwY1YIDYKlZZQ0cg/s1600/alexanderjw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNWdx8Y5I9qFoWqJqdn_S8Z-Aa8jgM6KRcvdSqzOcx0S1ZOkcH2XMLQbpbabTvKPtVjF5H4PXUf1zyz2AwilQxTObN7IiXZBpCYvpjN6z0iXERMODGQUFEp4SDXI_CwY1YIDYKlZZQ0cg/s1600/alexanderjw.jpg" height="200" width="140" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>J.W. Alexander</b></td></tr>
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But how did the final part of <i>Salve mundi salutare</i> become a hymn text? That process began with its translation into German in 1656, by prolific <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutheranism">Lutheran</a> hymnist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Gerhardt">Paul Gerhardt</a> (1607-1676). The German hymn begins, "O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden" ("O Head full of blood and wounds"). The poem was first translated into English in 1752 by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gambold">John Gambold</a> (1711-1771), an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglicanism">Anglican</a> vicar in Oxfordshire, England. His translation begins, "O Head so full of bruises." In 1830 a new English translation of the hymn was made by an American <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presbyterianism">Presbyterian</a> minister, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Waddel_Alexander">James Waddel Alexander</a> (1804-1859). This translation, beginning "O sacred head, now wounded," became one of the most widely used in 19th and 20th century hymnals. Another English translation, based on the German, was made in 1861 by English hymnist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Henry_Williams_Baker,_3rd_Baronet">Sir Henry Williams Baker</a> (1821-1877). Published in <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hymns_Ancient_and_Modern">Hymns Ancient and Modern</a></i>, it begins, "O sacred head surrounded by crown of piercing thorn." In 1899 English poet <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bridges">Robert Bridges</a> (1844-1930) made a fresh translation from the original Latin, beginning "O sacred Head, sore wounded, defiled and put to scorn." This version is used in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_England">Church of England</a>'s <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_English_Hymnal">New English Hymnal</a></i> (1986) and several other late 20th-century hymn books.<br />
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Few modern hymnbooks contain all of the stanzas that have been associated with <i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">O Sacred Head</span></b></i> in one or another version, though stanzas 1, 4, and 8 below appear in the vast majority. The following are the stanzas set forth in J.W. Alexander's 1830 version:<br />
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">O sacred head, now wounded,</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">With grief and shame weighed down,</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Now scornfully surrounded</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">With thorns, Thine only crown;</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">O sacred head, what glory!</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">What bliss, till now was Thine!</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Yet, though despised and gory,</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">I joy to call Thee mine.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">O noblest brow, and dearest!</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">In other days the world</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">All feared, when Thou appeared’st,</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">What shame on Thee is hurled!</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">How art Thou pale with anguish,</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">With sore abuse and scorn;</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">How does that visage anguish,</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">When once was bright as morn.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">The blushes late residing</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Upon that holy cheek,</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">The roses once abiding</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Upon those lips so meek,</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Alas! they have departed;</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Wan Death has rifled all!</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">For weak and broken hearted,</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">I see Thy body fall.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered,</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Was all for sinners’ gain;</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Mine, mine was the transgression,</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">But Thine the deadly pain.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Lo, here I fall, my Savior!</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">’Tis I deserve Thy place;</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Look on me with Thy favor,</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Vouchsafe to me Thy grace.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Receive me, my Redeemer,</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">My Shepherd, make me Thine;</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Of every good the fountain,</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Thou art the spring of mine.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Thy lips with love distilling,</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">And milk of truth sincere,</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">With Heaven’s bliss are filling</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">The soul that trembles here.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Beside Thee, Lord, I’ve taken</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">My place—forbid me not!</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Hence will I ne’er be shaken,</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Though Thou to death be brought,</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">If pain’s last paleness hold Thee,</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">In agony oppressed,</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Then, then will I enfold Thee</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Within this arm and breast!</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">The joy can ne’er be spoken,</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Above all joys beside;</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">When in Thy body broken</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">I thus with safety hide.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">My Lord of life, desiring</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Thy glory now to see,</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Beside the cross expiring,</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">I’d breathe my soul to Thee.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">What language shall I borrow,</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">To thank Thee, dearest friend,</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">For this, Thy dying sorrow,</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Thy pity without end?</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Oh! make me Thine forever,</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">And should I fainting be,</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Lord, let me never, never</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Outlive my love to Thee.</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">And when I am departing,</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Oh! part not Thou from me;</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">When mortal pangs are darting,</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Come, Lord, and set me free;</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">And when my heart must languish</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Amidst the final throe,</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Release me from mine anguish,</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">By Thine own pain and woe!</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Be near me when I am dying,</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Oh! show Thy cross to me;</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">And for my succor flying,</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Come, Lord, and set me free!</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">These eyes new faith receiving,</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">From Jesus shall not move,</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">For he who dies believing,</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Dies safely through Thy love.</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<b>THE MUSIC</b><br />
<div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU1EEUBm76htZo6upwYfA138H4yhZRYnd0fCdFVvY2BAhYMD8ItztrbzuQlDmPvQVHhMpP_hkPQV1IVdLS5MMhlroi9oWLUTtoHzrx7WNEgra8rmtmSOnSXNL84-2xEs6tf8iFoLI3wkw/s1600/hans_leo_hassler.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU1EEUBm76htZo6upwYfA138H4yhZRYnd0fCdFVvY2BAhYMD8ItztrbzuQlDmPvQVHhMpP_hkPQV1IVdLS5MMhlroi9oWLUTtoHzrx7WNEgra8rmtmSOnSXNL84-2xEs6tf8iFoLI3wkw/s1600/hans_leo_hassler.jpg" height="200" width="183" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Hans Leo Hassler</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Uov_NFmrDOSgUa3pgMwanhMlnZFj8-RfFXe9bzGEMOt2DcmcP4K7sIX8Sdqbniyi7-jjk2IQ0lTO6p-lrd9fX25UZUpnPFk2RtsuMbjZiWQQLh7-WY-OlLO46kMS6FcHE62mt330YXY/s1600/cruger_j.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Uov_NFmrDOSgUa3pgMwanhMlnZFj8-RfFXe9bzGEMOt2DcmcP4K7sIX8Sdqbniyi7-jjk2IQ0lTO6p-lrd9fX25UZUpnPFk2RtsuMbjZiWQQLh7-WY-OlLO46kMS6FcHE62mt330YXY/s1600/cruger_j.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Johann Crüger</b></td></tr>
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The music universally accompanying both German and English versions of <i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">O Sacred Head</span></b></i> was composed around 1600 by German composer and organist <a href="http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Hassler.htm">Hans Leo Hassler</a> (1564-1612) for a secular love song, "Mein G'müt ist mir verwirret" ("My heart is distracted by a gentle maid"), and first appeared in print in 1601. The tune was adapted and simplified for Gerhardt's hymn in 1656 by German composer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Cr%C3%BCger">Johann Crüger</a> (1598-1662), who published it that year in his <i><a href="http://herandhymn.blogspot.com/2013/10/johann-crugers-praxis-pietatis-melica.html">Praxis Pietatis Melica</a></i>. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach">Johann Sebastian Bach</a> (1685-1750) later arranged the melody and used five stanzas of the hymn in his <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Matthew_Passion">St. Matthew Passion</a></i>, which was first performed on Good Friday (April 11) 1727. Bach used the melody with different words in his <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_Oratorio">Christmas Oratorio</a></i>, both in the first choral and the triumphant final chorus.<br />
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<b>LEGACY OF, AND REFLECTIONS ON, THE HYMN</b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxpikXyHhe1vpBii5LT-9uYmFcwbWEpC6Yv6Koq0RhmY-q0GLIEydd3YgUUA0EY7PsVxSTaeWeaYJo5ft1jknXu4329MeRq0c0T7xgpPfyFxCBCnPEHgKbvkdN99uSs3YlDkSusRtfdjw/s1600/Christ%E2%80%99s+Head+with+Crown+of+Thorns+(c.1520-25).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxpikXyHhe1vpBii5LT-9uYmFcwbWEpC6Yv6Koq0RhmY-q0GLIEydd3YgUUA0EY7PsVxSTaeWeaYJo5ft1jknXu4329MeRq0c0T7xgpPfyFxCBCnPEHgKbvkdN99uSs3YlDkSusRtfdjw/s1600/Christ%E2%80%99s+Head+with+Crown+of+Thorns+(c.1520-25).jpg" height="320" width="237" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Christ’s Head with Crown of Thorns<br />(Cranach the Elder, c.1520-25)</b></td></tr>
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<i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></b></i>
<i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">O Sacred Head</span></b></i> has enjoyed great popularity since 1656. The hymn appears in all modern hymnals, in many languages and translations, and with various numbers of stanzas. Owing to its origins with Bernard of Clairvaux (or Arnulf of Leuven), it is closely associated with the Cistercian order.<br />
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An intensely personal hymn, <i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">O Sacred Head</span></b></i> describes vividly the pain and shame that Jesus endured when He paid the terrible price for our sin on the Cross. The poet acknowledges our guilt for that suffering, prostrating himself in remorse yet celebrating the miraculous grace that washes us clean in Christ's blood. The later stanzas express our fervent desire always to be close and faithful to our Savior, in this life and the blessed one to come. Despite the stately pace and mournful key of the music, the message is ultimately one of boundless gratitude and joyful devotion.<br />
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<b>HEAR IT PERFORMED</b><br />
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There are many fine choral arrangements of <i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">O Sacred Head</span></b></i> available for enjoyment. Here is a lovely traditional one performed by the Altar of Praise Chorale:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/p5hjdz4xZF4?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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Another, very heartfelt solo performance is this one by American Christian singer-songwriter <a href="http://www.michaelcard.com/">Michael Card</a>, accompanied by moving images of our Lord's passion:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pP7KcW0VRyU?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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Here are four chorale settings in German of <i>O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden</i> from Bach's <i>St. Matthew Passion</i>, conducted by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_Herreweghe">Philippe Herreweghe</a>:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MY-aowxVXfI?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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<b>* * * * *</b></div>
Every day and in all we say and do, we should be deeply mindful of what our Savior endured to purchase our souls from death and earn for us eternal life, while we were yet sinners (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%20%20+5%3A8&version=KJV">Romans 5:8</a>). The Crown of Thorns, made to be an instrument of pain and humiliation, has been replaced with the<br />
Crown of Glory. Let this be a symbol, too, of our passage from degradation to glory with Christ and our Heavenly Father.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i>And when the chief Shepherd shall appear,</i></b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i>ye shall receive </i></b></span><b style="color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>a crown of glory</i></b></span></div>
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<b style="color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">that fadeth not away. ~ <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+5%3A4&version=KJV">1 Peter 5:4</a></span></i></b></div>
Thomas Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16651679675833246170noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8749353453885923446.post-40298259473945866142014-12-12T21:49:00.000-05:002014-12-21T13:57:08.080-05:00Good King Wenceslas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Christmas-time is generally regarded as the season of giving--and today in Western countries, sadly, the season of buying. But how many of our Christmas gifts involve real sacrifice on our part, beyond the mere purchase price? How often, at this (or any) time of year, do we venture outside our comfort zone and emulate Jesus' example of bestowing real help, person-to-person, upon someone of society's lowliest, poorest individuals? Do we set examples to our young people of real charity, or only of tokenistic materialism?<br />
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The repertoire of traditional Christmas hymns and carols includes at least one that exemplifies, in the most endearing way, what Christmas--and being Christian--is all about. You've almost certainly heard the carol <span style="color: red; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/g/o/o/goodking.htm"><i>Good King Wenceslas</i></a></span>, and maybe even sung it. But do you know the compelling story behind the carol? Have you carefully read and thought about the words' meaning and significance?<br />
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<b>BACKGROUND AND ORIGINS OF THE CAROL</b><br />
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<i><b><span style="color: #20124d;">Good King Wenceslas</span></b></i> tells the story of a king who, with his page, ventures out of the palace to bring alms to a poor peasant whom he has seen gathering firewood on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Stephen%27s_Day">Feast of Stephen</a> (the day after Christmas, December 26). During the journey, the page is about to give up the struggle against the cold and stormy weather, but is enabled to continue by the warmth miraculously emanating from the king's footprints in the snow.<br />
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This legend is in turn based on the life of the historical <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wenceslaus_I,_Duke_of_Bohemia">Saint Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia</a> (907–935 A.D.). He presided over Bohemia (which today forms part of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_Republic">Czech Republic</a>) from 921 until his assassination in 935, purportedly in a plot by his own brother, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boleslaus_I,_Duke_of_Bohemia">Boleslav the Cruel</a> (c. 915-972 A.D.). During his short reign, Wenceslas strove to alleviate the oppression of serfs, reform the judicial system, and spread Christianity throughout his country. Wenceslas' martyrdom (his brother was backed by pagan factions), and the popularity of several biographies of him that circulated widely within a few decades of his death, gave rise to a reputation on his part for heroic goodness, resulting in his being elevated to sainthood, posthumously declared king, and seen as the patron saint of the Czech state. Wenceslas came to personify the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Middle_Ages">High Middle Ages</a> concept of the rex justus, or "righteous king"—that is, a monarch whose power stems mainly from his great piety, as well as from his princely vigor.<br />
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But how did this legend become a famous Christmas carol?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLpbrLtecUJ3e9yqUMrL3Om1sKKnNX4iGwfq6TNXRudyvJsP-LAQcYtj-JP5RRTpWs6nZYiSgQRofsGhputQhIonxY3omxLnj1HSvii8ij_n2L-rKjZocYkj9MYtryywFMVILPqwgugB8/s1600/John_Mason_Neale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLpbrLtecUJ3e9yqUMrL3Om1sKKnNX4iGwfq6TNXRudyvJsP-LAQcYtj-JP5RRTpWs6nZYiSgQRofsGhputQhIonxY3omxLnj1HSvii8ij_n2L-rKjZocYkj9MYtryywFMVILPqwgugB8/s1600/John_Mason_Neale.jpg" height="320" width="226" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>John Mason Neale</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfvWpI2Znz8nRFsYvUenSZ9oHHVZerG1NODQPLQDXohbnyZdK-nkPhZPeyP8R7Bp-yLw_V2QPYZ3s7hh78Sl7Ql0qq1lCiVEDp5N2ckewLUT-zRg9Kxo6jw8eExs0khoyOwvr03HGwuvU/s1600/Thomas+Helmore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfvWpI2Znz8nRFsYvUenSZ9oHHVZerG1NODQPLQDXohbnyZdK-nkPhZPeyP8R7Bp-yLw_V2QPYZ3s7hh78Sl7Ql0qq1lCiVEDp5N2ckewLUT-zRg9Kxo6jw8eExs0khoyOwvr03HGwuvU/s1600/Thomas+Helmore.jpg" height="320" width="232" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Thomas Helmore</b></td></tr>
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In 1853 the British ambassador to Sweden, G. J. R. Gordon, returned to England with a copy of the 16th-century song book <i><a href="http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Piae_Cantiones">Piae Cantiones</a></i>, which he presented to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglicanism">Anglican</a> clergyman <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mason_Neale">John Mason Neale</a> (1818–1866), who was known for his interest in early music. Neale in turn passed the book on to Rev. <a href="http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Thomas_Helmore">Thomas Helmore</a> (1811-1890), whom he knew to an expert interpreter of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mensural_notation">mensural notation</a> in which the tunes were given. Helmore adapted the carol melodies, while Neale translated the words of the songs into English, or in a few cases wrote completely new texts for them. He and Helmore published 12 of these tunes in the same year as <i><a href="http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/Notes_On_Carols/carols_for_christmastide.htm">Carols for Christmastide</a></i>. This set included <i><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>Good King Wenceslas</b>, </span></i>consisting of Neale's original words set to the tune of the 13th century Finnish carol <i>Tempus adest floridum </i>("The time is near for flowering"), which had been included in the <i>Piae Cantiones</i>.<br />
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As <a href="https://jyx.jyu.fi/dspace/bitstream/handle/123456789/10066/mvainio.pdf">noted</a> by one researcher, Neale's new carol was not well received by literary critics of the day, one calling it "poor and commonplace to the last degree" and others "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doggerel">doggerel</a>." But the public wasn't influenced by the critics, and they made it "the hit of the century." The carol's popularity grew in Great Britain, and it was soon sung in the New World as well. Eventually, it became the signature carol for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Stephen%27s_Day">St. Stephen's Day</a> (or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing_Day">Boxing Day</a> as it is known in the British Commonwealth and some Scandinavian countries), December 26, when alms boxes often kept in churches were traditionally opened so that the contents could be distributed to poor people. One can see why from Neale's text:<br />
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<b><span style="color: #20124d;">Good King Wenceslas looked out on the Feast of Stephen,</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;">When the snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;">Brightly shone the moon that night, though the frost was cruel,</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;">When a poor man came in sight, gathering winter fuel.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #20124d;">Hither, page, and stand by me, if you know it, telling,</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;">Yonder peasant, who is he? Where and what his dwelling?</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;">Sire, he lives a good league hence, underneath the mountain,</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;">Right against the forest fence, by Saint Agnes’ fountain.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #20124d;">Bring me food and bring me wine, bring me pine logs hither,</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;">You and I will see him dine, when we bear them thither.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;">Page and monarch, forth they went, forth they went together,</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;">Through the cold wind’s wild lament and the bitter weather.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #20124d;">Sire, the night is darker now, and the wind blows stronger,</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;">Fails my heart, I know not how; I can go no longer.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;">Mark my footsteps, my good page, tread now in them boldly,</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;">You shall find the winter’s rage freeze your blood less coldly.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #20124d;">In his master’s steps he trod, where the snow lay dinted;</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;">Heat was in the very sod which the saint had printed.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;">Therefore, Christian men, be sure, wealth or rank possessing,</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;">You who now will bless the poor shall yourselves find blessing.</span></b><br />
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<br />
<b>WHY WAS THE CAROL WRITTEN?</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVW1SUgu4gLc459yl_m5_7m2XrPdrphI6mrJZpeRzxxVUBDBTlTU_cxeFDqGX1O638TKVoNY6Jy_mbtOpEC0T0GHDzdU_B6zry_r2z-K0Fe02tJxO1oIPN8ij5mH1jiscBrIlReLtToXU/s1600/weneslas1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVW1SUgu4gLc459yl_m5_7m2XrPdrphI6mrJZpeRzxxVUBDBTlTU_cxeFDqGX1O638TKVoNY6Jy_mbtOpEC0T0GHDzdU_B6zry_r2z-K0Fe02tJxO1oIPN8ij5mH1jiscBrIlReLtToXU/s1600/weneslas1.jpg" /></a></div>
The question remains why John Mason Neale would choose an obscure medieval figure from a far-away country, who was not widely revered in England at the time, upon whom to base a carol about charity at Christmas. Some understanding about this may be gleaned from Neale's own <a href="http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1801-1900/john-mason-neale-is-remembered-11630542.html">life and character</a>, which--apart from scholarship--were centered largely on alleviating the distress of poverty and illness.<br />
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Ordained in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_England">Church of England</a> during the middle of the 19th century, Neale's health was so frail that he could not supervise a parish. Instead, he was assigned to be warden of a poorhouse named <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sackville_College">Sackville College</a>. In the course of his duties, Neale had many opportunities to see the misery of the poor in rural villages, some of whom died unattended. Neale also denounced churches that allowed the wealthy to box off sections of the church to separate themselves from commoners. In 1854, Neale co-founded the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_Saint_Margaret">Society of Saint Margaret</a>, an order of women in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglican_Church">Anglican Church</a> dedicated to nursing the sick.<br />
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As one observer suggests:<br />
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Perhaps Neale found in Wenceslas the symbol of Christian charity and servitude which had become Neale's own most important principle of Christian life. Neale connected Wenceslas to Christmas, a season of special "good will." By setting his touching story of a medieval Saint to a catchy, medieval tune, he created a hybrid carol that has become a classic. Through this song, Neale's own spirit of charity lives on, and has encouraged people, generation after generation, to practice this Christian virtue.</blockquote>
(Margaret Vainio, <i><a href="https://jyx.jyu.fi/dspace/bitstream/handle/123456789/10066/mvainio.pdf">Good King Wenceslas--An "English" Carol: The Appearance of Piae Cantiones Melodies in 19th Century England</a></i> (1999), p. 37).<br />
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<b>MEANING AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CAROL</b><br />
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What is especially inspiring about <span style="color: #20124d; font-style: italic;"><b>Good King Wenceslas</b></span>--and makes it so fitting for the Christmas season--is the spirit of love, giving, and self-sacrifice that infuses it. The King is touched by the plight of the peasant he sees braving the elements to provide for his family, and willingly steps out of his comfortable, privileged world and into the raging storm himself, carrying provisions in his own arms to bring help to the poor man. There is also great love and trust between the King and his page, whom he encourages and enables, through a wonderful miracle,to endure the challenge before them. Is this story an allegory of Christ, the Good King who lowers Himself to succor the wretched and helpless, and the faithful but self-doubting servant, his page?<br />
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<b>PERFORMANCES</b><br />
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Because <i><b><span style="color: #20124d;">Good King Wenceslas </span></b></i>is so widely known and loved in its traditional form, rather few recordings of it really stand out. One that surely does is a December 18, 2012 performance by the <a href="http://www.mormontabernaclechoir.org/?lang=eng">Mormon Tabernacle Choir</a>, with actress <a href="http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Jane_Seymour_%28actress%29">Jane Seymour</a> narrating the Wenceslas story to delightful dance, music, and song.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/low_UI9zUfk?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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Perhaps the most famous recording of <span style="color: #20124d;"><i>Good King Wenceslas</i></span> is one made in the 1940s or 50s by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bing_Crosby">Bing Crosby</a>. Here's a video version, with images taken from an engaging old comic book telling of the story.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/A47qu7deSyY?feature=player_embedded" width="640"></iframe><br />
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Perhaps reflecting the tune's origins as a spring dance, here is a sprightly, Renaissance-tinged version of <span style="color: #20124d;"><b><i>Good King Wenceslas</i></b></span> sung by American vocalist/lyricist <a href="http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Candice_Night">Candice Night</a> with the folk-rock band <a href="http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Blackmore%27s_Night">Blackmores Night</a>:<br />
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May we all emulate the Good King's example this Christmas--and all year--by extending ourselves to share our blessings with others less fortunate.<br />
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<i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:</b></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>and thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee:</b></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.</b> <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+14%3A13-14&version=KJV">Luke 14:13-14</a></span></i></div>
Thomas Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16651679675833246170noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8749353453885923446.post-23757948790797048912014-11-20T12:27:00.000-05:002014-11-20T12:29:55.184-05:00Now Thank We All Our God<div style="text-align: left;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>The Angelus</i>, by Jean Francois Millet (1859)</b></td></tr>
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One of the great miracles of sincere faith in God is that thanks may be given to Him even amidst the deepest suffering. The Bible tells us that we should "[i]n every thing give thanks" (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Thess.+5%3A18&version=KJV">1 Thess. 5:18</a>), and "[give] thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Eph.+5%3A20&version=KJV">Eph. 5:20</a>). Indeed, we should "[c]ount it all joy" when we encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of our faith produces endurance (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+1%3A2-3&version=KJV">James 1:2-3</a>). Even Job, the archetype of sufferers, could humbly declare: "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job+1%3A21&version=KJV">Job 1:21</a>)<br />
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Some of Christendom's most moving hymns of thanksgiving have been born of personal tragedy, prominent among them Horatio Spafford's <i><a href="http://songsofpraises.blogspot.com/2013/08/it-is-well-with-my-soul.html">It is Well WIth My Soul.</a></i> Communal suffering, arising from such calamities as war and pestilence, has likewise and improbably inspired great treasures of choral thanksgiving. One of the foremost is the beloved German hymn "Nun danket alle Gott", known in English as <i><b><a href="http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/n/o/w/nowthank.htm"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Now Thank We All Our God</span></a></b></i>. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp64jfaoOksc1gCHhEeOOxshdUBg4RuiZujy6z5rRMeKSHQTFAtRcN3T4yhoxZ4iTlGeWKJ1bH2RZ99FhV0W8kQ-WUStx1eBmpNB0xGJwruF1DIWT4vsgyOorEm2s5NnRWMCjjxg9gsGQ/s1600/Martin_Rinckart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp64jfaoOksc1gCHhEeOOxshdUBg4RuiZujy6z5rRMeKSHQTFAtRcN3T4yhoxZ4iTlGeWKJ1bH2RZ99FhV0W8kQ-WUStx1eBmpNB0xGJwruF1DIWT4vsgyOorEm2s5NnRWMCjjxg9gsGQ/s1600/Martin_Rinckart.jpg" height="320" width="204" /></a></div>
The text was written by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutheranism">Lutheran</a> minister <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Rinkart">Martin Rinkart</a> (1586-1649) in or about 1636, in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eilenburg">Eilenburg, Saxony</a> (a province of Germany). At that time and place was raging the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Years%27_War">Thirty Years' War</a>, among the bloodiest and most destructive conflicts in European history--and one of the longest, dragging on from 1618 to 1648. Initially a war between Protestant and Catholic states in the fragmenting <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Roman_Empire">Holy Roman Empire</a>, it gradually developed into a more general conflict involving most of the great powers of Europe. This war devastated and depopulated whole regions of the German and Italian states, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Lands_of_the_Bohemian_Crown_(1526%E2%80%931648)">Kingdom of Bohemia</a>, and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_Countries">Low Countries</a>. The war also bankrupted most of the combatant powers. Hordes of mercenary troops looted property, extorted tribute, and murdered common people by the thousands. The displacement of civilian populations and the overcrowding of refugees into cities led to famine and the spread of dread diseases such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhus">typhus</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysentery">dysentery</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubonic_plague">bubonic plague</a>.</div>
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Caught in this maelstrom was Eilenburg, where Martin Rinkart was born into a poor coppersmith's family on April 23, 1586. Despite his humble origins he became a boy chorister in the famous <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Thomas_Church,_Leipzig">Thomaskirche</a> (St. Thomas Church) of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leipzig">Leipzig</a>, where <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach">Johann Sebastian Bach</a> was later musical director and is buried. Rinkart studied at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leipzig_University">University of Leipzig</a> and was ordained to the Lutheran Church ministry. At the age of 31, he became a pastor in his native town.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Eilenburg, Germany today</b></td></tr>
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Rinkart arrived there just as the chaos of the Thirty Years' War was starting. The steady stream of refugees pouring through the gates of this walled city brought famine and disease in its wake. The Rinkart home served as a refuge for the afflicted victims, even though Martin often had trouble providing food and clothing for his own family. Eilenberg was also overrun by invading armies, once by the Austrian army and twice by the Swedish army. As the latter surrounded the city, nearly a thousand homes were destroyed, and the death toll soared. The handful of pastors remaining in the town had to conduct dozens of funerals daily. Finally, the pastors also succumbed, and Martin Rinkart was the only one left. At the height of the great plague in 1637, he conducted as many as 50 funerals in a day, and more than 4000 funerals in that year, including his wife's. By the end of the year, the refugees had to be buried in trenches without services.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Soldiers Plundering a Farm During the Thirty Years' War</i>, by Sebastian Vrancx (1620)</b></td></tr>
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The story is <a href="https://suite.io/tel-asiado/fxx23x">told</a> that when the Swedes demanded a huge ransom, Rinkart left the safety of Eilenburg's walls to plead for mercy. At first the the Swedish commander refused, so the pastor turned to his humble flock and said, "Come, my children, we can find no mercy with man; let us take refuge with God." Rinkart knelt and led his parishioners in prayer, and in the singing of a familiar hymn. The Swedish commander was so impressed by his faith and courage that he lowered the ransom demand. (Kenneth W. Osbeck, <i>101 Hymn Stories</i> (Kregel Publications, 1982), p. 174).<br />
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<b>THE TEXT</b></div>
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Despite all the horrors he had witnessed, and all he had lost among family and friends, Martin Rinkart was still able to declare joyfully, "Nun danket alle Gott." This text is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Now_Thank_We_All_Our_God">said</a> to have been inspired by a passage in the Apocryphal book <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ecclesiasticus+50%3A22-%20%2024&version=RSVCE">Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 50:22-24</a> (<i>"And now bless the God of all, who in every way does great things; who exalts our days from birth, and deals with us according to his mercy. May he give us gladness of heart, and grant that peace may be in our days in Israel, as in the days of old. May he entrust to us his mercy! And let him deliver us in our days!"</i>). The verses are few and simple, but bursting with thanksgiving and praise to our loving Heavenly Father and His Son, our Savior:</div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d;">Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices,<br />Who wondrous things has done, in Whom this world rejoices;<br />Who from our mothers’ arms has blessed us on our way<br />With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.</span></b></blockquote>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d;">O may this bounteous God through all our life be near us,<br />With ever joyful hearts and blessèd peace to cheer us;<br />And keep us in His grace, and guide us when perplexed;<br />And free us from all ills, in this world and the next!</span></b></blockquote>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d;">All praise and thanks to God the Father now be given;<br />The Son and Him Who reigns with Them in highest Heaven;<br />The one eternal God, whom earth and Heaven adore;</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;">For thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore.</span></b></blockquote>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Catherine Winkworth</b></td></tr>
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This text is <a href="http://www.hymnary.org/person/Rinkart_M">thought</a> to have first appeared in Rinkart's 1636 hymn collection <i>Jesu Hertz-Buchlein</i>, but no copy of that publication is now known. The text also appears in the second (1663) edition of <i>Jesu Hertz-Büchlein</i>, where the wording slightly varies, and the piece is entitled "Grace" ("Tisch-Gebetlein," that is, a short prayer at table). But its real fame derives from its 1647 appearance in <i><a href="http://herandhymn.blogspot.com/2013/10/johann-crugers-praxis-pietatis-melica.html">Praxis Pietatis Melica</a></i>, a hymn collection edited by renowned German composer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Cr%C3%BCger">Johann Crüger</a> (1598-1662), and regarded as the <a href="https://suite.io/tel-asiado/fxx23x">outstanding German hymnal</a> of the 17th century.</div>
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The text was translated from German to English by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Winkworth">Catherine Winkworth</a> (1827-1878), in 1856. This was not its first translation into English, but is generally regarded as the best. According to <i><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=VKyewTv_V04C">The Harvard University Hymn Book</a></i>, Ms. Winkworth "did more than any other single individual to make the rich heritage of German hymnody available to the English-speaking world."</div>
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<b>THE MUSIC</b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6xxR59vuEUHFZTgVULCouaxIMrcShBtxcGtxmMnIPvspm3NJjbqbUTzPTxA-DJ_RpCm-_t69BV7NFglC4ZwIVILLxpeH3KEKzyJCTyLCgoPNz_BHXV10YujTYxrbn4NUQipt5nNfoTEU/s1600/cruger_j.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6xxR59vuEUHFZTgVULCouaxIMrcShBtxcGtxmMnIPvspm3NJjbqbUTzPTxA-DJ_RpCm-_t69BV7NFglC4ZwIVILLxpeH3KEKzyJCTyLCgoPNz_BHXV10YujTYxrbn4NUQipt5nNfoTEU/s1600/cruger_j.jpg" height="320" width="209" /></a> </td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Johann Crüger</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-vb_J0ZfxgJ3LsxlAiZUuIOWmFr9JiwUxSet95VsP1BJyWkOKrahfSZX3345Hbky8azm0enY2JyNgnEj5DGGGNWqQ7ookQrDkTpwEg5oJbLTA5ze5aEI5IEY1XyExy5MM1qdtf-gXTSg/s1600/mendelssohn_f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-vb_J0ZfxgJ3LsxlAiZUuIOWmFr9JiwUxSet95VsP1BJyWkOKrahfSZX3345Hbky8azm0enY2JyNgnEj5DGGGNWqQ7ookQrDkTpwEg5oJbLTA5ze5aEI5IEY1XyExy5MM1qdtf-gXTSg/s1600/mendelssohn_f.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b> Felix Mendelssohn</b></td></tr>
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The tune to which Rinkart's text has been sung, ever since they appeared together in the 1647 <i>Praxis Pietatis Melica</i>, is <b>NUN DANKET</b>, also known as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leuthen_Chorale">Leuthen Chorale</a>. The melody is generally attributed to <a href="http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Johann_Cr%C3%BCger">Johann Crüger</a>, although Catherine Winkworth believed that Martin Rinkart wrote the tune in 1644. The now-standard harmonization was devised by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Mendelssohn">Felix Mendelssohn</a> in 1840 when he adopted the hymn, sung in the key of F major and with its original German lyrics, as the chorale to his <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._2_(Mendelssohn)">Second Symphony</a>, known as the <i>Lobgesang</i> or <i>Hymn of Praise</i>.<br />
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After the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Leuthen">Battle of Leuthen</a> in 1757, during another conflict between European powers known as the <a href="http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Seven_Years%27_War">Seven Years' War</a>, an unknown <a href="http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Prussia">Prussian</a> soldier standing near <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_the_Great">Frederick the Great</a> is <a href="http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Leuthen_Chorale">said</a> to have begun singing the Leuthen Chorale spontaneously, upon which the hymn was taken up by the entire assembled Prussian army, about 25.000 men.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0SFmPuD4f43VGfc5pbW7Nb3NnmxXZ0-znu3EXqLWgEJmhC8EkurgWHpO9eSLb8qT5pBvKGXmaFOAA1orblroHK5eQqE3ZJRQCfLfsfOzWA-DtF6Wp6JS1sA5F-LPTwfjJpZIDaFbLMMQ/s1600/Now+Thank+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0SFmPuD4f43VGfc5pbW7Nb3NnmxXZ0-znu3EXqLWgEJmhC8EkurgWHpO9eSLb8qT5pBvKGXmaFOAA1orblroHK5eQqE3ZJRQCfLfsfOzWA-DtF6Wp6JS1sA5F-LPTwfjJpZIDaFbLMMQ/s1600/Now+Thank+1.jpg" /> </a><br />
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<b>LEGACY</b><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><b><i>Now Thank We All Our God</i></b></span> is often used in Christian weddings and other joyous religious ceremonies. It has been called the national "<a href="http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Te_Deum">Te Deum</a>" of Germany because it has been sung on so many occasions of national rejoicing. (Kenneth W. Osbeck, <i>101 Hymn Stories</i> (Kregel Publications, 1982), p. 173).</div>
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<b>HEAR IT PERFORMED</b><br />
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In the beautiful video below, <b><i><span style="color: #20124d;">Now Thank We All Our God</span></i></b> is performed by a magnificent, but unidentified, solo tenor backed by a choir.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/TA9cQ5X87P4?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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The traditional choral rendition in the video below is by the Chamber Choir of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Minster_School">Lincoln Minster School</a> in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. <br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/HGMuJ4U7zT8?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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In this video, the <a href="http://www.mormontabernaclechoir.org/">Mormon Tabernacle Choir</a> and Orchestra perform <i><b><span style="color: #20124d;">Now Thank We All Our God</span></b></i>, in an arrangement by British composer and conductor <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Rutter">John Rutter</a> that emphasizes the hymn's exultant, celebratory character:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/K7gMDXylzW8?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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The lovely video below features the Chorale from Felix Mendelssohn's Second Symphony (<i>Lobgesang</i>), which is based on Johann Crüger's tune NUN DANKET (the Chorale ends at 4:22 of the video):<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/PJ4C_EDj_84?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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<b>* * * * * </b></div>
Calamity and suffering are always occasions to pray, typically for mercy and relief. But they can also be occasions to thank God for all He has done for us and all we are confident He will yet do. Did He not give us life? Did not Jesus suffer more than we can comprehend, to purchase for us redemption and eternal life? We will always be vexed less than many others, and always infinitely blessed through Christ's loving atonement. This is more than enough reason, despite our earthly trials, to sing with the Psalmist: "O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever." (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+106%3A1&version=KJV&utm_expid=13466113-14._FDQX2HfR4SO5nXu6EKjTw.0&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.biblegateway.com%2F">Psalm 106:1</a>)<br />
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<b><span style="color: #b45f06;">HAPPY THANKSGIVING!</span></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkUcEXaZ2dgFGcaYh0wIRqEuDYTD1WKbTfjDVr1U0nN0nRmDipCI8HOWH_WAJo-bDKLNepicWGhHZH3rkBNmUnkvp_12YTpRmkUgN0FYG4e-p4eSE6UYxVa2Xx1AGnQtU8__tajko0XvQ/s1600/The+First+Thanksgiving+at+Plymouth,+by+Jennie+Augusta+Brownscombe+(1914).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkUcEXaZ2dgFGcaYh0wIRqEuDYTD1WKbTfjDVr1U0nN0nRmDipCI8HOWH_WAJo-bDKLNepicWGhHZH3rkBNmUnkvp_12YTpRmkUgN0FYG4e-p4eSE6UYxVa2Xx1AGnQtU8__tajko0XvQ/s1600/The+First+Thanksgiving+at+Plymouth,+by+Jennie+Augusta+Brownscombe+(1914).jpg" height="400" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth</i>, by Jennie Augusta Brownscombe (1914)</b></td></tr>
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Thomas Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16651679675833246170noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8749353453885923446.post-70560567387709754102014-10-07T08:25:00.001-04:002014-10-07T08:25:31.540-04:00I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgS8e-2h2pRtQ0KPVQDorpPnIe4HnF35XWGW2v_fFkVHVDGvAc2wrgJUVLG9Ojbn2Z4z0t8PXrud2ltc7pUCLYHXRNadx9-q8tUOkZdlXDpyg7RL6IMG0uNWBfRVONhvd26Bu4vB0t8ks/s1600/come-to-Jesus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgS8e-2h2pRtQ0KPVQDorpPnIe4HnF35XWGW2v_fFkVHVDGvAc2wrgJUVLG9Ojbn2Z4z0t8PXrud2ltc7pUCLYHXRNadx9-q8tUOkZdlXDpyg7RL6IMG0uNWBfRVONhvd26Bu4vB0t8ks/s1600/come-to-Jesus.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
Down through the centuries many have observed how people of true faith tend to exhibit an uncommon degree of confidence, courage, resilience, and inner peace. It's not that they don't occasionally suffer doubt, fear, sorrow, or discouragement, but they're able to fight through these challenges and emerge in a better place. Why? Perhaps it's faith that we have a Savior who traded his Heavenly glory and His mortal life to save us from our own sin, who provides us a sure refuge and guidance in times of trial, and who has kept for us an eternal and blissfully happy home with Him. Believers know these things because He promised them Himself, in the Gospel!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGUxd8q28U3OphyphenhyphenE44BoK_XnbtQ0_aUQGyT1WqOcjsWacsX8V01yg-iJTKQ6ZQajqob0D8DSm15JjrMB6g2Lqipj96-L6G4dZKtjKl0BiheTYjwxeeRs81pE6jCGdlGXF9mSJb7ZaEmOQ/s1600/Bonar_H.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGUxd8q28U3OphyphenhyphenE44BoK_XnbtQ0_aUQGyT1WqOcjsWacsX8V01yg-iJTKQ6ZQajqob0D8DSm15JjrMB6g2Lqipj96-L6G4dZKtjKl0BiheTYjwxeeRs81pE6jCGdlGXF9mSJb7ZaEmOQ/s1600/Bonar_H.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Horatius Bonar</b></td></tr>
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One of the most inspiring hymns reflecting on our Lord's precious promises is <a href="http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/i/h/e/iheardvj.htm"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><i>I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say</i></b></span></a>. The text was written in 1846 (or perhaps a few years earlier) by Scottish churchman and poet <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatius_Bonar">Horatius Bonar</a> (1808-1889). It was published the same year in Bonar's <i>Hymns Original and Selected</i> (and in his <a href="https://archive.org/details/faope00bona"><i>Hymns of Faith & Hope</i></a> (1857)), in three stanzas, under the title “The Voice from Galilee." <a href="http://www.hymnary.org/text/i_heard_the_voice_of_jesus_say_come_unto">At this time</a> Bonar was pastoring a <a href="http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Presbyterianism">Presbyterian</a> church in the rural market town of <a href="http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Kelso,_Scottish_Borders">Kelso</a> in the <a href="http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Scottish_Borders">Scottish Borders</a> area. <span style="font-family: serif;">Bonar remained in Kelso for 28 years, after which he moved to a larger church in Edinburgh, where he served the rest of his life. By this time he had become one of his country's most admired preachers. </span>Bonar was acclaimed "the Prince of Scottish Hymn Writers" and "the Charles Wesley of Scotland," having written over 600 hymns during his career. <span style="color: #20124d;"><i><b>I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say</b></i></span> is generally considered to be his finest. (See Kenneth W. Osbeck, <i>101 Hymn Stories</i> (Kregel Publications, 1982), pp. 104-105)</div>
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As with most of his hymns, Rev. Bonar wrote this one with children in mind--specifically, his Sunday School students--being always concerned that they learn and sing the great truths about the person and work of Christ. Perhaps his love of children derived from the fact that he and his wife lost five of their own in rapid succession, yet he had hundreds in his Sunday Schools. (See Robert J. Morgan, <i>Then Sings My Soul: 150 of the World's Greatest Hymn Stories</i> (Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2003), p. 117) In later life, his widowed daughter and her five children had to move in with him. <a href="http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1801-1900/horatius-bonar-pointed-people-to-christ-11630625.html">Bonar rejoiced</a>; to him it was as if God had given him five children to replace those he had lost. In any case, while many of his hymns were originally written for children, they were so full of sound teaching that adults loved to sing them as well.<br />
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<b>THE TEXT</b><br />
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The four stanzas of "I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say" (often the fourth is omitted from hymnals and performances) presents in a compelling way several of our Lord's pointed, personal invitations to mankind and the promises attached to them. In the second pair of lines in each stanza, the individual's acceptance of the invitation, and the spiritual results promised, are described. (See Kenneth W. Osbeck, <i>101 Hymn Stories</i> (Kregel Publications, 1982), pp. 104-105)<br />
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<b>Stanza One:</b> <i>Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.</i> (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matt.+11%3A28&version=KJV">Matt. 11:28</a>)<br />
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<b>Stanza Two:</b> <i>[W]hosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.</i> (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+4%3A14&version=KJV">John 4:14</a>)<br />
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<b>Stanza Three:</b> <i>I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. </i> (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+8%3A12&version=KJV">John 8:12</a>)<br />
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<b>Stanza Four:</b> <i>In my Father's house are many mansions . . . I go to prepare a place for you.</i> (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+14%3A2&version=KJV">John 14:2</a>) <br />
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Now let's see how beautifully Horatius Bonar expressed these priceless truths in his verse:<br />
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<b><span style="color: #20124d;">I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Come unto Me and rest;</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;"> Lay down, thou weary one, lay down Thy head upon My breast.”</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;"> I came to Jesus as I was, weary and worn and sad;</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;"> I found in Him a resting place, and He has made me glad.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #20124d;"> I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Behold, I freely give</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;"> The living water; thirsty one, stoop down, and drink, and live.”</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;"> I came to Jesus, and I drank of that life giving stream;</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;"> My thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now I live in Him.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #20124d;"> I heard the voice of Jesus say, “I am this dark world’s Light;</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;"> Look unto Me, thy morn shall rise, and all thy day be bright.”</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;"> I looked to Jesus, and I found in Him my Star, my Sun;</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;"> And in that light of life I’ll walk, till traveling days are done.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #20124d;"> I heard the voice of Jesus say, "My Father’s house above</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;"> Has many mansions; I’ve a place prepared for you in love."</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;"> I trust in Jesus—in that house, according to His word,</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;"> Redeemed by grace, my soul shall live forever with the Lord.</span></b><br />
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<b>THE MUSIC</b><br />
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Over the years Bonar's text has been set to a number of different tunes.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuUy5Ei3v8ccK-MV3gPv452TDVMq5Z0LDYHkg8bZle-IR0cj_fXM2o7qvc6r9f_DGOEh1GJExIUPRCSkCqe-uMdsAiYAfBO4bftKCxr3v_cl0t6pFoTGmSXPDZb3di9E6LwrJb3zcXaiE/s1600/John+B.+Dykes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuUy5Ei3v8ccK-MV3gPv452TDVMq5Z0LDYHkg8bZle-IR0cj_fXM2o7qvc6r9f_DGOEh1GJExIUPRCSkCqe-uMdsAiYAfBO4bftKCxr3v_cl0t6pFoTGmSXPDZb3di9E6LwrJb3zcXaiE/s1600/John+B.+Dykes.jpg" height="320" width="209" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>John Bacchus Dykes</b></td></tr>
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The first first was specifically composed for it in 1868 by English clergyman and hymnist <a href="http://www.wikiwand.com/en/John_Bacchus_Dykes">John Bacchus Dykes</a> (1823-1876), and called <b>VOX DELICTI</b>--Latin for "Voice of the Beloved." In it, the Lord's gracious invitations to our burdened souls are expressed in a somber G-minor key, while the responses and the contentment they bring are heard in a happier G-major key. This key change halfway through accents the positive message of the last two lines, "I came to Jesus…"<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipUZ7Kri7W_JnEFH77BYReXMyvkEuI7W1F537bdHlhYPq5AI6w-230Iq3TsKc0K0EGl9XxWfUG46tlLjJUhY2NFCc60Ge3YeYrNpBgStQYcS11ER_rMInEafBAs5sFIDykPX1xOgMnWfA/s1600/I+Heard+the+Voice+(Vox%2BDelicti%2B2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipUZ7Kri7W_JnEFH77BYReXMyvkEuI7W1F537bdHlhYPq5AI6w-230Iq3TsKc0K0EGl9XxWfUG46tlLjJUhY2NFCc60Ge3YeYrNpBgStQYcS11ER_rMInEafBAs5sFIDykPX1xOgMnWfA/s1600/I+Heard+the+Voice+(Vox%2BDelicti%2B2).jpg" height="640" width="449" /></a><br />
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In the following video (which is, unfortunately, static), Bonar's text is set to VOX DELICTI and sung by <a href="http://bradleygarvin.com/">Bradley Garvin</a>, a bass-baritone with the <a href="http://www.metopera.org/">Metropolitan Opera of New York City</a>, with piano accompaniement by his mother Martha Reed Garvin of "<a href="http://www.musicalmemoriestv.com/">Musical Memories</a>" fame.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="450" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/NrmBJ5gri6Q?rel=0" width="600"></iframe><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdiQommLs32f7kQ2J0-3ALRUu83Fjdeji1KS3fldqRcYBicM3Jrm_S_WKnijhHFyWwYmtBQo4slrs8xGI1o39fjdjerkMYboll9EU03JEp-tVX_jqQj0Gg3ArO6QeFYjzfUvw8AoGxK7s/s1600/Brunk_JD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdiQommLs32f7kQ2J0-3ALRUu83Fjdeji1KS3fldqRcYBicM3Jrm_S_WKnijhHFyWwYmtBQo4slrs8xGI1o39fjdjerkMYboll9EU03JEp-tVX_jqQj0Gg3ArO6QeFYjzfUvw8AoGxK7s/s1600/Brunk_JD.jpg" height="200" width="140" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>John D. Brunk</b></td></tr>
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In 1911, American music educator <a href="http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Brunk,_John_David_(1872-1926)">John D. Brunk</a> (1872-1926) composed an uplifting tune for <i><b><span style="color: #20124d;">I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say</span></b></i> which he called, appropriately, <b>BONAR</b>. Brunk was a member of the <a href="http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Mennonite_Church_(MC)">Mennonite Church (MC)</a>. He was not only a compiler of hymns and tunes but also an able composer, writing many hymn and gospel song tunes in the spirit of the church and for her use. He was also greatly loved and respected by his many pupils. BONAR is the tune yours truly first heard <i><b><span style="color: #20124d;">I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say</span></b></i> sung to, and it remains my favorite. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find sheet music for this tune to present here. The performance in the video below is by the Antrim Mennonite Choir.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Ralph Vaughan Williams</b></td></tr>
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Today, the most popular musical setting for Bonar's text appears to be the tune <b>KINGSFOLD</b>, arranged in 1906 by the great English composer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Vaughan_Williams">Ralph Vaughan Williams</a> (1872-1958). KINGSFOLD is based on a folk tune, thought by some scholars to date back to the Middle Ages, set to a variety of texts in England and Ireland. The tune is familiar to many as that associated with the Irish folk song "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_of_the_County_Down">Star of the County Down</a>" and Vaughan Williams' <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Variants_of_Dives_and_Lazarus">arrangement</a> of the traditional ballad "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dives_and_Lazarus_(ballad)">Dives and Lazarus</a>." After having heard the tune in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warnham#Kingsfold">Kingsfold, Sussex, England</a>, Vaughan Williams introduced it as a hymn tune in <i><a href="https://archive.org/details/theenglishhymnal00milfuoft">The English Hymnal (1906)</a></i> as a setting for <b><i><span style="color: #20124d;">I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say</span></i></b>.<br />
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The performance to KINGSFOLD in the video below is by the <a href="http://www.manchestercathedral.org/music/the-choirs/cathedral-choir">Manchester Cathedral Choir</a>.<br />
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Contemporary artists are still putting Horatio Bonar's inspiring text to new tunes. Here is a beautiful example (the performer isn't identified):<br />
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<b>DID YOU KNOW?</b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq2Xx1n74l93Wr0nCCVsF6tx29eQm1uCC-IxEQ1cFnoLH4U3KY9RjvyZcHUgaXVxXOl5OwNRXWRfky6ZxNVNWwfAzK6n7o1cK0IMzJDRBvFFu6D6w_zXzagL9Vi6ERyYmC67vfciNmJpI/s1600/beecher_hw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq2Xx1n74l93Wr0nCCVsF6tx29eQm1uCC-IxEQ1cFnoLH4U3KY9RjvyZcHUgaXVxXOl5OwNRXWRfky6ZxNVNWwfAzK6n7o1cK0IMzJDRBvFFu6D6w_zXzagL9Vi6ERyYmC67vfciNmJpI/s1600/beecher_hw.jpg" height="200" width="142" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Henry Ward Beecher</b></td></tr>
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<b><i><span style="color: #20124d;">I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say</span></i></b> is <a href="http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/i/h/e/iheardvj.htm">reported</a> to have been the last hymn that the great 19th-century evangelist <a href="http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Henry_Ward_Beecher">Henry Ward Beecher</a> (1813-1887) heard sung in his beloved <a href="http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Plymouth_Church_(Brooklyn,_New_York)">Plymouth Church</a> in <a href="http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Brooklyn">Brooklyn, New York</a>, on March 6, 1887, just two days before he passed away. As the choir was practicing the hymn, Beecher was seen embracing two young street urchins who had wandered into the church to enjoy the music. A few hours later, Beecher lapsed into a coma and died without regaining consciousness. As stated by Rev. Duncan Morrison in <i><a href="https://archive.org/details/greachur00morr">The Great Hymns of the Church</a></i> (Toronto, Canada: Hart & Company, 1890): <i>"It was fitting that he who took such an active part in the emancipation of the slave should close his life under the inspiration of this tender hymn, and take those two street arabs to his heart as representing the humanity he loved so well!"</i><br />
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<b>* * * * *</b></div>
A salient thing to know about the Lord's invitations to us, and the promises attached to them, is that they are essentially unconditional. They require no special preparations or qualifications, nor do they depend on our own "righteousness." The only sacrifice He requires is "a broken and a contrite heart." (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+51%3A17&version=KJV">Psalm 51:17</a>) We need but "come" and "drink," and Christ's infinite blessings are poured out upon us. We are made clean and a new creation not by our selves, but through His atoning sacrifice on the Cross. May every one that is weary of this world and thirsting for a better, eternal life hear and accept the Lord's gracious invitations to come, rest, drink, and live through Him!<br />
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>"[W]hosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>shall never thirst;</i><i> the water that I shall give him</i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: large;">shall be in him a well of water springing up</span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: large;">into everlasting life."</span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"> (</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+4%3A14&version=KJV" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">John 4:14</a><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">)</span></span></i></div>
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Thomas Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16651679675833246170noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8749353453885923446.post-38864390487911735222014-07-02T08:09:00.000-04:002014-07-02T08:25:34.803-04:00Come, Ye Disconsolate<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up;</span></i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me.</span></i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me: </span></i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">O Lord, make haste to help me.</span></i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">~ (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+40%3A12-13&version=KJV" target="_blank">Psalm 40:12-13</a>)</span></i></b></span><br />
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Every person, at some point (and probably many) in life, will know profound sorrow and anguish. It may be the passing of a loved one, some material or financial devastation, or a diagnosis of serious illness. It may be the dashing of one's hopes and dreams: the failure of a business venture, or worse, the breakup of a marriage. Or it may be the guilt, shame, and regret that usually follow upon gravely sinful conduct. Whatever it is, the sufferer may be crushed by feelings of loneliness, helplessness, and hopelessness--unless he or she finds someone who can sympathize, ease the burden, and provide encouragement and hope.<br />
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One of the most precious truths we know is that such comfort is available to every person, without condition, 24/7: our very own Savior and brother Jesus Christ. He entreats us to "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (<a href="https://new.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+11%3A28&version=KJV" target="_blank">Matthew 11:28</a>) He is our advocate with the Father, our <i>"great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God . . . we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."</i> (<a href="https://new.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+4%3A14-16&version=KJV" target="_blank">Hebrews 4:14-16</a>)<br />
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So we are reminded in one of the greatest hymns of reassurance, <a href="http://hymntime.com/tch/htm/c/y/d/cydiscon.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><i><b>Come, Ye Disconsolate</b></i></span></a>. The text was written in 1816 by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Moore" target="_blank">Thomas Moore</a> (1779-1852), an Irish-born poet, singer, songwriter, and entertainer. <a href="http://www.hymnary.org/text/come_ye_disconsolate_whereer_ye_languish" target="_blank">Under the title "<i>Relief in Prayer</i>,"</a> it was first published that same year in Moore's <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=dQc3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA240=onepage&q&f=false#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank"><i>Sacred Songs, Duets and Trios</i></a>, one of 32 hymn texts in that collection.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibIyt7N-5ECCw8XVs0iS1ipMSjrEgtQWgcwEhiJcDXrZnxwlj8d-7XlyLgmPbeOodJVvWPdee8rtJCHbmxG87nlaUh3ops3g3qe0QHyH_ywNggmSIhMvvnyq3l4CvvojEOpNmBU79Xo7A/s1600/Thomas+Moore,+by+Martin+Archer+Shee,+c.1817.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibIyt7N-5ECCw8XVs0iS1ipMSjrEgtQWgcwEhiJcDXrZnxwlj8d-7XlyLgmPbeOodJVvWPdee8rtJCHbmxG87nlaUh3ops3g3qe0QHyH_ywNggmSIhMvvnyq3l4CvvojEOpNmBU79Xo7A/s1600/Thomas+Moore,+by+Martin+Archer+Shee,+c.1817.jpg" height="320" width="248" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Thomas Moore, 1817</b></td></tr>
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We don't often see the word "disconsolate" in modern American usage; it has been <a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/disconsolate" target="_blank">defined</a> as "without consolation or solace; hopelessly unhappy; inconsolable." At least outwardly, Thomas Moore's career was not of the sort one would expect to engender despair. Son of a Dublin grocer, Moore initially studied law but achieved fame, even as a young man, once he turned his talents to poetry, music, and the performing arts. He married an actress, traveled extensively in Europe and America, and was a widely read poet, playwrite, songwriter, biographer, novelist, and social critic. He also became a popular society figure in London, hobnobbing with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_of_Wales" target="_blank">Prince of Wales</a> and performing for the future <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Victoria" target="_blank">Queen Victoria</a>. He is still fondly remembered today for the lyrics to the Irish patriotic song <a href="http://youtu.be/0ssHxZABrpE" target="_blank"><i>The Minstrel Boy</i></a>, as well as those to such romantic songs as <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xkofm_the-last-rose-of-summer_music" target="_blank"><i>The Last Rose of Summer</i></a> and <a href="http://youtu.be/B6BKIxbDB4Q" target="_blank"><i>Believe Me, if All Those Endearing Young Charms</i></a>. Nevertheless, his personal life was dogged by tragedy, including the deaths of all his five children within his lifetime, and a stroke in later life, which disabled him from performances--the activity for which he was most renowned.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Thomas Hastings</b></td></tr>
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While Moore's career flourished, <i>"Relief in Prayer"</i> remained obscure until it was reworked in 1831 by American composer and choir master <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hastings_%28composer%29" target="_blank">Thomas Hastings</a> (1784-1872). He was born in Connecticut, moving with his family at the age of two to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinton,_Oneida_County,_New_York" target="_blank">Clinton, Oneida County, New York</a>. There, amid rough frontier life, his opportunities for education were small; but at an early age he developed a taste for music, and began teaching it in 1806. Seeking a wider field, he went, in 1817, to Troy, then to Albany, and in 1823 to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utica,_New_York" target="_blank">Utica, New York</a>, where he directed the Oneida County Choir and was editor of a religious magazine, <i>The Western Recorder</i>. In 1832 Hastings was invited by twelve churches to come to New York City to improve their psalm singing. He stayed there the rest of his life, composing, writing, teaching, and directing. He was a prolific writer of hymn tunes, and what fellow hymnist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowell_Mason" target="_blank">Lowell Mason </a>called the "simple, easy, and solemn" style of his music remains a major influence on the hymns of the Protestant churches to this day. Hastings is best remembered today as the composer of TOPLADY, the tune for the hymn <a href="http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/r/o/c/rockages.htm" target="_blank"><i>Rock of Ages</i></a>.<br />
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Hastings made a few minor changes to the first and second stanzas of Moore's text, and substituted his own third stanza, when he published the hymn under the title <span style="color: #20124d;"><i><b>Come, Ye Disconsolate</b></i></span> in <a href="https://archive.org/details/spiritsongs00ha" target="_blank"><i>Spiritual Songs for Social Worship</i></a> (Utica, New York: 1831-32), compiled by Hastings and Lowell Mason. It is generally agreed that these changes made Moore's poem easier to sing and more suitable for evangelical church use. [See Kenneth W. Osbeck, <i>Amazing Grace: 365 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions</i>, Kregel Publications 1990, 2002, p. 199]<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Samuel Webbe, Sr.</b></td></tr>
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For the hymn's tune, Hastings adapted one originally set for solo voice to the Marian hymn "Alma redemptoris mater" by English composer and organist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Webbe" target="_blank">Samuel Webbe, Sr.</a> (1740-1816) in his <i>Collection of Motetts or Antiphons</i> (1792). The tune is now generally known as <span style="color: #20124d;"><b>CONSOLATION</b></span>, although it is sometimes given as ALMA or CONSOLATOR.<br />
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The version of the text below, found in modern hymnals, incorporates the changes to Moore's original words (which can be read <a href="http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/c/y/d/cydiscon.htm" target="_blank">here</a>) made by Thomas Hastings:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><b>Come, ye disconsolate, where’er ye languish,<br />Come to the mercy seat, fervently kneel.<br />Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish;<br />Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.<br /><br />Joy of the desolate, light of the straying,<br />Hope of the penitent, fadeless and pure!<br />Here speaks the Comforter, tenderly saying,<br />"Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot cure."<br /><br />Here see the Bread of Life, see waters flowing<br />Forth from the throne of God, pure from above.<br />Come to the feast of love; come, ever knowing<br />Earth has no sorrow but heaven can remove.</b></span></blockquote>
Here is <span style="color: #20124d;"><b><i>Come, Ye Disconsolate</i></b></span> as it appeared in Hastings' 1831 collection <i>Spiritual Songs for Social Worship</i>:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Qr61uorUR-RNj2-xv2W24p8FU6RfQ4Tn77IL6nPvPITBrazb_ZyUAsfxAtD5rfOh3lWbEPm2upnSwAJgb_ftj8vlfbaF8-qzM98w2nWSvWtuE8duuzhgaCOXb_U4XQBo2sTX7Yh5L_o/s1600/Come+Ye+in+Spiritual+Songs+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Qr61uorUR-RNj2-xv2W24p8FU6RfQ4Tn77IL6nPvPITBrazb_ZyUAsfxAtD5rfOh3lWbEPm2upnSwAJgb_ftj8vlfbaF8-qzM98w2nWSvWtuE8duuzhgaCOXb_U4XQBo2sTX7Yh5L_o/s1600/Come+Ye+in+Spiritual+Songs+2.jpg" height="640" width="384" /> </a> </div>
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Here is a presentation in a more modern notation style:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEaMuZzxo3R2S2v6YjnAvFt3wzpaJYrYqJIK87yEp5NjhyphenhyphenG_Yfjzwf4myhOdIgSE061IL-OIs5_eXodqk0zfALgjM8ku9-4QIKYvJQTTIHOwWlruIeM2HRpEpU3Eu-yGv9qiB-aDYAqyM/s1600/Come+Ye+Disconsolate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEaMuZzxo3R2S2v6YjnAvFt3wzpaJYrYqJIK87yEp5NjhyphenhyphenG_Yfjzwf4myhOdIgSE061IL-OIs5_eXodqk0zfALgjM8ku9-4QIKYvJQTTIHOwWlruIeM2HRpEpU3Eu-yGv9qiB-aDYAqyM/s1600/Come+Ye+Disconsolate.jpg" height="640" width="412" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;"><b>REFLECTIONS</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><b><i>Come, Ye Disconsolate</i></b></span> is an <a href="http://www.hymnary.org/text/come_ye_disconsolate_whereer_ye_languish" target="_blank">invitation</a>, a call for sufferers and sinners to come to Christ and find healing (st. 1), hope, and comfort (st. 2), and to enjoy spiritual sustenance in the feast of the Lamb (st. 3). The text emphasizes the consolation that Christ offers to those who turn to him in faith. To Him we may bring our anguish, and cast upon Him all our cares (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Pet.+5%3A7&version=KJV" target="_blank">1 Peter 5:7</a>). Comfort and salvation are promised to sinners who approach Him in repentance (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Cor.+7.10&version=KJV" target="_blank">2 Cor. 7:10</a>; <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jn.+14.16-18&version=KJV" target="_blank">John 14:16-18</a>). Indeed, Jesus Himself is the bread of life who gives life unto the world (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jn.+6.32-33&version=KJV" target="_blank">John 6:32-33</a>); it is through Him that we can see the waters flowing from the throne of God (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Rev.+22.1-2&version=KJV" target="_blank">Rev. 22:1-2</a>) and are able to participate in the "feast of love," the bounty of joy in oneness with God that looks forward to the eternal marriage feast (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Rev.+19%3A9&version=KJV" target="_blank">Rev. 19:9</a>). <span style="color: #20124d;"><b><i>Come, Ye Disconsolate</i></b></span> surely ranks as one of the most moving hymns of consolation and reassurance, along with such treasures as <a href="http://songsofpraises.blogspot.com/2013/08/it-is-well-with-my-soul.html" target="_blank"><i>It is Well With My Soul</i></a>.<br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"><b>COMFORT IN THE DARKNESS OF WAR</b></span><br />
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We know the great impact that hymns can have on the lives of individuals: sparking eternal insights, stirring emotions, creating precious memories of childhood, family, and home. Sometimes, one hymn can have a deep and lasting effect on the lives of many who hear it at the same time, and thus on history itself. And so it was with <span style="color: #20124d;"><i><b>Come, Ye Disconsolate</b></i></span>.<br />
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On the night of July 2, 1863, at the height of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War" target="_blank">American Civil War</a>, as many as four thousand dead and wounded soldiers carpeted the 26 acres of the (now) infamous "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gettysburg,_Second_Day#Wheatfield" target="_blank">Wheat Field</a>," where some of the most vicious fighting of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gettysburg" target="_blank">Battle of Gettysburg </a>had just taken place between the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_of_the_Potomac" target="_blank">Army of the Potomac</a> (Union) and and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_of_Northern_Virginia" target="_blank">Army of Northern Virginia</a> (Confederate). As darkness gathered, the field became a macabre “no-man’s land” between the exhausted armies. As reported by Cpt. George Hillyer of the Ninth Georgia Infantry regiment, which spent the night lying within earshot of the Wheat Field after being beaten back from the nearby hill known as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Round_Top" target="_blank">Little Round Top</a>, one of the men between the lines began to sing, loudly enough to be heard on both sides.<br />
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“He was probably a boy raised in some religious home in the South,” Hillyer recalled later, “where the good old hymns were the standard music.” There were “thousands of desperately wounded men lying on the ground within easy hearing of the singer,” the captain observed,“ and as his voice rang out like a flute . . . not only the wounded, but also five or ten thousand and maybe more of the men of both armies could hear and distinguish the words.” The lines that they heard had been penned four decades earlier by an Irish poet named Thomas Moore and then set to music and published in 1831:<br />
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<i>Come, ye disconsolate, where’er ye languish; / Come to the mercy seat, fervently kneel; / Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish; / Earth has no sorrow that heav’n cannot heal. </i></blockquote>
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When the unidentified man finished singing, thousands of soldiers on both sides clapped and cheered. [See Robert Tracy McKenzie, "<a href="http://faithandamericanhistory.wordpress.com/tag/come-ye-disconsolate/" target="_blank">The Battlefield at Gettysburg–Final Reflections</a>" (November 1, 2013); Allen C. Guelzo, <i>Gettysburg: The Last Invasion</i> (Vintage Books, 2013), p. 570]<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsjk5WRuowbohp6RTmuwXG__kUH1-ZPMrO9mZtu34czikUEa4-18EbvaQm81SYeT9ySlQaZs1xmKxX4vUpLGRw4OHDJP6_gSylYbCzOjcZkXWpYtOg6DWrawmme-5Pk2-l3Dawh-LjE5k/s1600/UnionDead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsjk5WRuowbohp6RTmuwXG__kUH1-ZPMrO9mZtu34czikUEa4-18EbvaQm81SYeT9ySlQaZs1xmKxX4vUpLGRw4OHDJP6_gSylYbCzOjcZkXWpYtOg6DWrawmme-5Pk2-l3Dawh-LjE5k/s1600/UnionDead.jpg" height="306" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Union dead at on the Gettysburg battlefield</b></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #990000;"><b>VIDEO PRESENTATIONS</b></span><br />
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Several high-quality video renditions of <span style="color: #20124d;"><i><b>Come, Ye Disconsolate</b></i></span> can be found online, although there seems to be a trend to re-arrange the Webbe-Hastings tune or give the hymn an entirely new musical setting. This writer prefers the hymn as originally set, but the modern efforts are also impressive.<br />
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In the video below, the hymn is sung beautifully to the traditional tune CONSOLATION, by an unidentified choir. The Moore-Hastings text is included, so it's easy to follow along.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/BhES-xpWc8w?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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The performance below is by Freddie Ashby, Hope Shepherd, and Daron Bradford to a more reflective, plaintive arrangement. The video itself is beautiful and moving, as is the orchestration:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/PsaSmU5AQds?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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Yet another touching modern arrangement, by contemporary Christian composer and producer <a href="http://www.robgardnermusic.com/bio.php" target="_blank">Rob Gardner</a>, is sung in the video below by Loni Hawkins.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/1JrQ9tF9sD0?rel=0" width="480"></iframe><br />
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<b>* * * * *</b></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><i><b>And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes;</b></i></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><i><b>and there shall be no more death,</b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><i><b>neither sorrow, nor crying,</b></i></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><i><b>neither shall there be any more pain:</b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><i><b>for the former things are passed away.</b></i></span></div>
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(<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Rev.+21%3A4&version=KJV" target="_blank">Rev. 21:4</a>)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4KPzQG3tqlh0dJzG8d-BloAkCfpSi2vnbYSA75M3Pf067l6pawrb0YUxL9pdk8Ezz8V2wsCpnZrmtJXaOUvJ9tnNZ1ftQOPlC7LjHoq3bGVGx0g-rVbhPaVBiHn_KnCb4p6Ydv0c7tnk/s1600/hugging-jesus1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4KPzQG3tqlh0dJzG8d-BloAkCfpSi2vnbYSA75M3Pf067l6pawrb0YUxL9pdk8Ezz8V2wsCpnZrmtJXaOUvJ9tnNZ1ftQOPlC7LjHoq3bGVGx0g-rVbhPaVBiHn_KnCb4p6Ydv0c7tnk/s1600/hugging-jesus1.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br />Thomas Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16651679675833246170noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8749353453885923446.post-24451084678752489102014-04-10T08:00:00.002-04:002016-03-23T07:54:29.963-04:00When I Survey the Wondrous Cross<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrO6qL8eG0rEkeLbOsyef_lFpgq4xJXZlDm9H1bcm0MA0RCofUfAfHtALecaZOUx8FM_-6d-v70kbDyIYEtif35igCEYhhhCyIVRM1OLyZnLadC-yn1KeX9Uv36KBUnSr3DZyKdusHFlE/s1600/Christ-on-the-Cross-Painting-by-Eugene-Delacroix.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrO6qL8eG0rEkeLbOsyef_lFpgq4xJXZlDm9H1bcm0MA0RCofUfAfHtALecaZOUx8FM_-6d-v70kbDyIYEtif35igCEYhhhCyIVRM1OLyZnLadC-yn1KeX9Uv36KBUnSr3DZyKdusHFlE/s1600/Christ-on-the-Cross-Painting-by-Eugene-Delacroix.jpg" width="318" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span itemprop="dateCreated"><i>Christ on the Cross</i>, Eugene Delacroix (1853)</span></b></td></tr>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #20124d;">For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.</span></span> </span></span></i></b><br />
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">~ <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians+1:18&version=KJV" target="_blank">1 Corinthians 1:18</a> </span></span></i></b> </div>
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Christ's atonement on the Cross for the sins of mankind, fulfilled with His resurrection from the dead and ascension into Heaven, is the central and most decisive moment in all history. Beside it pale any human accomplishment, no matter how great and glorious. In that one event justice and mercy were fully and eternally satisfied, and all creation was reconciled to its Creator. We can never fully comprehend, in this life, the magnitude of Christ's burden and suffering, or of the love it took to endure and overcome it for our sakes.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQC6UxSdWBwnqxhv43woqLGskvukgfHYi1UQBSVCakWlTQXxgSTeJGQXAG0rPIypNSQiPWgKsMlzxY_woxVTr1C2I0OJx5Qm8cA4enhdJ91q1RXvaGjESxzRkqphwxenazouajiEEq4y0/s1600/Isaac_Watts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQC6UxSdWBwnqxhv43woqLGskvukgfHYi1UQBSVCakWlTQXxgSTeJGQXAG0rPIypNSQiPWgKsMlzxY_woxVTr1C2I0OJx5Qm8cA4enhdJ91q1RXvaGjESxzRkqphwxenazouajiEEq4y0/s1600/Isaac_Watts.jpg" width="262" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Isaac Watts</b></td></tr>
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The great English theologian and hymnist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Watts" target="_blank">Isaac Watts</a> (1674-1748) must have been reflecting along these lines when, in preparation for a communion service, he wrote the text that later became the immortal hymn <span style="color: #cc0000;"><i><b><a href="http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/w/h/e/whenisur.htm" target="_blank">When I Survey the Wondrous Cross</a></b></i></span>. The work was originally called "Crucifixion to the World by the Cross of Christ," following the practice of the day to summarize a hymn's theme in the title. It was first published in 1707 in Watts' collection <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13341" target="_blank"><i>Hymns and Spiritual Songs</i></a>, and was inspired by <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?%20%20search=Galatians+6%3A14&version=KJV" target="_blank">Galatians 6:14</a>: "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world."<br />
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This hymn is significant as an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_I_Survey_the_Wondrous_Cross" target="_blank">innovative departure</a> from the prevailing English practice of the day to sing only paraphrased biblical texts and metrical psalms. It was also one of the first English-language hymns to <a href="http://www.selahpub.com/Choral/ChoralTitles/425-350-WhenISurvey.html#anchor376061" target="_blank">use the personal pronoun "I"</a>, and thus to focus on <a href="https://songsandhymns.org/hymns/detail/when-i-survey-the-wondrous-cross" target="_blank">personal religious experience</a> rather than abstract doctrine. In Isaac Watts' time these were called "hymns of human composure," and were very controversial. Thus, <span style="color: #20124d;"><b><i>When I Survey</i></b></span> holds an <a href="http://www.selahpub.com/Choral/ChoralTitles/425-350-%20%20WhenISurvey.html#anchor376061" target="_blank">important place</a> in the history of sacred music, and went far to establish Watts' reputation as "the Father of English Hymnody."<br />
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In 1757, the famous English evangelist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Whitefield" target="_blank">George Whitefield</a> (1714-1770) <a href="http://www.selahpub.com/Choral/ChoralTitles/425-350-WhenISurvey.html#anchor376061" target="_blank">included</a> <span style="color: #20124d;"><b><i>When I Survey</i></b></span> in the Supplement to his popular <a href="http://books.google.com/books/about/A_Collection_of_Hymns_for_Social_Worship.html?%20%20id=CCgPAAAAIAAJ" target="_blank"><i>Collection of Hymns for Social Worship</i></a>.The next year, <span style="color: #20124d;"><b><i>When I Survey</i></b></span> first appeared in a hymnal published in the United States,<i><a href="https://archive.org/details/psalmshymnss1758bost" target="_blank">The Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs of the Old and New Testament</a> </i>(1758). Since then, it has been found in the hymnals of American denominations as varied as traditional Protestants, Roman Catholics, Mormons, Unitarians and the Assemblies of God.<br />
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<b>THE TEXT</b><br />
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In its first publication in 1707, <span style="color: #20124d;"><b><i>When I Survey</i></b></span> had five stanzas, as below, but in an enlarged edition of <i>Hymns and Spiritual Songs</i> in 1709, Watts bracketed the fourth stanza for optional use.<br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><b>When I survey the wondrous cross<br />On which the Prince of Glory died,<br />My richest gain I count but loss,<br />And pour contempt on all my pride.<br /><br />Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,<br />Save in the death of Christ my God,<br />All the vain things that charm me most,<br />I sacrifice them to His blood.<br /><br />See from His head, His hands, His feet,<br />Sorrow and love flow mingled down,<br />Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,<br />Or thorns compose so rich a crown?<br /><br />His dying crimson, like a robe,<br />Spreads o'er His body on the tree;<br />Then I am dead to all the globe,<br />And all the globe is dead to me.<br /><br />Were the whole realm of nature mine,<br />That were a present far too small;<br />Love so amazing, so divine,<br />Demands my soul, my life, my all.</b></span></blockquote>
<b>THE MUSIC</b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyLOHR5w0Mx6GSXxv8CtBIuRkNgWSfA10aPpu7nW8yJAUDyrbDzgznHboHV1AXXP_9MCo-UI7IX1YhqyA-vcJe2t-IRCd2OALHOgWnVfx9WqoubRFqRQehEdZd6ROWWpNcSbKuPemKFZU/s1600/Edward_Miller_by_Thomas_Hardy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyLOHR5w0Mx6GSXxv8CtBIuRkNgWSfA10aPpu7nW8yJAUDyrbDzgznHboHV1AXXP_9MCo-UI7IX1YhqyA-vcJe2t-IRCd2OALHOgWnVfx9WqoubRFqRQehEdZd6ROWWpNcSbKuPemKFZU/s1600/Edward_Miller_by_Thomas_Hardy.jpg" width="260" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Edward Miller</b></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><b><i>When I Survey the Wondrous Cross</i></b></span> has been set to several different tunes over the years. The hymn's inclusion in the milestone English hymnal<i> <a href="https://archive.org/details/modeance00chur" target="_blank">Hymns Ancient and Modern</a></i> (1861) sealed its <a href="http://www.selahpub.com/Choral/ChoralTitles/425-350-WhenISurvey.html#anchor376061" target="_blank">association</a> in British usage to the tune <a href="http://www.hymnary.org/tune/rockingham_miller" target="_blank"><b>ROCKINGHAM</b></a>, which was arranged by English organist and composer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Miller_%28musician%29" target="_blank">Edward Miller</a> (1735-1807) and first published in 1790. As a young man Miller was apprenticed to his father, a layer of paving stones, but ran away to study music. At one time he was a flutist in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Handel" target="_blank">Georg F. Handel’</a>s orchestra. Miller named ROCKINGHAM for his friend, patron, and twice-British Prime Minister <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Watson-Wentworth,_2nd_Marquess_of_Rockingham" target="_blank">Charles Watson-Wentworth</a>, the 2nd Marquess of Rockingham. ROCKINGHAM has been <a href="http://www.hymnary.org/tune/rockingham_miller" target="_blank">called</a> "one of the finest long-meter tunes in the history of church music."<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Lowelll Mason</b></td></tr>
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In American hymnals, <span style="color: #20124d;"><b><i>When I Survey</i></b></span> is generally set to an arrangement of <a href="http://www.hymnary.org/tune/hamburg_mason" target="_blank"><b>HAMBURG</b></a>, a tune composed by the prominent 19th-century American music director, choirmaster, and organist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowell_Mason" target="_blank">Lowell Mason</a> (1792-1872), and first published in the <a href="http://handelandhaydn.org/" target="_blank">Boston Handel and Haydn Society</a> <a href="http://www.archive.org/stream/handelh00maso#page/n1/mode/2up" target="_blank"><i>Collection of Church Music</i></a> (3d ed.) in 1825. Mason was largely responsible for introducing music into American public schools, and is considered to be the first important music educator in the United States. He also radically transformed American church music from a practice of having professional choirs and accompaniment to congregational singing accompanied by organ music. Mason stated that he arranged HAMBURG from an ancient Gregorian chant. The entire melody encompasses only a five-note range. <br />
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Another oft-heard tune associated with <span style="color: #20124d;"><b><i>When I Survey</i></b></span> is <a href="http://www.hymnary.org/tune/morte_christe_jones" target="_blank"><b>MORTE CHRISTE</b></a>, attributed to Welshman Emrys Jones. This tune is especially popular with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men%27s_chorus" target="_blank">male voice choirs</a> in the United Kingdom, and <a href="http://reformationurc.wordpress.com/tag/morte-christe/" target="_blank">particularly</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wales" target="_blank">Wales</a>. Unfortunately, this writer hasn't been able to locate sheet music for this tune.<br />
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<b>RENDITIONS</b><br />
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The following rendition of <span style="color: #20124d;"><b><i>When I Survey</i></b></span> is by the Choir of King's College, Cambridge to Edward Miller's tune ROCKINGHAM.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z9eCUqz_x5A?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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This rendition is to Lowell Mason's tune HAMBURG (though at a slower pace than originally composed), by the contemporary Christian artist <a href="http://www.fernandoortega.com/" target="_blank">Fernando Ortega</a>:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/YZlpK2cfkA0?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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Click <a href="http://youtu.be/SsBiaBTFADI" target="_blank">here</a> for another fine rendition to the tune HAMBURG, as arranged by Gilbert M. Martin, by the <a href="http://mormontabernaclechoir.org/" target="_blank">Mormon Tabernacle Choir</a>.<br />
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In the following rendition, the Welsh choir Cantorion Colin Jones sings <b><i>When I Survey</i></b> to Emrys Jones' tune MORTE CHRISTE:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wHPaMS0DpEI?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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And now for something completely different: A performance of <span style="color: #20124d;"><b><i>When I Survey</i></b></span> set to the old folk tune <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Waly,_Waly" target="_blank"><b><i>The Water is Wide</i></b></a> (also called "O Waly,Waly") and performed by Christian songwriter and worship leader <a href="http://www.kathrynscott.org/" target="_blank">Kathryn Scott</a>. In this writer's humble opinion, this tune is at least as effective in conveying the message of Watts' text as the more traditional settings, if not more so!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/u2Vq2LDvIbY?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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<b>LEGACY AND REFLECTION</b><br />
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Is Isaac Watts' <span style="color: #20124d;"><b><i>When I Survey the Wondrous Cross</i></b></span> the greatest hymn ever written? Many believe that distinction belongs to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Wesley" target="_blank">Charles Wesley</a>'s <a href="http://songsofpraises.blogspot.com/2014/02/jesus-lover-of-my-soul.html" target="_blank"><i>Jesus, Lover of My Soul</i></a>, the subject of our last post. But Wesley himself <a href="http://singingthesonginmyheart.wordpress.com/2012/04/06/when-i-survey-the-wondrous-cross/" target="_blank">stated</a> that he preferred <span style="color: #20124d;"><b><i>When I Survey</i></b></span> over all of the hymns he himself had written. The great Victorian essayist and poet <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Arnold" target="_blank">Matthew Arnold</a> considered it the “finest hymn in the English church.” As the <a href="http://www.cai.org/bible-studies/when-i-survey-wondrous-cross" target="_blank">story</a> goes, Arnold heard the hymn sung at a Presbyterian church in Liverpool, England on the last Sunday of his life, and was overheard repeating the third verse shortly before his sudden death a few days later.<br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><b><i>When I Survey the Wondrous Cross</i></b></span> remains one of the most popular hymns in English-speaking Christendom. It placed among the top five in the United Kingdom in surveys of the public taken in the 1990s. (Ian Bradley, <i>Abide With Me: The World of Victorian Hymns</i> (GIA Publications, 1997), p. 231). It was one of the first hymns sung at <a href="http://billygraham.org/" target="_blank">Billy Graham</a>’s first crusade in Los Angeles, California, in 1949. <a href="http://www.hopepublishing.com/html/main.isx?sub=27&search=1083" target="_blank">Tedd Smith</a>, one of the pianists with the Graham Crusades, said about this hymn:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
It seems to me that Isaac Watts wrote this text as if he were standing at the foot of Christ’s cross, together with the disciple John, the faithful women, Jesus’ mother, the Roman soldiers and the excited mob. When I play or sing the hymn, I try to make Watts’ ideas and words my own. With him, I cannot help but marvel at the incredulity of the scene—the “Prince of heaven” nailed to a tree by sinful men. Jesus, dying for me! For it was my sins which He bore on that terrible day.</blockquote>
(<i>Crusade Hymn Stories</i>, edited by Cliff Barrows, Hope Publishing Co., Chicago, 1967)<br />
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Here is an excellent video review of the history and significance of Watts' signature hymn:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/nEaNwP4ietM?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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<b>* * * * *</b></div>
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The simplest expressions, when moved by truth and passion, are always the most powerful. <a href="http://www.popularhymns.com/when_i_survey_the_wondrous_cross.php" target="_blank">In its 16 brief lines</a>, <span style="color: #20124d;"><b><i>When I Survey the Wondrous Cross</i></b></span> "paints a soul-stirring picture of the Saviour's death on the cross coupled with the whole-hearted response of the believer to such amazing love." Watts' eloquent words reflect the awe of knowledge that nothing within the accomplishment of any man can even begin to compare to what Christ did for each and all of us, the perfectly innocent for the utterly guilty, on the Cross. We can hardly understand the depth and magnitude of the love it took to accomplish our salvation; we can only give ceaseless thanks for it, and try to emulate it in our own lives. Truly, as was said to the Galatians (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?%20%20search=Galatians+6%3A14&version=KJV" target="_blank">Gal. 6:14</a>), the only just cause for glory is in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.<br />
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<br />Thomas Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16651679675833246170noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8749353453885923446.post-78946745572934169942014-02-17T07:43:00.000-05:002014-02-17T07:43:30.342-05:00Jesus, Lover of My Soul<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><i>[W]hen he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him,</i></span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><i><b>O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?</b> ~ <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+14%3A30-31&version=KJV" target="_blank">Matthew 14:30-31</a></i></span></span></span><br />
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With the recent <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine%27s_Day" target="_blank">Valentine's Day</a> observance here in the United States, we've heard much talk (especially from sellers of flowers and candy) about "love" and "lovers." Of course, it's the romantic sort of love that people have in mind. What many forget or fail to appreciate, however, is a kind of love that has nothing to do with attractiveness or favorites, material generosity or even mere affection. This is the love that brought the universe and every person into being, that gives everything and endlessly without condition or seeking for itself, that pursues us like no human lover ever would, and that, like no human lover's, will ever flag or fail. That, of course, is God's love for each one of us.<br />
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In a modern world dominated by the works and wants of man--especially where material goods and comforts are plenty--we lose sight of how much we need God's love, and how empty and hopeless we would be without it. When times are good, we grow smugly self-confident and feel that we need no God, or even that He doesn't really exist. Yet, when things change for the worse and we can't cope, we instinctively turn to Him for rescue. Our relationship with the Heavenly Father is thus much like that between a young adult and his or her parent: the "new grownup" strides into the world confidently, believing that the parent's guidance and support are no longer needed. But when the strength of youth has been spent, the "prodigal son" flees home to the patient, loving parent, who forgives all and once more showers the child with blessings. This relationship is beautifully expressed in what some have called the finest hymn in the English language: <span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><i><a href="http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/j/l/m/jlmysoul.htm" target="_blank">Jesus, Lover of My Soul</a></i></b></span> (sometimes also titled "<i>Jesu, Lover of My Soul</i>").<br />
<br />
<b>THE TEXT</b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMjYKt-SibrVEdGNfDN0AgEMZ4Avu73kfKv7fwl84_GdBey7fJcJ3rOYugrjGi_49EIPFGgzgMZlc5nmQftDFaZmw-vPzXYVXXaq1fd5qB6Hg3sDP38vDDTLaZD4RtVlk3ol-faFU0nwI/s1600/Reverend-Charles-Wesley-1707-1788.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMjYKt-SibrVEdGNfDN0AgEMZ4Avu73kfKv7fwl84_GdBey7fJcJ3rOYugrjGi_49EIPFGgzgMZlc5nmQftDFaZmw-vPzXYVXXaq1fd5qB6Hg3sDP38vDDTLaZD4RtVlk3ol-faFU0nwI/s1600/Reverend-Charles-Wesley-1707-1788.jpg" height="320" width="261" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charles Wesley</td></tr>
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The text of this immortal hymn was written by the great English evangelist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Wesley" target="_blank">Charles Wesley</a> (1707-1788), and was first published in his collection <a href="https://archive.org/details/hymnsandsacredpo00wesliala" target="_blank"><i>Hymns and Sacred Poems</i></a> in 1740 (it was originally titled “In Time of Prayer and Temptation”). This hymn has as its <a href="https://musicatwesley.wordpress.com/2013/09/05/" target="_blank">theme</a> the sufficiency of Christ to give comfort, power, and grace in any circumstance. In five compact stanzas, Wesley captures the essential nature of our flawed and and helpless human condition and our dependence on the grace and mercy of the Savior for salvation. He expresses that relationship by contrasting stormy seas and safe havens, defenselessness and protection, need and succor, sickness and healing, sin and and redemption:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><b>Jesus, Lover of my soul,<br />let me to thy bosom fly,<br />while the nearer waters roll,<br />while the tempest still is high:<br />hide me, O my Savior, hide,<br />till the storm of life be past;<br />safe into the haven guide,<br />O receive my soul at last.<br /><br />Other refuge have I none,<br />hangs my helpless soul on thee;<br />leave, ah! leave me not alone,<br />still support and comfort me!<br />All my trust on thee is stayed;<br />all my help from thee I bring;<br />cover my defenseless head<br />with the shadow of thy wing.<br /><br />Wilt Thou not regard my call?<br />Wilt Thou not accept my prayer?<br />Lo! I sink, I faint, I fall—<br />Lo! on Thee I cast my care.<br />Reach me out Thy gracious hand!<br />While I of Thy strength receive,<br />Hoping against hope I stand,<br />Dying, and behold, I live.<br /><br />Thou, O Christ, art all I want;<br />mor than all in thee I find;<br />raise the fallen, cheer the faint,<br />heal the sick, and lead the blind.<br />Just and holy is thy Name;<br />I am all unrighteousness;<br />false and full of sin I am;<br />thou art full of truth and grace.<br /><br />Plenteous grace with thee is found,<br />grace to cover all my sin;<br />let the healing streams abound,<br />make and keep me pure within.<br />Thou of life the fountain art,<br />freely let me take of thee:<br />spring thou up within my heart,<br />rise to all eternity.</b></span></blockquote>
Of Wesley's thousands of hymns, <span style="color: #cc0000;"><i><b>Jesus, Lover of My Soul</b></i></span> is generally considered to be his <a href="https://suite101.com/a/jesus-lover-of-my-soul-%20%20a70344" target="_blank">finest</a>. The distinguished American preacher, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ward_Beecher" target="_blank">Henry Ward Beecher</a> (1813-1887), acclaimed the hymn's greatness when he wrote:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I would rather have written that hymn of Wesley’s than to have the fame of all the kings that ever sat on the earth. It is more glorious. It has more power in it. I would rather be the author of that hymn than to hold the wealth of the richest man in New York. He will die. He is dead, and does not know it . . . But that hymn will go singing until the last trump brings forth the angel band; and then, I think, it will mount up on some lip to the very presence of God.</blockquote>
<a href="http://www.cyberhymnal.org/bio/d/u/f/duffield_g.htm" target="_blank">Dr. George Duffield</a> (1818-1888), author of <a href="http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/s/t/standufj.htm" target="_blank"><i>Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus</i></a>, similarly <a href="http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:The_Methodist_Hymn-Book_Illustrated.djvu/123" target="_blank">wrote</a> that <i>"If there is anything in Christian experience of joy and sorrow, of affliction and prosperity, of life and death, that hymn is the hymn of the ages!"</i><br />
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Many <a href="http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:The_Methodist_Hymn-Book_Illustrated.djvu/123" target="_blank">other anecdotes</a> relate how beloved is <span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><i>Jesus, Lover of My Soul</i></b></span>, and of its transformative power. Among the most heartwarming is one that purportedly <a href="http://www.stempublishing.com/hymns/biographies/wesley.html" target="_blank">occurred during the American Civil War</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
[T]he opposing armies of the Federals and Confederates on a certain occasion, were facing each other. One night a Confederate sentry was on duty when he heard the sound of singing coming from the Federal lines. He proceeded cautiously in their direction, and observed an enemy sentry pacing up and down, singing "Jesu, Lover of my soul". Bringing his gun to his shoulder, he was about to shoot, when the singer came to the words, "Cover my defenceless head With the shadow of Thy wing". This was too much for the Confederate and he lowered his weapon and allowed his would-be victim to go unharmed. Many years passed, and the Confederate, now a private gentleman, was aboard an excursion steamer on the Potomac River, when he heard an evangelist singing this hymn. Memories were aroused, and thinking he recognised the voice, he made his way to the singer and in conversation found that the evangelist was indeed the sentry he had nearly shot. Great was their mutual joy when he revealed to the singer the peril from which he had been saved in that night long ago, when on sentry duty he besought divine protection by singing, "Jesu, Lover of my soul".</blockquote>
Given these accolades, it is interesting to <a href="https://suite101.com/a/jesus-lover-of-my-soul-a70344" target="_blank">note </a>that when Charles Wesley first presented this hymn to his brother <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wesley" target="_blank">John</a>, the founder of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methodism" target="_blank">Methodism</a>, he rejected it on the <a href="https://musicatwesley.wordpress.com/2013/09/05/" target="_blank">ground</a> that it was "too sentimental" or "too pietistic and . . . intimate for public worship"!<br />
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Several accounts or theories about the circumstances in which <span style="color: #cc0000;"><i><b>Jesus, Lover of My Soul</b></i></span> was written have been advanced, none of them authenticated. One is that it was written at some point after Charles Wesley's return to England in the fall of 1736, after a brief and disappointing sojourn in the American colonies. Wesley's ship was caught in a severe storm at sea and it appeared certain that she would go down with all hands. But on December 3 the ship reached port, and Wesley noted in his journal for that date that "I knelt down and blessed the hand that had conducted me through such inextricable mazes." Others suggest that Wesley was inspired to write the hymn when, during this storm or on some other occasion, a frightened bird flew into his room and sheltered in his bosom for comfort and safety. A popular account, promoted by American evangelist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ira_Sankey" target="_blank">Ira Sankey</a> (1840-1908), is that Wesley wrote the hymn while hiding under a hedge on a farm in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_Down" target="_blank">County Down, Ireland</a> while being pursued by an angry mob that opposed his Methodist ministry--an interesting mental picture, except that, so far as is known, Charles Wesley <a href="http://irishmethodistgenealogy.wordpress.com/2011/01/27/charles-%20%20wesley-never-visited-county-down/" target="_blank">never visited northern Ireland</a>! (See <i>Kenneth W. Osbeck, 101 Hymn Stories (Kregel Publications, 1982), p. 130</i>).<br />
<br />
<b>THE MUSIC</b><br />
<br />
The history of the hymn's music is as rich as that of its text.<br />
<br />
Over the years, <span style="color: #cc0000;"><i><b>Jesus, Lover of My Soul</b></i></span> has been paired with several different tunes. In the United States, the hymn first became popularly associated with the tune <span style="color: #20124d;"><b>MARTYN</b></span>, composed by American choir director and singing-school teacher Simeon Butler Marsh (1798-1875) (of whom no image is available). In 1834, Marsh was making his weekly round of singing schools between Amsterdam and Johnston, New York, when he <a href="https://musicatwesley.wordpress.com/2013/09/05/" target="_blank">wrote this tune</a>, intending for it to be sung with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Newton" target="_blank">John Newton</a>’s hymn <a href="http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/m/t/h/mthstomb.htm" target="_blank"><i>Mary to Her Savior’s Tomb</i></a>.Because of this association, the melody is <a href="https://suite101.com/a/jesus-lover-of-my-soul-a70344" target="_blank">sometimes listed in hymnals</a> as the "Resurrection Tune." It was published in 1836 with Newton’s text in the first volume of <a href="https://archive.org/details/musicalm00has" target="_blank"><i>Musical Miscellany</i></a>, a collection by American hymn composer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hastings_%28composer%29" target="_blank">Thomas Hastings</a> (1784-1872). MARTYN was first paired with <span style="color: #cc0000;"><i><b>Jesus, Lover of My Soul</b></i></span> in 1851 in Darius E. Jones’s <a href="https://archive.org/details/teesco00jone" target="_blank"><i>Temple Melodies</i></a>. Some years after that, Hastings too discovered that MARTYN was well-suited for Wesley's text, and he began using it with great response in his new publications.<br />
<br />
Somewhat unfairly, perhaps, MARTYN has been characterized as "a bland and repetitious tune . . . with a range of just a sixth. It does not seem to capture any of the restlessness of flying or tempests referenced in the text but rather to provide the safe haven that the singer seeks in Jesus." (See <i>Music and the Wesleys, edited by Nicholas Temperley, Stephen Banfield, University of Illinois Press (2010), p. 81</i>).<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><i><b>Jesus, Lover of My Soul</b></i></span> has also been widely sung in the United States to the tune <span style="color: #20124d;"><b>REFUGE</b></span>, composed in 1862 by Joseph Perry Holbrook (1822-1888) (also of whom we have no image), an American musician whose other hymn tunes are <a href="http://wordwisehymns.com/2010/11/05/today-in-1822-joseph-holbrook-%20%20born/" target="_blank">little used today</a>. REFUGE is the tune paired with Wesley's text in the current edition of the <a href="http://www.lds.org/music/library/hymns/jesus-lover-of-my-soul?lang=eng" target="_blank">LDS (Mormon) Hymbook</a>.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8uHIFWVoiFlHt0v0KyDcE9kzz_oIhqjLgMzpDDzD9vrt6MCiIBTu0fRssvFEFNGWS7OZCpMNC8UeYHhbgXl5NRePOV-U9QBKsZjo05DrNhbIXxPA15EdTvZt8MX7qgTDu5HTAM2WDIiI/s1600/Joseph+Parry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8uHIFWVoiFlHt0v0KyDcE9kzz_oIhqjLgMzpDDzD9vrt6MCiIBTu0fRssvFEFNGWS7OZCpMNC8UeYHhbgXl5NRePOV-U9QBKsZjo05DrNhbIXxPA15EdTvZt8MX7qgTDu5HTAM2WDIiI/s1600/Joseph+Parry.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joseph Parry</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
But today, in Great Britain and just about everywhere else, <span style="color: #cc0000;"><i><b>Jesus, Lover of My Soul</b></i></span> is most popularly sung to the tune <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberystwyth_%28hymn_tune%29" target="_blank"><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>ABERYSTWYTH</b></span></a>. It was written in 1876 by Welsh composer and musician <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Parry" target="_blank">Joseph Parry</a> (1841-1903) and first published in 1879 in Edward Stephen's <i>Ail Lyfr Tonau Ac Emynau</i> (Welsh for "The Second Book of Tunes and Hymns"). Parry was at the time the first professor and head of the new department of music at University College Wales, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberystwyth" target="_blank">Aberystwyth</a>, now called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberystwyth_University" target="_blank">Aberystwyth University</a>, and so the tune is named after the Welsh coastal resort town in which Parry then lived. The D minor key and steady rhythm of this compelling tune perfectly reflect the plaintive, urgent spirit of Wesley's text.<br />
<br />
<br />
Here is the text of <span style="color: #cc0000;"><i><b>Jesus, Lover of My Soul</b></i></span> set to Parry's <b>ABERYSTWYTH</b>:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg64-LPWvixb1rnWp1icmfYLv-qle9Se5B2GbyemRme3nNKZg1VzxEX2MYA4oDgCyzV86xB5KkVB5NF0FfOwMIQMALNmRqN4JQIXNwUjGQoN4seTyde3Xir6mUSvX9YFvs-zs7Mbwn6BKw/s1600/JLMS+Aberstwyth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg64-LPWvixb1rnWp1icmfYLv-qle9Se5B2GbyemRme3nNKZg1VzxEX2MYA4oDgCyzV86xB5KkVB5NF0FfOwMIQMALNmRqN4JQIXNwUjGQoN4seTyde3Xir6mUSvX9YFvs-zs7Mbwn6BKw/s1600/JLMS+Aberstwyth.jpg" height="640" width="414" /></a></div>
<br />
Below is Wesley's text set to Marsh's <b>MARTYN</b>:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtkXrS6aDgw-Fq-X2XC1THT_JvT0Z4t9mH9jue-yqF46xreBtmpiv_K2gsvrTkgD-e09mkCNbxe_zNKkd269HB_F7kL-e55cx-QHk82xv0w_DK9S1k866U14FLu9y9PLYfi_98qth6pKs/s1600/Martyn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtkXrS6aDgw-Fq-X2XC1THT_JvT0Z4t9mH9jue-yqF46xreBtmpiv_K2gsvrTkgD-e09mkCNbxe_zNKkd269HB_F7kL-e55cx-QHk82xv0w_DK9S1k866U14FLu9y9PLYfi_98qth6pKs/s1600/Martyn.jpg" height="640" width="425" /></a></div>
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And here is the hymn set to Holbrook's <b>REFUGE</b>:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzci8fVTn4SIQCQlJiEnoV_o2NYyZJFnJnCplJperddzEPBLYJ5sPJFAz9yWRHL13hwTrdy7vydAebwUnpM9Eq7MTxkXeuzb-WeZXyK52edgv3J7uSZ8mCtFGCR3TFILcXE1KtFijEeH8/s1600/Refuge-Holbrook+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzci8fVTn4SIQCQlJiEnoV_o2NYyZJFnJnCplJperddzEPBLYJ5sPJFAz9yWRHL13hwTrdy7vydAebwUnpM9Eq7MTxkXeuzb-WeZXyK52edgv3J7uSZ8mCtFGCR3TFILcXE1KtFijEeH8/s1600/Refuge-Holbrook+3.jpg" height="640" width="394" /></a></div>
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<b>RENDITIONS</b><br />
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While <span style="color: #cc0000;"><i><b>Jesus, Lover of My Soul</b></i></span> is a beautiful and powerful hymn sung solo, congregationally, or by a choir, its first-person expression is ideally suited to a solo performance. Here is an excellent one, to the tune <b>ABERYSTWYTH</b>, by Christian singer, composer, and worship leader <a href="http://www.fernandoortega.com/" target="_blank">Fernando Ortega</a>. All stanzas are sung, and Ortega's voice, as well as the spare piano/cello accompaniment, perfectly capture the spirit of the hymn.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ffUsrMJAxeQ?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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Click <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFaiiPv-Q6I" target="_blank">here</a> for an excellent rendition by an unidentified congregation (perhaps from the British Christian music program <i>Songs of Praise</i>?), also to the tune <b>ABERYSTWYTH. </b>Uunfortunately, the embedding feature has been disabled, so the video can't be played directly in this page.<br />
<br />
The hymn as sung to the tune <b>MARTYN </b>may be somewhat less compelling, but is beautiful and endearing nonetheless. Here is a rendition by an unidentified--Mennonite?--congregation in a community sing:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Kr_Ao0tQCA0?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
<br />
The following rendition of the hymn is to Holbrook's tune <b>REFUGE</b>, performed by the <a href="http://www.altarofpraise.com/" target="_blank">Altar of Praise</a> Chorale:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/K7ijNGxMWUI?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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There are several contemporary arrangements of Jesus, Lover of My Soul, but by far the best is the one below by Christian artist <a href="http://www.chriseaton.co.uk/p8/about-chris" target="_blank">Chris Eaton</a>. His music is very heartfelt and, like <b>ABERYSTWYTH</b>, conveys the hymn's sense of urgency.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/IBnjmP0UDVQ?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>* * * * *</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b> <span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">For
thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his
distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the
blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.</span></i></span></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">~ </span></i></span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+25%3A4&version=KJV" target="_blank">Isaiah 25:4</a></span></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu-p5BFQ3Uhe63Bro9L16fNjtUANoSytIqe3PtFUHdTwdtoJPAUAqtnTGzVLkYjjTuZ11xppiRu30MuGELdMbaeteGHPJKFkyVx0B4CIgY3AVXgpX7al-xxn_Zb6sn_kUruXFZtiGLIiQ/s1600/god_our_refuge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu-p5BFQ3Uhe63Bro9L16fNjtUANoSytIqe3PtFUHdTwdtoJPAUAqtnTGzVLkYjjTuZ11xppiRu30MuGELdMbaeteGHPJKFkyVx0B4CIgY3AVXgpX7al-xxn_Zb6sn_kUruXFZtiGLIiQ/s1600/god_our_refuge.jpg" height="400" width="398" /></a></div>
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<br />Thomas Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16651679675833246170noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8749353453885923446.post-63169601743207771752013-12-22T22:07:00.000-05:002014-12-21T14:29:20.224-05:00O Come, O Come, Emmanuel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAv6mZTaEOwCu28oy9iWRfoKRoHzoMi7tvt0uP8udKUcnRRNb3s3rMey1ta-ha3z4B9eTT7J75oH7TQXQvJYG0NSSIhtJgd1eSZjqBMDYtxMYGE_aKGYZWpzQX-tbIsTUNrTIS6q7tUFo/s1600/messiah-prayer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAv6mZTaEOwCu28oy9iWRfoKRoHzoMi7tvt0uP8udKUcnRRNb3s3rMey1ta-ha3z4B9eTT7J75oH7TQXQvJYG0NSSIhtJgd1eSZjqBMDYtxMYGE_aKGYZWpzQX-tbIsTUNrTIS6q7tUFo/s1600/messiah-prayer.jpg" /></a></div>
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The term "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adven" target="_blank">Advent</a>" is an anglicized version of the Latin word <i>adventus</i>, meaning "coming." The Advent season is popularly thought of as the period (generally, the preceding month) during which Christians anticipate and prepare for the coming Christmas holiday. On a deeper level, though, it is a time for reflection on the central thread of all human history: the need of mankind for redemption from sin, and the promised coming of the Messiah to lead us out of its darkness and reconcile the world to our loving Creator.<br />
<br />
The Messiah's coming into the world, and His miraculous work of redemption, were foretold in a host of prophecies set forth in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_Bible" target="_blank">Hebrew Scriptures </a>later incorporated into the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Testament" target="_blank">Old Testament</a>. It is truly breathtaking to see how fully and accurately they <a href="http://isaiah53.org/articles/03/" target="_blank">point to Jesus Christ </a>as the promised Messiah! His birthplace, family history, nature, deeds, and even the time, manner, and purpose of his death--and His resurrection--were all foretold many hundreds of years before they became accomplished fact (at least as far back as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonian_captivity" target="_blank">Jewish captivity in Babylon</a>, 605 to 538 B.C.). They also reveal the tragic fact that he would not be recognized or accepted by the very people he came to save (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+53%3A3&version=KJV" target="_blank">Isaiah 53:3</a>), and that His glorious kingdom would be established on Earth as well as in Heaven only upon Israel's delivery at the last battle by "me whom they have pierced." (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Zechariah%2012:10&version=KJV" target="_blank">Zechariah 12:10</a>) Thus, there would be not one Advent, but two. But for a precious few disciples and followers, mankind "missed" the First Advent, though it led to our spiritual salvation. Ever since Christ's death, resurrection, and ascension into Heaven, we have been engaged in the "Second" Advent, looking forward to that "great and awesome" day (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joel%202:31&version=ESV" target="_blank">Joel 2:31 (ESV)</a>) when the Lord comes to us again in person, to establish His righteous kingdom here on Earth. And we've done so even as we've looked back, year after year, to that precious First Coming in Bethlehem.<br />
<br />
The fervent longing and anticipation of both Advents is expressed in the great hymn <a href="http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/o/c/ocomocom.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><i><b>O Come, O Come, Emmanuel</b></i></span></a>. Like the Christmas holiday itself, this moving work has a long and rich history, winding through many religious, cultural, and musical traditions.<br />
<br />
<b>THE HYMN AND ITS HISTORY</b><br />
<br />
This hymn, as we know it today in English, is based on the 12th century Latin poem "<a href="http://www.chantcd.com/lyrics/veni_veni_emmanuel.htm" target="_blank">Veni Veni Emmanuel</a>," a lyrical paraphrase--with an added chorus--of the famous "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Antiphons" target="_blank">O Antiphons</a>." The antiphons--anthems sung to a short verse--themselves date from at least the 8th century. In the medieval Christian church (and continuing today in many), each night before the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnificat" target="_blank">Magnificat</a> at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vespers" target="_blank">Vespers</a> on the seven days before Christmas, <a href="http://www.songsandhymns.org/hymns/detail/o-come-o-come-emmanuel" target="_blank">monks would sing</a> one of these antiphons. The word "antiphon" implies that the lines of each anthem were sung alternately by two choirs sitting opposite each other in the chancel. Each antiphon featured a prayer beginning with "O Come" and including one of the names or attributes of the Messiah mentioned in Scripture. Here they are in their original order, with reference to their scriptural basis:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<ul>
<li>Dec. 17: "O Sapientia, quae ex ore altissimi. . ." (O Wisdom from on high...) (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2011:2-3,%2028:29&version=KJV" target="_blank">Isaiah 11:2-3, 28:29</a>)</li>
<li>Dec. 18: "O Adonai et dux domus Israel. . ." (O Lord and leader of the house of Israel...) (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2033:22&version=KJV" target="_blank">Isaiah 33:22</a>)</li>
<li>Dec. 19: "O Radix Jesse qui stas in signum populorum. . ." (O Root of Jesse who stood as a standard of the people) (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2011:1,%2011:10&version=KJV" target="_blank">Isaiah 11:1, 10</a>)</li>
<li>Dec. 20: "O Clavis David et sceptrum domus. . ." (O Key of David and scepter of our home...) (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%20%2022:22&version=KJV" target="_blank">Isaiah 22:22</a>)</li>
<li>Dec. 21: "O Oriens, splendor lucis aeternae. . ." (O Dayspring, splendor of eternal light...) (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%20%209:2&version=KJV" target="_blank">Isaiah 9:2</a>)</li>
<li>Dec. 22: "O Rex gentium et desideratus. . ." (O longed-for King of the nations...) (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%202:4,%209:6&version=KJV" target="_blank">Isaiah 2:4, 9:6</a>)</li>
<li>Dec. 23: "O Emmanuel, rex et legiter noster. . ." (O Emmanuel, our king and lawgiver...) (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%207:14&version=KJV" target="_blank">Isaiah 7:14</a>)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<i>(For the full text of the Antiphons, click <a href="http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0374.html" target="_blank">here</a>.)</i><br />
<br />
The monks who originated these antiphons arranged them with a definite purpose: if one starts with the last title and takes the first letter of each one in ascending order—<b>E</b>mmanuel, <b>R</b>ex, <b>O</b>riens, <b>C</b>lavis, <b>R</b>adix, <b>A</b>donai, <b>S</b>apientia—the Latin phrase <i>ero cras</i> is formed, meaning, "Tomorrow, I will come."<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT4J7Pci2GT_lapiksO8RdcmeKQVEWu2a2orcx3gyv_HNA-f3qvx3W0j4V0uQd90uOYK21zfRFgecP_O-V4GFuKh91fP-xz91deawRmftbpw5xZtixrPlSBXdi2oaUJdPCy3G6QCRd1gE/s1600/The+Prophet+Isaiah.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT4J7Pci2GT_lapiksO8RdcmeKQVEWu2a2orcx3gyv_HNA-f3qvx3W0j4V0uQd90uOYK21zfRFgecP_O-V4GFuKh91fP-xz91deawRmftbpw5xZtixrPlSBXdi2oaUJdPCy3G6QCRd1gE/s200/The+Prophet+Isaiah.jpg" height="200" width="178" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The Prophet Isaiah</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The title of the climactic antiphon, as well as of the 12th century poem and the hymn we know today, is based on the prophecy contained in <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%207:14&version=KJV" target="_blank">Isaiah 7:14</a>:<i> "[T]he Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."</i> Confirming the fulfillment of this prophecy, Matthew observed: <i>"Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us."</i> (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%201:22-23&version=KJV" target="_blank">Matthew 1:22-23</a>)<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6-o0nOa8_x5NMDyoTNDmThpL-tzeo4AS1K6mmeXjS5rr1wx6VoT943Lb6xgIxWLgqAbXlIwhVjzYt_E1M179nK40ITW6kdiZGDD-hhZyYcn05kg627fqXx8xSFNlrmQNxj-yb7_S4Djk/s1600/neale3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6-o0nOa8_x5NMDyoTNDmThpL-tzeo4AS1K6mmeXjS5rr1wx6VoT943Lb6xgIxWLgqAbXlIwhVjzYt_E1M179nK40ITW6kdiZGDD-hhZyYcn05kg627fqXx8xSFNlrmQNxj-yb7_S4Djk/s400/neale3.jpg" height="400" width="242" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>John Mason Neale</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i>Veni Veni Emmanuel</i> apparently remained in obscurity until an <a href="https://www.christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/o-come-o-come-emmanuel/" target="_blank">unknown editor included it</a> in the 7th edition of the collection <i>Psalteriolum Cantionum Catholicarum</i>, published in Köln, Germany in 1710. Almost a century and a half later, the poem came to the attention of Anglican clergyman and hymn writer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mason_Neale" target="_blank">John Mason Neale</a> (1818-1866). Despite his evangelical upbringing, Neale was heavily influenced by the Anglo-Catholic <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_Movement" target="_blank">Oxford Movement</a>, and endured much opposition from those who thought him a closet Roman Catholic--he was once attacked at the funeral of a sister in a nursing order of Anglican nuns he founded, and at various times unruly crowds threatened to stone him or to burn his house. Kept by ill health (and possibly by resentment of his supposedly "Romish" tendencies) from serving in a parish, Neale divided his time between social ministry and the wardenship of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sackville_College" target="_blank">Sackville College</a>. He devoted most of the rest of his time to translating early and medieval Greek and Latin hymns for the holy days and seasons of the Christian year. Indeed, more than anyone else, Neale made English-speaking congregations aware of the centuries-old tradition of Latin, Greek, Russian, and Syrian hymns. His most widely known legacy is probably his contribution to the Christmas repertoire, particularly--in addition to <b><span style="color: #0c343d;"><i>O Come, O Come, Emmanuel</i></span></b>--his translation of <a href="http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/g/o/goodcmen.htm" target="_blank"><i>Good Christian Men, Rejoice</i></a> and his original <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing_Day" target="_blank">Boxing Day</a> carol, <a href="http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/g/o/goodking.htm" target="_blank"><i>Good King Wenceslas</i></a>.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Henry Sloane Coffin</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv1hfa3F_UpC6fx96ufcZZnjVUfj-dH3jNG0SD4_XVih0P8G2RLWAGOdssb4iHlwjst2_fBX1AjDSRRhpYX7rWBnak43-9SoNO5sSf3cdZOHyK1z2TJq49hzZV7QWG24W4eHuDjxrpipY/s1600/lacey_ta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv1hfa3F_UpC6fx96ufcZZnjVUfj-dH3jNG0SD4_XVih0P8G2RLWAGOdssb4iHlwjst2_fBX1AjDSRRhpYX7rWBnak43-9SoNO5sSf3cdZOHyK1z2TJq49hzZV7QWG24W4eHuDjxrpipY/s200/lacey_ta.jpg" height="200" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Thomas A. Lacey</b></td></tr>
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Neale <a href="http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/o_come_o_come_emmanuel-1.htm" target="_blank">translated five</a> of the seven "O Antiphons" from Latin to English, and first published these stanzas in his <a href="https://archive.org/details/mediaevalhymnsse00neal" target="_blank"><i>Mediaeval Hymns and Sequences</i></a>, in 1851 (Neale's original translation began, "Draw nigh, draw nigh, Emmanuel"). In later years and compilations, several of these stanzas and the refrain were revised and reordered by others, particularly Rev. <a href="http://www.hymnary.org/person/Lacey_TA3" target="_blank">Thomas A. Lacey</a> (1853-1931), an editor of the first edition of <a href="http://books.google.com/books/about/The_English_Hymnal.html?id=d3bslgEACAAJ" target="_blank"><i>The English Hymnal</i></a> (1906) (click <a href="http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/o_come_o_come_emmanuel-2.htm" target="_blank">here</a> to see his complete revised version), and American Presbyterian minister <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Sloane_Coffin" target="_blank">Henry Sloane Coffin</a> (1877-1954). The first five stanzas below are Neale's translation, while the last two are those most widely associated with Lacey and Coffin:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><b>O come, O come, Emmanuel,<br />And ransom captive Israel,<br />That mourns in lonely exile here<br />Until the Son of God appear.<br /><br /> </b><i>Refrain</i><b><br /> Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel<br /> Shall come to thee, O Israel.<br /><br />O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free<br />Thine own from Satan's tyranny;<br />From depths of hell Thy people save,<br />And give them victory o'er the grave.</b></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><b></b><i>Refrain</i><b><br /><br />O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer<br />Our spirits by Thine advent here;<br />Disperse the gloomy clouds of night<br />And death's dark shadows put to flight!</b><br /><i></i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><i>Refrain</i><b><br /><br />O come, Thou Key of David, come,<br />And open wide our heavenly home;<br />Make safe the way that leads on high,<br />And close the path to misery.</b><br /><i></i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><i>Refrain</i><b><br /><br />O come, O come, Thou Lord of Might,<br />Who to Thy tribes on Sinai's height<br />In ancient times didst give the law<br />In cloud, and majesty, and awe.</b></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><i>Refrain</i><b><br /><br />O come, Thou Root of Jesse’s tree,<br />An ensign of Thy people be;<br />Before Thee rulers silent fall;<br />All peoples on Thy mercy call.</b><i></i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><i>Refrain</i><b><br /><br />O come, Desire of nations, bind<br />In one the hearts of all mankind;<br />Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,<br />And be Thyself our King of Peace.</b></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><b></b><i>Refrain</i><b><br /></b></span></blockquote>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Thomas Helmore</b></td></tr>
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The haunting, E-minor-key melody VENI EMMANUEL associated with the hymn was a 15th-century processional originating in a community of French Franciscan nuns in Lisbon, Portugal <i>(Collins, Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas, p. 128 (Zondervan, 2001))</i>, which was eventually <a href="https://www.christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/o-come-o-come-emmanuel/" target="_blank">traced to a manuscript</a> in the National Library of Paris. Anglican clergyman Rev. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Helmore" target="_blank">Thomas Helmore</a> (1811-1890) <a href="http://www.hymnary.org/tune/veni_emmanuel_chant" target="_blank">adapted this chant tune</a> and published it in Part II of his <a href="http://books.google.com/books/about/Hymnal_Noted.html?id=2E3Dya5ON5oC" target="_blank"><i>The Hymnal Noted</i></a> (1854), in collaboration with John Mason Neale. It served as the underlying theme music in opening and closing scenes of the 2006 film <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0762121/?ref_=nv_sr_2" target="_blank"><i>The Nativity Story</i></a> (you can hear it in the video linked <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEvn-mki7aM" target="_blank">here</a>).<br />
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<b>REFLECTIONS</b><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><i><b>O Come, O Come, Emmanuel</b></i></span> is a matchless expression of our lost and helpless human condition, and our desperate need for deliverance by a loving Power far greater than ourselves. It is also an anthem of hope and confidence that our Messiah will indeed soon return to save us finally from the darkness of this world, and gather us into the eternal light of His presence. In singing it we both look back upon our Lord's first Advent in Bethlehem, and forward to the glorious day He appears in the clouds to take us home. Thus are wedded together all generations of mankind in the greatest story ever told.<br />
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Popular author <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ace-Collins/e/B001IGNGBU/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1" target="_blank">Ace Collins</a> aptly summed up the historical and spiritual significance of the hymn and of the medieval works from which it sprang:<br />
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For the people of the Dark Ages--few of whom read or had access to the Bible--the song was one of the few examples of the full story of how the New and Old Testament views of the Messiah came together in the birth and life of Jesus. Because it brought the story of Christ the Savior to life during hundreds of years of ignorance and darkness, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" ranks as one of the most important songs in the history of the Christian faith. <i>(Collins, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Stories-Behind-Best-Loved-Songs-Christmas/dp/0310239265" target="_blank">Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas,</a></i><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Stories-Behind-Best-Loved-Songs-Christmas/dp/0310239265" target="_blank"><i></i></a> </i><i>p. 127 (Zondervan, 2001)).</i></blockquote>
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<b> VIDEO PRESENTATIONS</b><br />
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There are many worthy video performances of <span style="color: #cc0000;"><i><b>O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. </b></i></span>Some of the following have been chosen for this post because the presentation conforms generally to the original text and music and is fairly representative of how the hymn is generally sung. Others are included because they are especially inventive and engaging, while remaining faithful to the hymn's original text, tune, and meaning. An unusually large number of videos are presented here, in order to convey the wide range of moving interpretations that this great work is subject to.<br />
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Here is a traditional rendition by an unidentified choir, with a beautiful slide show of stained glass art:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="420" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/7xtpJ4Q_Q-4?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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Perhaps you're curious what the hymn sounds like sung in the original Latin--<a href="http://www.chantcd.com/lyrics/veni_veni_emmanuel.htm" target="_blank"><i>Veni Veni Emmanuel</i></a>. Here is a lovely example, which includes the Latin text:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="420" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/xRi1GDoaQu4?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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The music to <span style="color: #cc0000;"><i><b>O Come, O Come, Emmanuel</b></i></span> is indispensable to the hymn's moving power--even without the text, as you'll hear (and see) in this instrumental version by <a href="http://thepianoguys.com/" target="_blank">The Piano Guys</a>:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="420" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ugV6QGcafEE?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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And now for something completely different: a very moving and robustly sung performance by the contemporary duo <a href="http://www.sugarlandmusic.com/" target="_blank">Sugarland</a>, from the Country Music Association Christmas special on Nov 29, 2010. The hymn comes through, if anything, even more powerfully with the rhythmic presentation and guitar/banjo accompaniment:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="420" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/vatvUREAPY0?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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Click <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lrf_X250D4" target="_blank">here</a> for a similarly moving (essentially) and anonymous solo performance accompanied on guitar, with impressive Christian artwork.<br />
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Finally, what may be the most engaging rendition of <span style="color: #cc0000;"><i><b>O Come, O Come, Emmanuel</b></i></span> you'll see and hear. The hymn is usually performed in a quiet, plaintive way, but <a href="http://www.mikemasse.com/" target="_blank">Mike Massé</a> and Wendy Jernigan have used percussion instruments and (synthesized?) strings, along with a skillfully edited, stunning presentation of Marian and Nativity art, to transform the piece into an anthem of irresistible urgency and power. Watch and experience His coming in a most compelling way!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="420" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/wP3JkFG2STo?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">MAY YOU KNOW THE JOY AND PEACE OF HIS COMING</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">IN YOUR OWN LIFE THIS CHRISTMAS!</span></b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><b>Presentation in the Temple (Philippe de Champaigne, 1648)</b></i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i><b>. . . For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people: to be a light to lighten the Gentiles</b></i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i><b>and to be the glory of</b></i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i><b>Thy people Israel.</b></i></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i><b>(<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%202:30-32&version=KJV" target="_blank">Luke 2:29-32</a>)</b></i></span></span><br />
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<br />Thomas Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16651679675833246170noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8749353453885923446.post-26095971040481884472013-11-26T15:23:00.000-05:002013-11-26T15:23:45.590-05:00Great is Thy Faithfulness<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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On November 28, here in the United States, we'll be celebrating <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving_%28United_States%29" target="_blank">Thanksgiving Day</a>. This event was instituted nationwide in 1863 by President <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln" target="_blank">Abraham Lincoln</a>, who <a href="http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/thanks.htm" target="_blank">proclaimed</a> it a day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens." Traditionally, the holiday is typified by the gathering of families and and friends around a dinner table heaped with fruits of the harvest, and the recitation of good things which the participants are thankful to have. But do we think beyond the good things or "blessings" we have, and reflect sufficiently on where they came from and why we have them?<br />
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In this context, a "blessing" is not just a desirable state of affairs or a beneficial thing or event that fell to us by chance. Rather, it has been defined in various <a href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/blessing" target="_blank">dictionaries</a> as "the bestowal of a divine gift or favour" and as "a favor or gift bestowed by God, thereby bringing happiness." Thus, the ultimate source of the benefit--our Father in Heaven--is just as important as the thing itself. Otherwise, getting it is just "good luck." Moreover, blessings are a gift, and not just a reward for good behavior. Scripture tells us that "a faithful man shall abound with blessings" (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs%2028:20&version=KJV" target="_blank">Proverbs 28:20</a>), and surely a steady faith in God and obedience to His Commandments will bring those spiritual and familial benefits that the Commandments were intended to secure to us, if not all the worldly benefits men desire. But if you think about it even for a moment, you should realize that you're blessed far beyond anything you could possibly earn or deserve, no matter how "good"--or bad--you are. If you don't feel very blessed, perhaps it's because you haven't thought about this very much, or at all.<br />
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So, WHY does our Heavenly Father bless us so abundantly, and freely? I submit that it's simply because, as John says, God is Love (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20John%204:8&version=KJV" target="_blank">John 4:8</a>). Like any good parent, His love is unconditional and beyond measure, and He wants nothing so much as our happiness. This is the core of His nature, and the way He always is. This commitment, this determination, is so great that He sent His only begotten Son into this world to ransom us from sin and death with His own blood, His own death--while we were yet sinners (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+5:8&version=KJV" target="_blank">Romans 5:8</a>)--so that we could know eternal happiness with Him. This is the greatest gift of all!<br />
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Moreover, God's love and provision for us never fail; we can count on them absolutely. As the Bible puts it, He is ever "faithful" in blessing us:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations . . . (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%207:9&version=KJV" target="_blank">Deuteronomy 7:9</a>)</i><br />
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<i>It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Lamentations%203:22-23&version=KJV" target="_blank">Lamentations 3:22-23</a>)</i><br />
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<i>But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil. (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?%20%20search=2%20Thessalonians%203:3&version=KJV" target="_blank">2 Thessalonians 3:3</a>)</i></blockquote>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9JGpv2HQz8EbV1-TImDCErsBsR9jK72sCtLhYnYjfjvdePVITTd-ZLgsdZtu_Sre1leYyjFJuYGF2soYWomBjvbLYdSdUu9VE4cSgxkIEDgcxVHkttdj8H5NpHp6lvrrtm51cVQfYpaU/s1600/Chisholm_TO.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9JGpv2HQz8EbV1-TImDCErsBsR9jK72sCtLhYnYjfjvdePVITTd-ZLgsdZtu_Sre1leYyjFJuYGF2soYWomBjvbLYdSdUu9VE4cSgxkIEDgcxVHkttdj8H5NpHp6lvrrtm51cVQfYpaU/s320/Chisholm_TO.jpg" width="216" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Thomas O. Chisholm</i></td></tr>
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One of the most moving celebrations of God's absolutely faithful love for us is the beautiful hymn <a href="http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/g/r/e/greatitf.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><i><b>Great is Thy Faithfulness</b></i></span></a>.The text was written in 1923 by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Chisholm_%28song_writer%29" target="_blank">Thomas Obadiah Chisholm</a> (1866-1960). He was born in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin,_Kentucky" target="_blank">Franklin, Kentucky </a>on July 29, 1866, little more than a year after the end of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War" target="_blank">American CIvil War</a>, in a log cabin. He <a href="http://cyberhymnal.org/bio/c/h/i/chisholm_to.htm" target="_blank">attended a small country school </a>and became its teacher at the age of only 16. At age 21, he became associate editor of Franklin's weekly newspaper. In 1893, at the age of 27, he accepted Christ as his Savior during a revival in Franklin led by Methodist evangelist Dr. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Clay_Morrison" target="_blank">Henry Clay Morrison</a>. Chisholm later moved to <a href="ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisville,_Kentucky" target="_blank">Louisville, Kentucky</a> at Morrison's request and became editor of the widely read <i>Pentecostal Herald</i>, and was himself ordained a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methodist" target="_blank">Methodist</a> minister in 1903 at the age of 36. He served a pastorate in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottsville,_Kentucky" target="_blank">Scottsville, Kentucky</a>, but had to resign after one dear due to poor health. After moving his family to a farm near <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winona_Lake,_Indiana" target="_blank">Winona Lake, Indiana</a> (also home of the famous preacher <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Sunday" target="_blank">Billy Sunday</a> and, until 1990, headquarters of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Methodist_Church" target="_blank">Free Methodist Church</a>), he became an insurance salesman. In 1916, at the age of 50, he moved his family again, this time to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vineland_Borough,_New_Jersey" target="_blank">Vineland, New Jersey</a>. He finally retired in 1953, when 87 years old, and passed away in February 1960 at the age of 93.<br />
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Chisholm had a <a href="http://www.sharefaith.com/guide/Christian-Music/hymns-the-songs-and-the-stories/great-is-they-faithfulness-the-song-%20%20and-the-story.html" target="_blank">hard adult life</a>. His health was fragile and he was sometimes confined to bed, unable to work. Between illnesses he put in extra hours at various jobs in order to make ends meet. Nevertheless, he found great comfort in the Scriptures, and in the fact that God was faithful to be his strength in time of sickness and to provide for his needs. One of his favorite Bible passages was <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?%20%20search=Lamentations%203:22-23&version=KJV" target="_blank">Lamentations 3:22-23</a>: <i>"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness.”</i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP8aka5ngELu7PNd4DSFeijtAREBjDPJqhtEq5YH8IMvK5v5cchA0f-Pt8FtNrp3tdRd_txmNOaeK26ZbjnqxKNmzOelFSBECv8WADzbvb9n7qw7PfVxXVloaV9aZheGy1KMtzroUCQW0/s1600/runyan_wm2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP8aka5ngELu7PNd4DSFeijtAREBjDPJqhtEq5YH8IMvK5v5cchA0f-Pt8FtNrp3tdRd_txmNOaeK26ZbjnqxKNmzOelFSBECv8WADzbvb9n7qw7PfVxXVloaV9aZheGy1KMtzroUCQW0/s200/runyan_wm2.jpg" width="156" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>William M. Runyan</i></td></tr>
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In addition to selling insurance, and despite poor health, Chisholm wrote during his lifetime more than 1,200 poems and hymns (including among the latter <a href="http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/h/398" target="_blank"><i>O To Be Like Thee</i></a> and <a href="http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/l/i/livingfj.htm" target="_blank"><i>Living for Jesus</i></a>). He also often wrote to friends, among them fellow Methodist minister and composer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_M._Runyan" target="_blank">William Marion Runyan</a> (1870-1957) in Kansas, who was affiliated with both the <a href="http://www.moody.edu/home/" target="_blank">Moody Bible Institute</a> and <a href="http://www.hopepublishing.com/" target="_blank">Hope Publishing Company</a>. Chisholm sent Runyan several of his poems with these letters, including the text of <span style="color: #20124d;"><i><b>Great is Thy Faithfulness</b></i></span>. Runyan found it so moving that he decided to set it to music, and the hymn was published in 1923.<br />
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For some years thereafter the hymn received little recognition, until it was <a href="ttp://www.sharefaith.com/guide/Christian-Music/hymns-the-%20%20songs-and-the-stories/great-is-they-faithfulness-the-song-and-the-story.html" target="_blank">discovered </a>by Moody professor <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Houghton" target="_blank">William Henry Houghton</a>, who loved it so much and requested it sung so often at chapel services, that the hymn became the unofficial theme song of the Institute. It was not until 1945, however, when <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Beverly_Shea" target="_blank">George Beverly Shea </a>began singing <span style="color: #20124d;"><i><b>Great is Thy Faithfulness</b></i></span> at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Graham" target="_blank">Billy Graham</a> evangelistic crusades, that the hymn was heard around the world. Despite its eventual popularity, Thomas Chisholm wrote that were no special circumstances which caused the hymn's writing—just his experience and Bible truth.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><b>Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;<br />There is no shadow of turning with Thee,<br />Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not,<br />As Thou hast been,Thou forever wilt be.<br />
</b>Refrain:<b><br /></b></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><b>Great is Thy faithfulness!<br />Great is Thy faithfulness!<br />Morning by morning new mercies I see<br />All I have needed Thy hand hath provided<br />Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!<br /><br />Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,<br />Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above;<br />Join with all nature in manifold witness,<br />To Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.</b></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><b></b><i>(Refrain)</i><b><br /><br />Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,<br />Thine own great presence to cheer and to guide;<br />Strength for today, and bright hope for tomorrow<br />Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside.</b></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><b></b><i>(Refrain)</i></span></blockquote>
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The best reflection on this great hymn that I've read <a href="http://www.worshipmatters.com/2009/08/03/a-hymn-for-ordinary-christians-great-is-%20%20thy-faithfulness/" target="_blank">observes</a> as follows:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Verse 1 speaks of God’s faithfulness revealed in his Word, and is adapted from James 1:17: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Verse 2 tells us of God’s faithfulness revealed in creation. The seasons, the sun, moon, and stars all continue on their courses perfectly, orderly, quietly – guided by God’s faithful hand, without any help from us.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Verse 3 reminds us of God’s faithfulness revealed in our lives. He pardons all our sins, fills us with his peace, assures of his presence, gives us strength, hope, and blessings to numerous to count!</i></blockquote>
<b>VIDEO PRESENTATIONS</b><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><i><b>Great is Thy Faithfulness</b></i></span> is marvelous to hear sung by a large congregation, making the rafters ring with their happy, exultant praise of our Lord for His ever-faithful goodness to us. Here's just such a presentation, by the congregation of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwark_Cathedral" target="_blank">Southwark Cathedral</a> in London, England:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/dTKIqmdfHSk?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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Click <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiQzzc41z5Q" target="_blank">here</a> for a lovely small group performance by the Blue Rock Mennonite Youth.<br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><i><b>Great is Thy Faithfulness</b></i></span> also lends itself well to solo performance, in a spirit of quiet, humble gratitude. Here is such a rendition, highlighted with stunning scenes of nature, by contemporary Christian artist <a href="http://chrisrice.com/" target="_blank">Chris Rice:</a><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ALq_XSucAt4?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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Another Christian artist, Fernando Ortega, is known for new arrangements of traditional hymns and gospel songs that are very appealing, as well as faithful to the spirit of the original works. Here is his version of <span style="color: #20124d;"><i><b>Great is Thy Faithfulness</b></i></span>: <br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/JfjcwaaTB_A?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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<b>*******</b></div>
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As you give thanks for abundant blessings this holiday--or at any time--reflect not just on the things and advantages you enjoy, but especially on the One who lovingly bestowed them on you, and who blesses you beyond all deserving. Remember that His goodness goes hand-in-hand with His faithfulness, so that you may know that blessed assurance of a place with Him in eternal peace and happiness!<br />
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<br />Thomas Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16651679675833246170noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8749353453885923446.post-71961712145121415412013-11-02T16:55:00.001-04:002015-04-04T12:01:17.588-04:00All Things Bright and Beautiful<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Autumn, in much of the United States and Canada, immerses us in brilliantly colored leaves and flowers, cool breezes, and spicy fragrances. The summer haze has given way to stunning sunsets and crystal clear nights, and a new arrangement of stars is unfolding in the sky. Geese begin their annual migration south, while squirrels, deer, and many other animals are moving about, eating all they can, and getting ready for the coming of winter. As in springtime, we thrill again to the wonder and beauty of God's creation.<br />
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There are many people who can see and even appreciate this magnificent thing we call Creation, but can't bring themselves to acknowledge that it had a Creator. They believe that it all came from nothing and resulted by pure accident. Could the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet%C3%A0_%28Michelangelo%29" target="_blank">Pieta</a> have sculpted itself? Did the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Lisa" target="_blank">Mona Lisa </a>really spring forth from random molecular collisions? Creation is infinitely more vast, complex, and compelling than these works, as wondrous as they are; how could it have been brought into being without a Mind to so masterfully organize all that matter and space, and the intricate laws that govern them?<br />
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Scripture only declares what we should already know by observation and insight: "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork." (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalms%2019:1&version=KJV" target="_blank">Psalm 19:1</a>) As St. Paul observed, "[t]he invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse . . ." (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%201:20&version=KJV" target="_blank">Romans 1:20</a>) When we pause to reflect on these profound truths, we're apt to say with the Psalmist: "When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?" (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalms%208:3&version=KJV" target="_blank">Psalm 8:3</a>)<br />
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Children seem to intuitively understand the divine authorship of Creation, and are awed--yet comfortable--with it. Perhaps this was part of the insight behind one of the sweetest Christian hymns, <a href="http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/a/l/l/t/allthing.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><i>All Things Bright and Beautiful</i></b></span></a>.<br />
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<b>THE TEXT AND ITS LEGACY</b> <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwen6zB15YxlnUqdvzUFiV1iaBuqaCnYYKVRbHnf2x2iWuYwb1QDtlUOSntiFa1PIAH9NKeLxigrg2sXaSMJoGmEQSKp4RLKcyUNu-L8ZQxXmpr8dLaO11JLDXiCiMEE7LWsxGgXtToPM/s1600/Cecil+F+Alexander.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwen6zB15YxlnUqdvzUFiV1iaBuqaCnYYKVRbHnf2x2iWuYwb1QDtlUOSntiFa1PIAH9NKeLxigrg2sXaSMJoGmEQSKp4RLKcyUNu-L8ZQxXmpr8dLaO11JLDXiCiMEE7LWsxGgXtToPM/s320/Cecil+F+Alexander.jpg" height="320" width="189" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Cecil Frances Alexander</b></td></tr>
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The text was written in 1848 by English writer and poet <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecil_Frances_Humphreys_Alexander" target="_blank">Cecil Frances Alexander</a> (1818-1895), the wife of Anglican clergyman <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Alexander_%28bishop%29" target="_blank">William Alexander</a>, who later became Primate of All Ireland. It has been <a href="http://www.lectionary.org/HymnStories/All%20Things%20Bright%20and%20Beautiful.htm" target="_blank">said</a>
that Mrs. Alexander was inspired to write this hymn when trying, with
difficulty, to teach a group of children the meaning of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostles%27_Creed" target="_blank">Apostles' Creed</a>.
When traditional teaching methods failed, she decided to write a series
of hymns based on selected passages in the Creed. She developed <span style="color: #20124d;"><b><i>All Things Bright and Beautiful</i></b></span>
from the phrase, "I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of
heaven and earth." That may be more abstract than the typical child can
appreciate, but the text of the hymn expresses this fundamental truth
in terms familiar to a child's (as well as an adult's) experience and
interest. Here are the original words (today, due to its seeming
endorsement of the class system, the stanza referring to "the rich man
in his castle" is generally omitted):<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><i>Refrain</i><br /><br /><b>All things bright and beautiful,<br />All creatures great and small,<br />All things wise and wonderful:<br />The Lord God made them all.<br /><br />Each little flower that opens,<br />Each little bird that sings,<br />He made their glowing colors,<br />He made their tiny wings.</b><br /><br /><i>Refrain</i><br /><br /><b>The rich man in his castle,<br />The poor man at his gate,<br />He made them, high or lowly,<br />And ordered their estate.</b><br /><br /><i>Refrain</i><br /><br /><b>The purple headed mountains,<br />The river running by,<br />The sunset and the morning<br />That brightens up the sky.</b><br /><br /><i>Refrain</i><br /><br /><b>The cold wind in the winter,<br />The pleasant summer sun,<br />The ripe fruits in the garden,<br />He made them every one.</b><br /><br /><i>Refrain</i><br /><br /><b>The tall trees in the greenwood,<br />The meadows where we play,<br />The rushes by the water,<br />To gather every day.</b><br /><br /><i>Refrain</i><br /><br /><b>He gave us eyes to see them,<br />And lips that we might tell<br />How great is God Almighty,<br />Who has made all things well.</b><br /><br /><i>Refrain</i></span></blockquote>
This hymn celebrates the wonders of Nature that fascinate children and adults alike: flowers, birds, mountains, rivers, trees, meadows, sunshine, sunsets, wind. But its central teaching is that "The Lord God made them all"--and made them well!<br />
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Mrs. Alexander wrote more hymns to illustrate other elements of the Apostles' Creed, including <a href="http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/o/n/onceirdc.htm" target="_blank"><i>Once in Royal David's City</i></a>, and <a href="http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/t/i/tiagreen.htm" target="_blank"><i>There Is a Green Hill Far Away</i></a>. She published these and others in a collection entitled <a href="https://archive.org/details/hymnsforlittlech00alex" target="_blank"><i>Hymns for Little Children</i></a> in 1848. It was enormously successful and went through 69 editions during her lifetime and 100 editions altogether. Mrs. Alexander donated the profits from <i>Hymns for Little Children</i> to a school for the deaf, adding to her other endeavors supporting a ministry to unwed mothers and establishing a district nursing service.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvGxLqGY3sIWjOZ5zwVPQ2BemChRWa9Oacw0OfnJHaFl6JiqIvC2q32AVP_OAWOMzunAGDzSPZePncbOy-mU294FGT1q-N2iF_DUqFXYskzjSris9fCG9gYrn1Sa46tYzQWUD0bRHcQgA/s1600/Child+praying.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvGxLqGY3sIWjOZ5zwVPQ2BemChRWa9Oacw0OfnJHaFl6JiqIvC2q32AVP_OAWOMzunAGDzSPZePncbOy-mU294FGT1q-N2iF_DUqFXYskzjSris9fCG9gYrn1Sa46tYzQWUD0bRHcQgA/s200/Child+praying.jpg" height="200" width="128" /></a><br />
It has also been <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Things_Bright_and_Beautiful" target="_blank">suggested</a> that <i><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>All Things Bright and Beautiful</b></span></i> may have been inspired by a verse from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Taylor_Coleridge" target="_blank">Samuel Taylor Coleridge</a>'s poem <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rime_of_the_Ancient_Mariner" target="_blank"><i>The Rime of the Ancient Mariner</i></a>: "He prayeth best, who loveth best; All things great and small; For the dear God who loveth us; He made and loveth all." (the verse appears in the graphic at right)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhILpUDSlGdgCLEJ-x3nfUKC27L1O0J7rjhz-v9CV8aZ03NE2OVEvNoA01IY7Ywq180D-glbfOTal-ff9P5aVQMM_IDuazSbsr-WIplSwg3ORYbHTGpa7FisWEjXqCjb62yc_MLUPE5bmE/s1600/Llanwenarth+House.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhILpUDSlGdgCLEJ-x3nfUKC27L1O0J7rjhz-v9CV8aZ03NE2OVEvNoA01IY7Ywq180D-glbfOTal-ff9P5aVQMM_IDuazSbsr-WIplSwg3ORYbHTGpa7FisWEjXqCjb62yc_MLUPE5bmE/s320/Llanwenarth+House.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Llanwenarth House</b></td></tr>
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The place of the hymn's composition also figures in its story. It has been <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Things_Bright_and_Beautiful" target="_blank">claimed</a> that Mrs. Alexander wrote <i><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>All Things Bright and Beautiful</b></span></i> while staying at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llanwenarth_House" target="_blank">Llanwenarth House</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Govilon" target="_blank">Govilon</a>, in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Usk" target="_blank">Usk</a> valley of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monmouthshire" target="_blank">Monmouthshire</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wales" target="_blank">Wales</a>. In this connection, the refrain "the purple headed mountains, the river running by," may refer to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_Loaf,_Monmouthshire" target="_blank">Sugar Loaf </a>and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blorenge" target="_blank">Blorenge </a>mountains and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Usk" target="_blank">River Usk</a> (interestingly, Llanwenarth House was <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2062223/House-inspired-All-Things-Bright-Beautiful-hymn-goes-hammer-2m.html" target="_blank">sold</a> in 2012). The place of composing the hymn's text has also been attributed to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markree_Castle" target="_blank">Markree Castle</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_Sligo" target="_blank">County Sligo, Ireland</a>, and to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minehead" target="_blank">Minehead</a>and the nearby village of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunster" target="_blank">Dunster </a>in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somerset" target="_blank">Somerset, England</a>. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKIyVTxP_pQnq6pRDOWfaByRox51aigIk3Su3u5RoOqeiOyE59_bZ94BCjrK6-UAwn-d5LHYRCOnqjJ9rgPNade_3Ck9bdcYLQ7YWRICMP-ykHlfu3mPanCJxD3PCFeOQS_Gn05hwhi30/s1600/Usk+River.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Along the River Usk</b></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2EyHolm2q_hbr9zsZ-3xELGZCW0ZzF87d3nuR6R7Fyr8UZqeh9s0-gnnk9i8b_7ZapIbuu3Sxr-0tuu3Kx8FqSqKfgJ2MsygOLHHCaewuMG0OjDfVMrxLPLv4NXqbj9Fv6pz6DTXR9F4/s1600/james-herriot-2-all-things-bright-and-beautiful.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2EyHolm2q_hbr9zsZ-3xELGZCW0ZzF87d3nuR6R7Fyr8UZqeh9s0-gnnk9i8b_7ZapIbuu3Sxr-0tuu3Kx8FqSqKfgJ2MsygOLHHCaewuMG0OjDfVMrxLPLv4NXqbj9Fv6pz6DTXR9F4/s200/james-herriot-2-all-things-bright-and-beautiful.jpg" height="200" width="135" /></a>While Mrs. Alexander's hymn continued to be widely sung through the years since its publication, it gained greater notoriety when English veterinarian <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Herriot" target="_blank">James Herriot</a>, at the suggestion of his young daughter, named his first book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Creatures-Great-Small-James-Herriot/dp/0312965788" target="_blank"><i>All Creatures Great and Small</i></a>, after a phrase in the hymn's refrain. He later wrote three more books named after the other three lines of the refrain: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Things-Bright-Beautiful-James-Herriot/dp/0312966199/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_y" target="_blank"><i>All Things Bright and Beautiful</i></a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Things-Wise-Wonderful-James-Herriot/dp/0312966555/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_y" target="_blank"><i>All Things Wise and Wonderful</i></a>, and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Made-Creatures-Great-Small/dp/0312335326/ref=pd_sim_b_3" target="_blank"><i>The Lord God Made Them All</i></a>. These best-sellers inspired a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Creatures_Great_and_Small_(film)" target="_blank">movie </a>as well as a long-running BBC <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Creatures_Great_and_Small_(TV_series)" target="_blank">television series</a>.<br />
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<b>THE MUSIC</b><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJV1XGnxDyJLfe7cQUhPk15szqi2tjKzXAZUXxVhJgUKVBqEbF0GWOZgAJ2WkwMUA657gbgUA4K9bisS2w9LbN7EY9vV3xNFwXOYGJ0f5rbZIj_U6d9C_wIvx8sSEhlpccwjV1YWWt-Jo/s1600/monk_wh.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJV1XGnxDyJLfe7cQUhPk15szqi2tjKzXAZUXxVhJgUKVBqEbF0GWOZgAJ2WkwMUA657gbgUA4K9bisS2w9LbN7EY9vV3xNFwXOYGJ0f5rbZIj_U6d9C_wIvx8sSEhlpccwjV1YWWt-Jo/s200/monk_wh.jpg" height="200" width="143" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>William H. Monk</b></td></tr>
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<i><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>All Things Bright and Beautiful</b></span></i> has been matched with several melodies over the years. The earliest (1887), and my favorite, is <b>BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL</b> by English organist, church musician, and music editor <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Monk" target="_blank">William Henry Monk</a> (1823–1889) (who also composed the tune "Eventide" used for the hymn "<a href="http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/a/b/abidewme.htm" target="_blank">Abide with Me</a>"). This tune is set forth below (only the music to the refrain and first stanza is presented here; I couldn't find a complete rendering of the text and music):<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC-_U2Ystet9VbAeDZ__zcGPxfNRT0TXVK5shrRgWMzxXH7xIOvYYiwu3EIP34gITpNajEEmRzbGw9EEyVrD8ldSoAk25yQ7-n5JW4TCd9Jd8A_UZSv_aBpeEpNecMtEukgOLlxPL4UZ8/s1600/All+Things+music+%28Monk%29.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC-_U2Ystet9VbAeDZ__zcGPxfNRT0TXVK5shrRgWMzxXH7xIOvYYiwu3EIP34gITpNajEEmRzbGw9EEyVrD8ldSoAk25yQ7-n5JW4TCd9Jd8A_UZSv_aBpeEpNecMtEukgOLlxPL4UZ8/s640/All+Things+music+%28Monk%29.jpg" height="640" width="430" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1uIvYlfnY0IwNIamoNSpDMntj1iPekHQz9Xb075tj5lZpnRog9eSG8KwRyt2seyR-p17GwpfDjnCFrNFf72ZWPXqOMh88ctOysR9S5fONtwpm7lZJgeJZOMF3MhFok8Ck1QH6aflPs3I/s1600/Martin_Shaw.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1uIvYlfnY0IwNIamoNSpDMntj1iPekHQz9Xb075tj5lZpnRog9eSG8KwRyt2seyR-p17GwpfDjnCFrNFf72ZWPXqOMh88ctOysR9S5fONtwpm7lZJgeJZOMF3MhFok8Ck1QH6aflPs3I/s200/Martin_Shaw.JPG" height="200" width="126" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Martin F. Shaw</b></td></tr>
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At least as popular today, especially in Great Britain, is the 17th-century English melody <b><a href="http://www.hymnary.org/tune/royal_oak">ROYAL OAK</a></b> as adapted and arranged in 1915 by English composer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Shaw_%28composer%29" target="_blank">Martin F. Shaw</a> (1875-1958). The original tune takes its name from a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Oak" target="_blank">tree</a> at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boscobel" target="_blank">Boscobel</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shropshire" target="_blank">Shropshire, England</a>, in which <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Charles_II_of_England" target="_blank">King Charles II</a> hid during the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Worcester" target="_blank">Battle of Worcester</a> in 1651), which concluded the English Civil War. Here is the music to Mr. Shaw's arrangement:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Goi7WiWp02_TleNb5O2tW8BWicpBIS3h21olH5YS9Vw0vDhaQvAl99TVIkj4nYf7dojtvIXKaIbpGY0Z-4YmIhxzKmuaYIt_vfNa2AQ84mDlZQIskSoCunetqB5Z1ul2w0yDBYTxXbA/s1600/All+Things.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Goi7WiWp02_TleNb5O2tW8BWicpBIS3h21olH5YS9Vw0vDhaQvAl99TVIkj4nYf7dojtvIXKaIbpGY0Z-4YmIhxzKmuaYIt_vfNa2AQ84mDlZQIskSoCunetqB5Z1ul2w0yDBYTxXbA/s640/All+Things.png" height="640" width="380" /></a></div>
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Also quite popular today, at least outside church services, is a full choral arrangement by contemporary English composer and conductor <a href="http://www.johnrutter.com/" target="_blank">John Rutter</a> (b. 1945).<br />
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<b>REFLECTIONS ON THE HYMN</b><br />
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While <i><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>All Things Bright and Beautiful</b></span></i> may have been written specifically for children, in a way that appeals to their natural curiosity and sense of wonder, it affirms some of the most profound truths of being--truths that even adults tend to forget, lost as we become in the murk of worldly distraction and self-absorption.<br />
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The Book of Genesis in the Old Testament teaches that God created the heavens and the stars, sun and moon; the seas with all its creatures; the earth and all its flora and fruit; the birds and animals; and finally, the pinnacle of His Creation, Man (and Woman!). He saw that they were all very good, and enjoined them to "be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth." (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%201:1-1:31&version=KJV" target="_blank">Genesis 1:1-1:31</a>) That God created this magnificent universe is declared joyfully in the New Testament as well as the Old (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%201:3&version=KJV" target="_blank">John 1:3</a>; <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?%20%20search=Colossians%201:16&version=KJV" target="_blank">Colossians 1:16</a>; <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%20%20%204:11&version=KJV" target="_blank">Revelation 4:11</a>). We learn that He cares for us and for all creatures and elements of His Creation, the small and the great--and especially for us, His children: "Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%206:26&version=KJV" target="_blank">Matthew 6:26</a>)<br />
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Attitudes of wonder, humility, thankfulness, and joy need to be cultivated from the earliest age, if children are to grow into spiritually healthy and happy adults. Appealing, instructive hymns like <span style="color: #20124d;"><i><b>All Things Bright and Beautiful</b></i></span> serve that purpose well. <br />
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<b>VIDEO PRESENTATIONS</b><br />
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The following rendition of <span style="color: #20124d;"><i><b>All Things Bright and Beautiful</b></i></span> is by an unidentified chorus singing William H. Monk's tune "Bright and Beautiful," accompanied by a charming video.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/-Wih1uebmxg?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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Martin F. Shaw's arrangement of "Royal Oak" is the tune sung by another unidentified choir in the following video; both the visual and musical experiences here are matchless:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/fd7h1bj2eBw?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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Featured in the following video--another gem--is John Rutter's arrangement of<i><b> </b></i><span style="color: #20124d;"><i><b>All Things Bright and Beautiful.</b></i><span style="color: black;"> The choir is not identified, but I believe it is </span></span><a href="http://www.collegium.co.uk/content/The+Cambridge+Singers/8" target="_blank">The Cambridge Singers</a>:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/WlhV80QPUuI?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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<span style="color: #274e13;"><i><b>The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,<br />and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;<br />and a little child shall lead them. ~ <a href="http://www.biblestudytools.com/esv/isaiah/11-6.html" target="_blank">Isaiah 11:6</a></b></i></span></div>
<br />Thomas Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16651679675833246170noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8749353453885923446.post-67746516027679870342013-08-21T12:57:00.000-04:002013-08-21T12:57:05.260-04:00It is Well With My Soul<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Perhaps the hardest test of faith for a Christian believer comes when he or she is struck by a tragic or profound loss: grave illness, the death of a loved one, natural disaster, family or financial turmoil, or the like. Especially when times are good, we come to expect that "following the rules" and "living right" will ensure a safe, comfortable life; that God will look with favor upon us and protect us from the calamities that befall others, especially those who don't know the truth or follow upright ways. Then, when the worst happens to us anyway, we may wonder in anguish whether God is really there. We may feel betrayed, hurt, and angry: "I don't deserve such punishment! I'm a GOOD person! What more do you want of me?"<br />
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The Old Testament <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job+1&version=KJV" target="_blank">Book of Job</a> sheds much light on this problem. In this beautiful parable, Satan suggests to God that the righteous man Job is pious only because God has blessed him with prosperity, and that if Job were deprived of everything he had, he would certainly forsake his faith and curse God. Agreeing to this test, God allows Satan to take away from Job his herds, his servants, and then most tragically, his ten children. Still Job does not curse God, but blesses His name, acknowledging Him as the source of all that we have, now or ever. (<i>"Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."</i> <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job%201:21&version=KJV" target="_blank">Job 1:21</a>) When Satan then smites Job with boils, he again refuses his wife's suggestion to "curse God, and die," replying: "What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job%202:9-10&version=KJV" target="_blank">Job 2:9-10</a>) Job was in spiritual as well as physical agony almost impossible to imagine, but he knew that a humble follower of God must be ready to accept afflictions as well as all the blessings and mercies He bestows on us. Although God had allowed Satan to do everything he wanted to Job except kill him, Job's reaction nevertheless was, “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him” (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job%2013:15&version=KJV" target="_blank">Job 13:15</a>).<br />
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More light yet is shed in the New Testament. Here we are taught to "glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope . . ." (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%205:3-4&version=KJV" target="_blank">Romans 5:3-4</a>) Even more illuminating is Christ's own teaching as recounted in the Gospel of John:<br />
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And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%209:1-3&version=KJV" target="_blank">John 9:1-3</a>)</blockquote>
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Thereupon Jesus bid the blind man go and wash in a certain pool, which he did--and received his sight! Being found by Jesus a while later, the man humbly acknowledged Him as the Son of God. The man had been a sightless beggar all his life, but his suffering had had a precious purpose: providing an occasion for Christ to manifest His power and His compassion, and for the man to see and be personally touched by his own Savior!<br />
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Maybe these truths were in the mind of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatio_Spafford" target="_blank">Horatio Gates Spafford</a> (1828-1888) when, in the mid-1870s, he wrote the words to one of Christendom's most moving and beloved hymns, <a href="http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/i/t/i/itiswell.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><i><b>It is Well With My Soul</b></i></span></a>. Although it <a href="http://www.hymnary.org/instances?qu=in%3Ainstances%20textAuthNumber%3Awhen_peace_like_a_river_attendeth_my_way&sort=hymnalTitle" target="_blank">appears</a> in hundreds of hymnals and gospel music publications, and has been a favorite among believers for well over a century, it's surprising how many people still aren't familiar with this hymn or don't know the incredible story behind it.<br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><b>THE STORY BEHIND "IT IS WELL"</b></span><br />
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If ever there was a modern-day counterpart of Job, it was Horatio Spafford.<br />
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Born in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy,_New_York" target="_blank">Troy, New York</a> in 1828, Spafford excelled academically and after law school, traveled west to Chicago where he taught law, championed the abolition of slavery, and supported the election of Abraham Lincoln. A devout Christian and Presbyterian church elder, by the 1870s Spafford had become wealthy as a senior partner in a large Chicago law firm. He and his Norwegian-born wife <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Spafford" target="_blank">Anna</a> were prominent socially and close friends with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_L._Moody" target="_blank">Dwight L. Moody</a> and other leading evangelists of the day. After the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War" target="_blank">Civil War</a> Spafford invested large sums of money (much of it borrowed) in Chicago-area real estate. At this point all seemed well indeed in the Spaffords' life.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi700cuwfwmyM5tAlSMbXx0Y5rQMyjInpJ-Gl1bbDaEfKAVbAY-JqWQUGNqaZpAVv_lRf5etVXrFVSLuNgRIKTtNb3GjCgCmaWXptkVXocl1KeIIQITaNkJcKJ2D-no2n5WCidHYZe-vus/s1600/spaffords.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi700cuwfwmyM5tAlSMbXx0Y5rQMyjInpJ-Gl1bbDaEfKAVbAY-JqWQUGNqaZpAVv_lRf5etVXrFVSLuNgRIKTtNb3GjCgCmaWXptkVXocl1KeIIQITaNkJcKJ2D-no2n5WCidHYZe-vus/s400/spaffords.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Horatio and Anna Spafford</i></b></td></tr>
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But suddenly, their fortunes took a dramatic turn for the worse. On October 8, 1871, Horatio Spafford was financially ruined--literally overnight--when the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_Chicago" target="_blank">Great Chicago Fire</a> consumed all of his real estate holdings as well as his law office. Although their finances were largely depleted, Anna and Horatio used what resources they had left to <a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/horatio-g-spafford-story-behind-hymn-is-1620793.html?cat=38" target="_blank">help</a> those who were suffering because of the Fire and assist in rebuilding the city.<br />
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In 1873, concerned about Anna's declining health, Horatio planned a vacation for his wife and four young daughters in England, where they could also take part in a revival being conducted there by Dwight Moody and musical evangelist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ira_D._Sankey" target="_blank">Ira D. Sankey</a>. Shortly before their departure the Spaffords' finances were further strained by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_of_1873" target="_blank">Panic of 1873</a>. Nevertheless, they proceeded with their plans. Anna and the children--11-year-old Anna, 9-year-old Margaret Lee, 5-year-old Elizabeth, and 2-year-old Tanetta--boarded the French steamship <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Ville_du_Havre" target="_blank">Ville du Havre</a></i> in New York. Horatio was not with them, however; he had been held back at the last minute by business developments--someone had inquired about buying one of his heavily-mortgaged properties--so he promised Anna and the children that he would follow them on another ship to England in a few days.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3q-z-FarYHqSnn1Oq_ZQLVkPUaouJSXoBFrbF5BlPR4YG_MwzTlwXg7CvATtlhEPSF7xRYBUCqU1jfI81sNmJsYYAAUS5XkF5GVY4Mcgd3qfE4XI1BNvkKN1_iVS8UE12z_53-HzagJU/s1600/Spafford+children+drowned.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3q-z-FarYHqSnn1Oq_ZQLVkPUaouJSXoBFrbF5BlPR4YG_MwzTlwXg7CvATtlhEPSF7xRYBUCqU1jfI81sNmJsYYAAUS5XkF5GVY4Mcgd3qfE4XI1BNvkKN1_iVS8UE12z_53-HzagJU/s640/Spafford+children+drowned.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>The Spafford daughters</b></i></td></tr>
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At two o'clock in the morning of November 22, 1873, the <i>Ville du Havre</i> was struck by the Scottish iron clipper <i>Loch Earn</i>, and sank in 12 minutes. Of the 273 people on board, only 47 survived. Anna Spafford was found by the <i>Loch Earn</i>'s crew dazed and clinging to a piece of wreckage, but the four Spafford girls had all drowned, despite Anna's <a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/horatio-g-spafford-story-behind-hymn-is-1620793.html?cat=38" target="_blank">frantic efforts</a> to save them. When she reached <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiff,_Wales" target="_blank">Cardiff, Wales</a> a few days later, having been picked up with other survivors by an American vessel, she cabled home, <i>"Saved alone, what shall I do?"</i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5fY2A7-ZmrNAA_ZAPaA8aPZdDNJBHEAvAM6Aj6gXgFHzSxSFThamqLzMs6KtTFP56cwjhliCRvRHDLrWyJqtkpRqoEYrjeJGNJBjlWc2qe2PnPnkj-JqqrFGKCHe49hpqWtzmdvo8fU0/s1600/The_sinking_of_the_Steamship_Ville_du_Havre.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5fY2A7-ZmrNAA_ZAPaA8aPZdDNJBHEAvAM6Aj6gXgFHzSxSFThamqLzMs6KtTFP56cwjhliCRvRHDLrWyJqtkpRqoEYrjeJGNJBjlWc2qe2PnPnkj-JqqrFGKCHe49hpqWtzmdvo8fU0/s640/The_sinking_of_the_Steamship_Ville_du_Havre.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>The Sinking of the Steamship Ville du Havre</b></i></td></tr>
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Needless to say, Horatio was wracked with grief upon learning of his daughters' fate. He immediately booked passage on another ship to join Anna in England. <a href="http://spaffordhymn.com/html/history.htm" target="_blank">According to</a> <a href="http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/196704/the.story.of.bertha.vester.htm" target="_blank">Bertha Spafford Vester</a>, another daughter born to Horatio and Anna several years later--and presumably the story she was told by her father--the captain en route called Horatio to his private cabin and told him that they were then passing the place where the <i>Ville du Havre</i> had gone down. Though at that moment he was surely passing through the "valley of the shadow of death," Horatio returned to his own cabin and wrote out the lines that would be known ever after as the hymn <span style="color: #20124d;"><b><i>It is Well With My Soul</i></b></span>. <a href="http://songsandhymns.org/hymns/detail/it-is-well-with-my-soul" target="_blank">Other accounts</a>, however, suggest that Horatio returned to his cabin and wrote simply, "It is well; the will of God be done", and completed the text based on these words about <a href="http://www.evangelicalfellowship.ca/Page.aspx?pid=4275" target="_blank">two years later</a>, when Dwight Moody and Ira Sankey were staying at the Spafford home in Chicago.<br />
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Either way, no other hymn better expresses the faith, hope, confidence, and contrite submission of the true Christian believer than this one:<br />
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<b><span style="color: #20124d;">When peace like a river, attendeth my way,<br />When sorrows like sea billows roll;<br />Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,<br />It is well, it is well, with my soul.<br /><br /><i>Refrain</i>:<br />It is well, (it is well),<br />With my soul, (with my soul)<br />It is well, it is well, with my soul.<br /><br />Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,<br />Let this blest assurance control,<br />That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,<br />And hath shed His own blood for my soul.<br /><br /><i>Refrain</i><br /><br />My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!<br />My sin, not in part but the whole,<br />Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,<br />Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!<br /><br /><i>Refrain</i><br /><br />For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:<br />If Jordan above me shall roll,<br />No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life,<br />Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.<br /><br /><i>Refrain</i><br /><br />But Lord, 'tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,<br />The sky, not the grave, is our goal;<br />Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!<br />Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul.<br /><br /><i>Refrain</i><br /><br />And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,<br />The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;<br />The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,<br />Even so, it is well with my soul.<br /><br /><i>Refrain</i></span></b></blockquote>
<i>[Bertha Spafford Vester noted years later that the fourth stanza above was added to the familiar version some time after the rest of the hymn was composed.]</i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLvWuY2ygPx9mkDBQK0qFehIMoflVlRgArDDvO4nNYj3epEOE4FtTH5BrE-i98O_pJwfesRKcGBWC2tRJb-zC7Y4jHCzWz2AxLezgmMIYtquyANfQUKSyBySvmb51PshIYWEbUCjW19pY/s1600/bliss_pp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLvWuY2ygPx9mkDBQK0qFehIMoflVlRgArDDvO4nNYj3epEOE4FtTH5BrE-i98O_pJwfesRKcGBWC2tRJb-zC7Y4jHCzWz2AxLezgmMIYtquyANfQUKSyBySvmb51PshIYWEbUCjW19pY/s200/bliss_pp.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
Gospel singer and composer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Bliss" target="_blank">Philip P. Bliss</a> (1838-1876), another close associate of Moody and Sankey, was so impressed with Spafford's life and the words of his hymn that he <a href="http://www.sharefaith.com/guide/Christian-Music/hymns-the-songs-and-the-stories/it-is-well-with-my-soul-the-song-and-the-story.html" target="_blank">composed</a> a beautiful piece of music to accompany the text. It was published by Bliss and Sankey in 1876. Bliss called the tune <i>Ville du Havre</i>, after the name of the stricken vessel on which the Spafford girls were lost. Tragically, Bliss himself died with his wife in a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtabula_River_Railroad_Disaster" target="_blank">train wreck</a> in Ohio, not long after this music was written.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgydV_qmhIxEYoSxaj0iBxnA_g-MF8ZX9LHyzaRjl1YPnR84umcrlYoER5x_WC3bRj3cVrGVBSvYoiHGPOHm1cjZUy76712awNgM2bn5jKGKGU-9H3g0UzFRUtSfsV6XhQ8-pWYohbgSig/s1600/It+is+Well.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgydV_qmhIxEYoSxaj0iBxnA_g-MF8ZX9LHyzaRjl1YPnR84umcrlYoER5x_WC3bRj3cVrGVBSvYoiHGPOHm1cjZUy76712awNgM2bn5jKGKGU-9H3g0UzFRUtSfsV6XhQ8-pWYohbgSig/s640/It+is+Well.gif" width="476" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><b>THE REST OF THE STORY</b></span><br />
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It would be satisfying to say that it was altogether well with the Spaffords after their terrible ordeals with the Great Fire, and then the loss of their daughters. But that wouldn't be quite accurate. In February 1880 their only son, Horatio Goertner Spafford, died at the age of four years, of scarlet fever. Horatio also came into increasing conflict with the Presbyterian church he attended, over theological and financial issues, and he angrily left the church amid whispers by other church members that his family's trials were divine retribution for their heresy and misconduct. Horatio's law practice suffered, as he became increasingly consumed with a belief that the second coming of Jesus, to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem" target="_blank">Jerusalem</a>, was imminent. The Spaffords formed their own Messianic sect, dubbed "the Overcomers" by the American press. In August 1881, the Spaffords set out for Jerusalem as a party of thirteen adults and three children, and set up what became known as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Colony,_Jerusalem" target="_blank">American Colony</a>.<br />
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At first this community was seen as something of a bizarre cult, and regarded with suspicion and disdain, by many Westerners living in Jerusalem. However, in time their work was blessed with success. Colony members, later joined by Swedish Christians, engaged in philanthropic work amongst the people of Jerusalem regardless of their religious affiliation and without proselytizing motives, thereby gaining the trust of the local Muslim, Jewish, and Christian populations. During and immediately after World War I, the American Colony played a critical role in supporting these communities through the great suffering on the eastern front by running soup kitchens, hospitals, orphanages, and other charitable ventures. Although the American Colony ceased to exist as a religious community in the late 1940s, individual members continued to be active in the daily life of Jerusalem. Toward the end of the 1950s, the society's communal residence was converted into the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Colony_Hotel" target="_blank">American Colony Hotel</a>. The hotel is now an integral part of the Jerusalem landscape where members of all communities in Jerusalem still meet. In 1992 representatives from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine_Liberation_Organization" target="_blank">Palestine Liberation Organization</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel" target="_blank">Israel</a> met in the hotel where they began talks that led to the 1993 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oslo_I_Accord" target="_blank">Oslo Peace Accord</a>.<br />
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Horatio Spafford died on October 16, 1888, of malaria, and was buried in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Zion_Cemetery,_Jerusalem_(Protestant)" target="_blank">Mount Zion Cemetery</a>, Jerusalem. Anna Spafford <a href="http://israelpalestineguide.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/jerusalems_american_colony-_its_photographic_legacy.pdf" target="_blank">passed away in 1923 </a>after a long illness, and is buried in the <a href="http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&GRid=52261460&CRid=2353831&" target="_blank">American Colony Cemetery</a> in Jerusalem.<br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><b>REFLECTIONS ON THE HYMN</b></span><br />
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Given the calamitous series of events that led to the penning of <span style="color: #20124d;"><b><i>It is Well With My Soul</i></b></span>, no one would be surprised if it had brimmed with woe and painful resignation over the agonizing, unfathomable will of God. Instead, the hymn is suffused with the most vibrant faith and thankfulness for Christ's sacrifice on the Cross, banishing sin and death and conferring the "blest assurance" of eternal peace and happiness with Him--despite all of the trials and defeats that burden us in this life. <span style="color: #20124d;"><i><b>It is Well</b></i></span> echoes not only Christ's agonized submission in the Garden of Gethsemane (<i>"My soul is exceeding[ly] sorrowful unto death . . . Nevertheless, not what I will, but what Thou wilt."</i> <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%2014:34-36&version=KJV" target="_blank">Mark 14:34-36</a>), but also the joyful promise of Revelation: "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%2021:4&version=KJV" target="_blank">Revelation 21:4</a>)<br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><b>VIDEO PRESENTATIONS</b></span><br />
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The first presentation below is by an unidentified choir, with beatiful nature scenes accompanying a thoroughly traditional rendition including solos on some verses:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/uZIY142gjqs?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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The next rendition is by a large congregation--more than 5,000 people, if I'm reading the notes right-- from the album, <a href="http://www.sovereigngracestore.com/Product/M4250-00-21/Together_for_the_Gospel_Live_CD.aspx" target="_blank"><i>Together for the Gospel Live</i></a>, by <a href="http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/" target="_blank">Sovereign Grace Ministries</a>. This video also features beautiful nature scenes and lyrics on the screen as the hymn is sung.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/AHe_qmo3gX4?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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My favorite solo rendition is by contemporary Christian artist <a href="http://chrisrice.com/" target="_blank">Chris Rice</a>--again, accompanied by beautiful natural and Christian imagery:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/9HLyhEdh92E?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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A still more contemporary performance by Christian singer Brian Doerksen can be viewed <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQDvTqV5Dq0" target="_blank">here</a>, weaving the story behind the hymn with the music using photographs of Horatio Spafford and his family (although it errs about the year in which their 4-year-old son died).<br />
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For an impressive video presentation on the history behind <span style="color: #20124d;"><i><b>It is Well With My Soul</b></i></span>, see the following:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/jy1bd0EfiNM?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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<b>* * * * * *</b></div>
Every one of us, regardless of how righteously we live, will experience some profound loss during our lives. Christ Himself gives us the warning, and the solution: "<span class="text John-16-33" id="en-KJV-26760">In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2016:33&version=KJV" target="_blank">John 16:33</a>) The issue isn't whether grave misfortune will or should befall us at some time, but how we deal with that challenge. Will it be with bitterness and despair? Or will it be with humble submission to the will of our sovereign Lord, thanks for the suffering He endured to purchase us from death, and firm faith in His promise of eternal peace? It's that "blest assurance" that enables us to overcome the world with Him, and to echo Horatio Spafford in declaring, "It is well with my soul."</span><br />
<span class="text John-16-33" id="en-KJV-26760"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjia18QytMWQIGOnlLzC99OA37wn47axWVg-5H2otphx42QxSohX7DEC4UeYYYYYNW9niNsBhp_bi63anHxiUsYmU98Httb4B83dWnh-IMJ3IsWJvmf_MXf73cTGY2pzS1wXrd3qu9bL_8/s1600/Jesus.hold.my.hand.3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjia18QytMWQIGOnlLzC99OA37wn47axWVg-5H2otphx42QxSohX7DEC4UeYYYYYNW9niNsBhp_bi63anHxiUsYmU98Httb4B83dWnh-IMJ3IsWJvmf_MXf73cTGY2pzS1wXrd3qu9bL_8/s400/Jesus.hold.my.hand.3.jpg" width="303" /></a></div>
<span class="text John-16-33" id="en-KJV-26760"> </span><br />
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<span class="text John-16-33" id="en-KJV-26760"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b><span style="color: #20124d;">They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.</span> ~ <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20126:5&version=KJV" target="_blank">Psalm 126:5</a></b></i></span></span></div>
<span class="text John-16-33" id="en-KJV-26760"><br /></span>Thomas Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16651679675833246170noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8749353453885923446.post-49565668331856851222013-06-11T15:25:00.001-04:002013-06-11T15:25:36.349-04:00Battle Hymn of the Republic<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLWWeZ0ajigSiIwrhxJMq7hCycFjuuBze4WcPct3USHuFw4tJXictqDhlwdNVKRxt7nNhtfA4ZD98ebHRa5Tz_jODs20w27Ybr4LN9bEttURQ6imoi0x3Su5SX1W8JZ2Rur37T5_32I7s/s1600/Irish+Brigade+Monument+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLWWeZ0ajigSiIwrhxJMq7hCycFjuuBze4WcPct3USHuFw4tJXictqDhlwdNVKRxt7nNhtfA4ZD98ebHRa5Tz_jODs20w27Ybr4LN9bEttURQ6imoi0x3Su5SX1W8JZ2Rur37T5_32I7s/s1600/Irish+Brigade+Monument+4.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Irish Brigade Monument, Antietam National Battlefield</i></b></td></tr>
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A couple of weeks ago (May 27) people in the United States observed <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day" target="_blank">Memorial Day</a>, on which we remember and honor those who gave their lives while serving our country in the armed forces. In less than a month (July 1-3), we will mark the 150th anniversary of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gettysburg" target="_blank">Battle of Gettysburg</a>, the costliest and, perhaps, most decisive engagement in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War" target="_blank">American Civil War</a>. Dark clouds of wars past, as well as the "wars and rumors of wars" today, are on our minds. For centuries, people have resorted to sacred music as a way to find meaning, comfort, and inspiration amidst the terrible trials that wars produce. Sometimes a hymn will reflect on what has been lost in past conflicts, especially fallen warriors, and at other times (and often in the same hymn) on the causes for which the war was fought.<br />
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War, for a Christian, is among the most troubling features of life in this world. We believe that our God is loving and merciful, yet untold millions of innocent human beings have been killed, maimed, starved, enslaved, and otherwise suffered in countless wars down through history, a scourge which seems to have no end. God commands us not to kill (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+20:13&version=KJV" target="_blank">Exodus 20:13</a>), but legions of professing Christians have taken up arms, and still do, to defend their homelands or way of life--and too often in the past, most regrettably, to engage in conquest and even to war against each other. We pray fervently for peace and look forward to the blessed day when "they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+2:4&version=KJV" target="_blank">Isaiah 2:3-4</a>) And yet, we "put on the whole armour of God" (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+6:11&version=KJV" target="_blank">Ephesians 6:11</a>) and sing rousing hymns that are full of military imagery, such as <i><a href="http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/o/n/onwardcs.htm" target="_blank">Onward Christian Soldiers</a></i>, <a href="http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/h/469" target="_blank"><i>Who Is on the Lord’s Side</i></a><a href="http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/h/469" target="_blank"><i>?</i></a>, and <a href="http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/s/t/standufj.htm" target="_blank"><i>Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus, Ye Soldiers of the Cross</i></a>. Ultimately, perhaps, war is but one facet of the opposition and conflict that came into the world with sin, and will be our lot until Christ returns and banishes Satan forever.<br />
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This view suffuses one of Christendom's (and the world's) most famous hymns, <a href="http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/b/a/t/batthymn.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><i>The Battle Hymn of the Republic</i></b></span></a>. This remarkable work may be less of a "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hymn" target="_blank">hymn</a>" as commonly understood, than an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthem" target="_blank">anthem</a>, for it became the inspirational "theme" music for the Union (or perhaps more precisely, the abolitionist) cause in the American Civil War. While it reflects on the issues that gave rise to that war and invokes images common to the 19th century soldier's experience, the <span style="color: #20124d;"><i>Battle Hymn</i></span> elevates the conflict to a higher, sacred plane and speaks to what many Christians believe about evil, the destiny of the world, and our role in fulfilling that destiny.<br />
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<b>THE HISTORY BEHIND THE HYMN</b><br />
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The text of the <span style="color: #20124d;"><i>Battle Hymn</i></span> was written in 1861 by <a href="http://www.juliawardhowe.org/bio.htm" target="_blank">Julia Ward Howe</a> (1819–1910), a prominent American social activist and wife of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Gridley_Howe" target="_blank">Samuel Gridley Howe</a> (1801–1876), a famed scholar in education of the blind. Samuel and Julia were both deeply involved in the anti-slavery or "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abolitionism" target="_blank">abolitionist</a>" movement, in which thousands of Americans had, for more than thirty years, worked tirelessly to end the practice of slavery in the United States through religious and moral persuasion, political agitation, and even spiriting slaves away to the Northern states and Canada from their places of bondage in the South. Many abolitionists had exhausted their fortunes and risked (and some suffered) prison or death in the cause. The movement grew out of the American religious revival known as the the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Great_Awakening" target="_blank">Second Great Awakening</a> in the 1820s and 1830s, and its most passionate and committed members were motivated by the conviction that "all people were equal in God's sight; the souls of black folks were as valuable as those of whites; [and] for one of God's children to enslave another was a violation of the Higher Law, even if it was sanctioned by the Constitution." (James Brewer Stewart, <i>Holy Warriors: The Abolitionists and American Slavery </i>(1976)). They were also convinced, as were most zealous believers since the Second Great Awakening, that the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennialism" target="_blank">Millennium</a> was near and that Jesus Christ would return to the earth soon to usher it in. That society could and should be transformed for the better in furtherance of God's purpose, and that it was the Christian's duty to help bring about that transformation, was an article of faith among religious abolitionists and social reformers of that day.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtDNS-9Q7QTff04C0eRnAkVTwFEdxZFfpyvf3ir1sK5hJbSdkq6-v2ZRXdKuOLGb37gXXnNRY35i3T1w9rR_pMUuZVn1ZcRpf-LDOvNhhBCofoOqI3PS2Nn_nJvo2CmKwtejdgD2dfM8k/s1600/John_Brown_portrait,_1859.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtDNS-9Q7QTff04C0eRnAkVTwFEdxZFfpyvf3ir1sK5hJbSdkq6-v2ZRXdKuOLGb37gXXnNRY35i3T1w9rR_pMUuZVn1ZcRpf-LDOvNhhBCofoOqI3PS2Nn_nJvo2CmKwtejdgD2dfM8k/s320/John_Brown_portrait,_1859.jpg" width="230" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>John Brown</i></td></tr>
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By the 1860s the abolition movement seemed--but for the liberation of some thousands of slaves through the "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_Railroad" target="_blank">underground railroad</a>"--to have borne little fruit but to set the Northern and Southern sections of the United States implacably against each other. The 1859 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brown%27s_Raid" target="_blank">assault on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia </a>led by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brown_(abolitionist)" target="_blank">John Brown</a>, a deeply religious abolition zealot who sought to spark a slave uprising--and which was funded in part by Samuel Gridley Howe--only hastened the rupture. Finally, five months after anti-slavery Republican Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States in November 1860, and several Southern states seceded from the Union, the conflict became an open and deadly Civil War.<br />
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According to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_Hymn_of_the_Republic" target="_blank">various accounts</a>, the <span style="color: #20124d;"><i>Battle Hymn</i></span> was born in the wake of a public review of federal troops outside Washington, D.C. in November 1861, which Julia Ward Howe attended along with her husband Samuel--now a member of President Lincoln's military <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanitary_Commission" target="_blank">Sanitary Commission</a>--and the Rev. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Freeman_Clarke" target="_blank">James Freeman Clarke</a>. At some point the passing soldiers began singing <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brown%27s_Body" target="_blank"><i>John Brown's Body</i></a>, a popular Union marching song that referred both to the famous antislavery martyr John Brown and to a certain irrepressible Union soldier of that name from Massachusetts. <i>John Brown's Body</i> itself originated from a popular religious camp-meeting song known as <a href="http://www.hymnary.org/text/tell_me_brothers_will_you_meet_me" target="_blank"><i>Canaan's Happy Shore</i> or <i>Brothers, Will You Meet Us?</i></a>, which carried an old folk tune transcribed (and often attributed to) <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Steffe" target="_blank">William Steffe</a> (1830–1890), (of whom no known image exists) and published in about 1856. Although the words to <i>John Brown's Body</i> were thought by the more genteel people of the time as rather coarse and irreverent, Mrs. Howe and her party joined in the singing as the soldiers marched by. Reverend Clarke suggested to Mrs. Howe that she write some new lyrics to the familiar tune, and she resolved to do so. As she later recalled:<br />
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I went to bed that night as usual, and slept, according to my wont, quite soundly. I awoke in the gray of the morning twilight; and as I lay waiting for the dawn, the long lines of the desired poem began to twine themselves in my mind. Having thought out all the stanzas, I said to myself, 'I must get up and write these verses down, lest I fall asleep again and forget them.' So, with a sudden effort, I sprang out of bed, and found in the dimness an old stump of a pen which I remembered to have used the day before. I scrawled the verses almost without looking at the paper. [Howe, Julia Ward. <i>Reminiscences: 1819-1899</i>. Houghton, Mifflin: New York, 1899. p. 275]</blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ0_N-r5UwxJl5RhJdI2tNJ7a0UaAZcLeF5DcCDV7zfzh-wxLrmqa53HrTfPT9OxAEcGPNVy8TfwZz0Xsg40WdUx4D7AwVk0P-7r74VqAT1JX67bdByvKs9Jip60wNcKVRRTHmHYE3nX8/s1600/battle-hymn-of-the-republic-granger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ0_N-r5UwxJl5RhJdI2tNJ7a0UaAZcLeF5DcCDV7zfzh-wxLrmqa53HrTfPT9OxAEcGPNVy8TfwZz0Xsg40WdUx4D7AwVk0P-7r74VqAT1JX67bdByvKs9Jip60wNcKVRRTHmHYE3nX8/s320/battle-hymn-of-the-republic-granger.jpg" width="248" /></a>Howe's <span style="color: #20124d;"><b><i>Battle Hymn of the Republic</i></b></span> was first published on the front page of the <a href="http://digital.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=atla;cc=atla;rgn=full%20text;idno=atla0009-2;didno=atla0009-2;view=image;seq=0151;node=atla0009-2%3A1" target="_blank">February 1862</a> issue of the <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/%E2%80%8E" target="_blank">Atlantic Monthly</a> (editor <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_T._Fields" target="_blank">James T. Fields</a> (1817-1881), who paid Mrs. Howe $5 for the piece, is credited with having given the song the name by which it is known today). By the time federal forces took the field for their spring campaigns, soldiers were already <a href="http://www.shmoop.com/battle-hymn-of-the-republic/meaning.html" target="_blank">singing</a> and marching to the song. <br />
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Since the Civil War, the <span style="color: #20124d;"><i>Battle Hymn</i></span> has become one of the USA's most beloved patriotic songs. It also appears in many <a href="http://www.hymnary.org/hymnals?qu=+in:hymnals" target="_blank">hymnals</a>, and is widely sung at church services on such national holidays as Memorial Day and Independence Day. It is probably second in eminence only to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Star-Spangled_Banner" target="_blank"><i>The Star Spangled Banner</i></a> as an American patriotic anthem.<br />
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<b>THE MEANING AND IMPORTANCE OF THE HYMN</b><br />
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One cannot fully appreciate the meaning and significance of the <span style="color: #20124d;"><i>Battle Hymn</i></span> without reading and pondering its text in detail:<br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><b>Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:<br /> He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;<br /> He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:<br /> His truth is marching on.<br /><br /> </b><i>(Chorus)</i><b><br /> Glory, glory, hallelujah!<br /> Glory, glory, hallelujah!<br /> Glory, glory, hallelujah!<br /> His truth is marching on.<br /><br /> I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps,<br /> They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;<br /> I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:<br /> His day is marching on.<br /><br /> </b><i>(Chorus)</i><b><br /> Glory, glory, hallelujah!<br /> Glory, glory, hallelujah!<br /> Glory, glory, hallelujah!<br /> His day is marching on.<br /><br /> I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:<br /> "As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal;<br /> Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,<br /> His truth is marching on."<br /><br /> </b><i>(Chorus)</i><b><br /> Glory, glory, hallelujah!<br /> Glory, glory, hallelujah!<br /> Glory, glory, hallelujah!<br /> His truth is marching on.<br /><br /> He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;<br /> He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat:<br /> Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet!<br /> Our God is marching on.<br /><br /> </b><i> (Chorus)</i><b><br /> Glory, glory, hallelujah!<br /> Glory, glory, hallelujah!<br /> Glory, glory, hallelujah!<br /> Our God is marching on.<br /><br /> In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,<br /> With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:<br /> As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,<br /> While God is marching on.<br /><br /> </b><i>(Chorus)</i><b><br /> Glory, glory, hallelujah!<br /> Glory, glory, hallelujah!<br /> Glory, glory, hallelujah!<br /> Our God is marching on.<br /><br /> He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,<br /> He is Wisdom to the mighty, He is Succour to the brave,<br /> So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of Time His slave,<br /> Our God is marching on.<br /><br /> </b><i>(Chorus)</i><b><br /> Glory, glory, hallelujah!<br /> Glory, glory, hallelujah!<br /> Glory, glory, hallelujah!<br /> Our God is marching on.</b></span><br />
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The <span style="color: #20124d;"><b><i>Battle Hymn of the Republic</i></b></span> is certainly different from most of the works featured in this or like collections of hymns, which tend to focus on the individual and his or her personal transformation through God and Jesus Christ. The <span style="color: #20124d;"><i>Battle Hymn</i></span>, on the other hand, focuses on the world and the injustice and evil within it, and its impending transformation by Christ, heralded by and working through the armies of His faithful.<br />
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The first stanza presents a clear vision of the Lord's return and the fearful judgment coming in its wake: "glory of the coming of the Lord" (<i>". . . the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."</i> <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%20%20%2024:30&version=KJV" target="_blank">Matthew 24:30</a>); "grapes of wrath" (<i>"And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God."</i> <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%2014:19&version=KJV" target="_blank">Revelation 14:19</a>); "terrible swift sword" (<i>". . . out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword . . ."</i> <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%20%20%201:16&version=KJV" target="_blank">Revelation 1:16</a>).<br />
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As has been noted <a href="http://www.godandscience.org/doctrine/battle_hymn_of_the_republic.html" target="_blank">elsewhere</a>, the main element of the chorus--"Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!"-- was probably also inspired by the book of Revelation: <i>" . . . I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God . . ."</i> (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%2019:1&version=KJV" target="_blank">Revelation 19:1</a>).<br />
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In the second and third stanzas, the Lord is seen in "the watchfires;" His righteous sentence and His fiery gospel are read in "the dim and burning lamps" and in "burnished rows of steel" (ranks of polished musket barrels). These are things characteristic of soldier life, so the hymn suggests that the army itself constitutes the Lord's "terrible swift sword" and, perhaps, the "Hero born of woman" which is to "crush the serpent" underfoot.<br />
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The fourth stanza's reference to the "trumpet that shall never call retreat" also invokes a familiar thing to soldiers of that day, the bugle, and suggests a stern call to duty and action, as well as to Judgment Day, "a day of the trumpet and alarm" (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?%20%20search=Zephaniah%201:14-16&version=KJV" target="_blank">Zephaniah 1:14, 16</a>). Tthat call is not one to be shirked or dreaded by a soldier in God's army, but embraced joyfully: "Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet!"<br />
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The fifth stanza is the true climax of the hymn, and reveals its core inspiration: Christ, the beauty and glory of his Person. As He died to free all people from sin, so should we be ready to give our lives to bring freedom to others ("As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free"). While the word "slavery" is never used in the Battle Hymn, its implication is unmistakable, given the times and the circumstances of the hymn's author and authorship.<br />
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In thus replacing the words to the earthy marching song <i>John Brown's Body</i>, Mrs. Howe clearly intended to give the soldiers' agonizing work a new and higher meaning: not just the conquest of a menacing adversary, not just restoration of the Union, but a deliverance of millions of helpless souls from the crushing evil of bondage, and redemption of the whole nation from guilt for that terrible sin. As another perceptive observer <a href="http://www.shmoop.com/battle-hymn-of-%20%20the-republic/" target="_blank">explains</a>: "[Mrs. Howe's] hymn was an attempt to frame [the soldiers'] sacrifice, to place it within the context of a great and glorious cause. . . . the advance of God’s Kingdom on earth."<br />
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<b>OUR CALL TO ACTION?</b><br />
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Perhaps it is well that the <span style="color: #20124d;"><i>Battle Hymn</i></span> omits specific reference to the racial slavery over which the Civil War was fought 150 years ago, for as it is written the hymn speaks eloquently to us today, and calls us to be defenders of the freedom God intended for all our brothers and sisters. No wonder that the <span style="color: #20124d;"><i>Battle Hymn</i></span> became an anthem of the 20th century's civil rights movement. In his final sermon delivered in Memphis, Tennessee on the evening of April 3, 1968, the night before his assassination, Dr. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr." target="_blank">Marin Luther King, Jr. </a>closed with the first line of the <span style="color: #20124d;"><i>Battle Hymn</i></span>: "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!" The <i><span style="color: #20124d;">Battle Hymn</span></i> has also come to be associated with the American cause in confronting evil and oppression around the world. It was a favorite of British Prime Minister and World War II leader <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill" target="_blank">Winston Churchill</a>, for example, and at his request was played at his funeral in 1965.<br />
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Some modern Christians are uncomfortable with the militancy of the <span style="color: #20124d;"><i>Battle Hymn</i></span> and its call to men and women for such deep and forceful involvement in worldly matters. In any such critique we need to be mindful of the social and religious currents, as well as of the desperate moral and political struggles, out of which it arose. Different conditions and attitudes prevail today, when the initiative for social reform has been largely assumed by, or ceded to, secular forces working through governments and their allied organizations. Moreover, and ominously, there is in our society a growing resistance to the involvement of religious elements in public life. Nevertheless, who but those inspired by the love and teachings of Christ are better suited to show the compassion and self-sacrifice today's world so desperately needs? Do Christian believers simply stand aside and let the relentless tide of evil (violence, class/ethnic/sectarian enmity, abortion) wash over the world while we gaze upwards waiting for deliverance? To put it in Civil War terms, should we yield the moral battlefield and ground arms until our General appears to do the fighting for us? Or do we, in Christ's name and spirit, march forward now and do what we can, until He returns, to dispel Satan's lies and extend God's deliverance to all His beleaguered children? Even if we do so with plowshares instead of swords, the <span style="color: #20124d;"><b><i>Battle Hymn of the Republic</i></b></span> would still be a perfect anthem for our efforts.<br />
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<b>VIDEOS ABOUT THE HYMN</b><br />
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It's unusual to have multiple videos telling how a hymn came to be, and of its enduring significance--but the <i><span style="color: #20124d;">Battle Hymn</span></i> is a very special piece. Here is the story of the hymn as told by the great actor and director <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orson_Welles" target="_blank">Orson Welles</a>:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4GCfM60RriM?rel=0" width="480"></iframe><br />
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Here is another fascinating video relating the story of the Battle Hymn by the great-great-great grandson of Julie Ward Howe:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/En7R6018bpE?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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<b>PERFORMANCES OF THE HYMN</b><br />
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There are many excellent (and some not so satisfactory) video renditions of the <span style="color: #20124d;"><i>Battle Hymn</i></span>. Most present only the first, second, and fifth stanzas. I suppose they're the best-known and easiest to understand and relate to for modern listeners, although the fourth stanza is just as clear and inspiring as the others, in my humble opinion.<br />
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Most modern renditions also substitute "live" for the original "die" in the third line of the fifth stanza, making the line read: "As He died to make men holy, let us <b><i>live </i></b>to make men free." It is unclear <a href="http://www.choralnet.org/view/275173" target="_blank">when and why this change</a> became commonplace. Perhaps it was in reaction against what some find to be the hymn's unsettling militancy. Others believe that "live" is preferable because it embraces commitment and potential sacrifice of one's whole being, in life as well as in death. Out of faithfulness to the original work I generally prefer its wording, but philosophically I prefer "live" for the reason just given. I find either formulation most inspiring.<br />
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Here is the video I thought most impressive musically and visually, featuring full orchestration and a large (though, unfortunately, unidentified) choir:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/p5mmFPyDK_8?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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Good solo performances on video are harder to come by. Here is a good one by <a href="http://www.judycollins.com/index1.php" target="_blank">Judy Collins</a>, joined by a U.S. Army chorus and the <a href="http://www.boyschoirofharlem.org/home-nosound.html" target="_blank">Boys Choir of Harlem</a> in a 1993 concert televised live from Washington, D.C.:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HVI2rdXl42I?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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For those who prefer a more spiritual, less military presentation, here's one featuring singer <a href="http://www.jimnabors.com/" target="_blank">Jim Nabors</a> along with images of Christ and scenes from His life and mission on Earth (in contrast to most other renditions, this one features the first, fourth, and fifth stanzas of the hymn):<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2xfZ0K4Nd68?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxXmGN1CA9yXH_jz3-S1g9zC8r9mnSB64bP7XUd93qx3MhXl2wdkYOjBy6hKY4HtNh3Vqzu3txxg5NuRU_IZFLQqVOguBhEHmkpB_7d8ZXZkn5JYoktXn5l9360cyJDGKPYX9PoBSRfuE/s1600/triumph_of_christ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxXmGN1CA9yXH_jz3-S1g9zC8r9mnSB64bP7XUd93qx3MhXl2wdkYOjBy6hKY4HtNh3Vqzu3txxg5NuRU_IZFLQqVOguBhEHmkpB_7d8ZXZkn5JYoktXn5l9360cyJDGKPYX9PoBSRfuE/s1600/triumph_of_christ.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i>Triumph
of Christ, by Gustave Dore (1868)</i></span></b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><i><b> . . . [T]hey shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven<br />with power and great glory.<br />And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet . . .</b></i></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><i>~ <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2024:30-31&version=KJV" target="_blank">Matthew 24:30-31</a></i></span></span></div>
<br />Thomas Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16651679675833246170noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8749353453885923446.post-91259606695261760102013-03-29T17:10:00.001-04:002013-04-14T16:03:43.529-04:00How Deep the Father's Love for Us<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNZ5ghiY7XSJGADWi1rd2fj5PXiXc1AKkoTgAUWUjJqYpSNOiv3HkfCMJY3E6HNosJT9ght6V5rTi3B9V-APcru3W-99IYdKuoCb-Px1dxnqyUbROPg6IDxci0vdWdwkMshXnDKa-CsD4/s1600/The+Crucifixion+(1622)+by+Simon+Vouet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNZ5ghiY7XSJGADWi1rd2fj5PXiXc1AKkoTgAUWUjJqYpSNOiv3HkfCMJY3E6HNosJT9ght6V5rTi3B9V-APcru3W-99IYdKuoCb-Px1dxnqyUbROPg6IDxci0vdWdwkMshXnDKa-CsD4/s640/The+Crucifixion+(1622)+by+Simon+Vouet.jpg" width="403" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Crucifixion (1622) by Simon Vouet</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. ~</b></span> <b><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+53:4-5&version=KJV" target="_blank">Isaiah 53:4-5</a></b></i></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Week" target="_blank">Holy Week</a>, beginning with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_Sunday" target="_blank">Palm Sunday</a> and culminating in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maundy_Thursday" target="_blank">Holy Thursday</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Friday" target="_blank">Good Friday</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Sunday" target="_blank">Easter Sunday</a>, is the climax of the Christian year. In this one short period are celebrated (among other events) Christ's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumphal_entry_into_Jerusalem" target="_blank">triumphal entry into Jerusalem</a>; the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Supper" target="_blank">Last Supper</a>; the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agony_in_the_Garden" target="_blank">Agony in the Garden</a> of Gethsemane; Christ's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrest_of_Jesus" target="_blank">arrest</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_of_Jesus" target="_blank">trial</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crucifixion_of_Jesus" target="_blank">crucifixion</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Jesus" target="_blank">death</a> in atonement for our sins; and His <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resurrection_of_Jesus" target="_blank">resurrection</a> from the dead on the third day thereafter. These events fulfilled divine promises and the visions of prophets declared many centuries before they actually happened. Nothing else written or imagined by man is so compelling a story; no other event in history is as important. It fixed the purpose of life and the destiny of man, the Earth, and all Creation.<br />
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The atonement, death, and resurrection of Jesus have inspired countless works of art, poetry, and music down through the centuries. The vastness of the subject might seem to make futile any attempt to capture it in a single work. But its essence, for man, is breathtakingly simple. As summed up in one popular hymn published in 1891, "I need no other argument, I need no other plea; It is enough that Jesus died, and that He died for me." (<a href="http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/m/y/myfaithh.htm" target="_blank"><i>My Faith Has Found a Resting Place</i></a>, by <a href="http://cyberhymnal.org/bio/h/e/w/hewitt_ees.htm" target="_blank">Eliza E. Hewitt</a>).<br />
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And composers continue celebrating that simple, powerful message today. Among the best examples is a song by <a href="http://www.stuarttownend.co.uk/" target="_blank">Stuart Townend</a>, an English Christian worship leader and writer of hymns and contemporary worship music. It's called <span style="color: #20124d;"><i><b>How Deep the Father's Love for Us</b></i></span>. This simple, three-stanza work embraces the salient events and greatest truths of Christ's passion, death on the Cross, and resurrection--especially, our redemption through them. The tune is likewise simple and graceful, and easy to sing--very much as with Christendom's most beloved traditional hymns.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="color: #20124d;">How deep the Father’s love for us,<br />How vast beyond all measure,<br />That He should give His only Son<br />To make a wretch His treasure.<br />How great the pain of searing loss -<br />The Father turns His face away,<br />As wounds which mar the Chosen One<br />Bring many sons to glory.<br /><br />Behold the man upon a cross,<br />My sin upon His shoulders;<br />Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice<br />Call out among the scoffers.<br />It was my sin that held Him there<br />Until it was accomplished;<br />His dying breath has brought me life -<br />I know that it is finished.<br /><br />I will not boast in anything,<br />No gifts, no power, no wisdom;<br />But I will boast in Jesus Christ,<br />His death and resurrection.<br />Why should I gain from His reward?<br />I cannot give an answer;<br />But this I know with all my heart -<br />His wounds have paid my ransom.</span></b></blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYNfYDbGyKL8c9tVXwVzqFzhvG8jj8wIbBKpjV_K-rF17EpKX1hmI93N3Kq4GKLNR8OaznttVg8lI-6UKGHbRKQ3PuRCXjILDQBK03iOoJ-tVqynZyZzdfMwp2KOHXABbZUZznG2Vdv3s/s1600/how_deep_the_fathers_love_for_us.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYNfYDbGyKL8c9tVXwVzqFzhvG8jj8wIbBKpjV_K-rF17EpKX1hmI93N3Kq4GKLNR8OaznttVg8lI-6UKGHbRKQ3PuRCXjILDQBK03iOoJ-tVqynZyZzdfMwp2KOHXABbZUZznG2Vdv3s/s640/how_deep_the_fathers_love_for_us.gif" width="524" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj2x1n9dagXdJs-sFuGt_97n1itjHEnOBFS_EbyfmqZt_kxUeabbWQsv80ekJ9f64xGxWYXJuRKADxvAatbvjsODlSmhor3rY2XYpa_tTrohkVNm9V5hpdkoSTrYyW3-dSY9qyl_sCUPY/s1600/wondrous-cross.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj2x1n9dagXdJs-sFuGt_97n1itjHEnOBFS_EbyfmqZt_kxUeabbWQsv80ekJ9f64xGxWYXJuRKADxvAatbvjsODlSmhor3rY2XYpa_tTrohkVNm9V5hpdkoSTrYyW3-dSY9qyl_sCUPY/s1600/wondrous-cross.jpg" /></a></div>
<b><span style="color: #20124d;"><i>How Deep the Father's Love for Us</i></span></b> is very similar in theme and approach to <a href="http://songsofpraises.blogspot.com/2013/02/my-song-is-love-unknown.html" target="_blank"><i>My Song is Love Unknown</i></a>, which was featured here a few weeks ago. Both hymns reflect the singer's sense of unworthiness and remorse, and of <i>personal </i>responsibility for the sin that brought about Jesus' suffering and death ("My sin upon His shoulders" . . . ", "It was my sin that held Him there"). The line referring to the singer's hearing his own "mocking voice/call out among the scoffers" brings powerfully home our own guilt, and brings stark immediacy to that awful scene of mob vengeance in Jerusalem almost 2000 years ago.<br />
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Another telling theme in this hymn is the unfathomable love of a Father who would sacrifice His only son to save someone who in no way deserved or had earned such a blessing, and the unutterable loneliness that Jesus must have endured as His Father "turned His face away" as His wounds earned salvation for all of us.<br />
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The third stanza of Townend's hymn testifies movingly to the redemptive, transforming power of Christ's sacrifice: "this I know with all my heart--His wounds have paid my ransom". It is a very anthem of that "blessed assurance" that the believer knows! The precious work that secured it for us, and the glory rightfully attending it, are Christ's alone.<br />
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The Scripture student may notice is how this hymn echoes the main themes of <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2053&version=KJV" target="_blank">Isaiah 53</a>, in which Jesus' suffering and death in atonement for our sins was prophesied more than 700 years before it occurred.<br />
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<i><span style="color: #660000;"><b>He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.</b></span></i></blockquote>
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<i><span style="color: #660000;"><b></b></span><span style="color: #660000;"><b>Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.</b></span></i></blockquote>
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<i><span style="color: #660000;"><b></b></span><span style="color: #660000;"><b>But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.</b></span></i></blockquote>
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<i><span style="color: #660000;"><b></b></span><span style="color: #660000;"><b>All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.</b></span></i></blockquote>
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<i><span style="color: #660000;"><b></b></span><span style="color: #660000;"><b>. . . [By] his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.</b></span></i></blockquote>
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<i><span style="color: #660000;"><b></b></span><span style="color: #660000;"><b>Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.</b></span></i></blockquote>
It's rare indeed to be able to hear from a composer's own lips how he came to write a hymn, but here is a short interview with Stuart Townend himself about the spiritual and musical processes behind <span style="color: #20124d;"><i><b>How Deep the Father's Love for Us</b></i></span>:<br />
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<i>[<b>NOTE</b>: If you subscribe to these posts by email, the videos may not appear; in that case you can see them at the <a href="http://songsofpraises.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Songs of Praises</a> web site.]</i> <br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BdVQNyQmdM4?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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Although <span style="color: #20124d;"><i><b>How Deep the Father's Love for Us</b></i></span> has now been <a href="http://www.hymnary.org/text/how_deep_the_fathers_love_for_us" target="_blank">published in at least eight hymnals</a>, including the Baptist Hymnal and the hymnal used by the Church of Ireland, there seem to be no videos currently available featuring the hymn being such in a congregational setting. But there are several good solo and small group renditions, especially this one by Stuart Townend himself. Be sure to see how the lyrics echo passages from both the Old and New Testaments concerning the sacrifice of our Lord and its meaning:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/YV2zMZ-nZ7k?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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Another fine solo performance is rendered by Christian artist and worship leader <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgazAj4lrGo" target="_blank">Fernando Ortega.</a><br />
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Here is a fine small group performance by contemporary Christian music trio <a href="http://www.phillipscraiganddean.com/" target="_blank">Phillips, Craig and Dean</a> (<i><b>warning</b></i>: the video contains some scenes from the film <a href="http://www.thepassionofchrist.com/" target="_blank"><i>The Passion of the Christ</i></a>,<span class="st"> which may be as violent and hard to watch as they are accurate in depicting Jesus' terrible suffering):</span><br />
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<span class="st"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZD8_JBWke1U?rel=0" width="640"></iframe></span><br />
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<span class="st"> May you come to know and embrace the miraculous salvation that Jesus Christ<br />purchased for <span style="color: #20124d;"><b>YOU</b></span> with His precious blood on the Cross!<br />God bless you and your family abundantly.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN-wLCBD1cavWqFmNCJR4EWwcdBwQlgKWndkhRnTCQKLXijV8iDHZPuuaDb6qNh3N_Z5zxaVSbwfcHvj-HnoPJ7yaJPh1UJd8ziMdZ69WFSq0lSvUSHX0Pd2Wqw8iE6uVsLk-0Ost62I8/s1600/He+Has+Risen!.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN-wLCBD1cavWqFmNCJR4EWwcdBwQlgKWndkhRnTCQKLXijV8iDHZPuuaDb6qNh3N_Z5zxaVSbwfcHvj-HnoPJ7yaJPh1UJd8ziMdZ69WFSq0lSvUSHX0Pd2Wqw8iE6uVsLk-0Ost62I8/s400/He+Has+Risen!.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #20124d;">For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things,<br />in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation<br />perfect through sufferings. ~</span> <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%202:10&version=KJV" target="_blank">Hebrews 2:10</a></i></b></div>
Thomas Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16651679675833246170noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8749353453885923446.post-34724284262443782972013-03-08T15:20:00.000-05:002013-03-08T22:49:02.184-05:00Be Thou My Vision<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTq0BDRY_FaFDNDgFDtMzrkkt0FlqgeePcUhnWufNpdnG6U0zM1_wORCGaNDJk5AQPh1tpPzd9f9UXV1B1uHr0J5lX1lUVIZ0fvSzg-irqnoYoz2hP-Y7Uno2Cjg3Vi-xFBhaUWIZIZI0/s1600/Statute+of+St+Patrick+on+the+Hill+of+Slane+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTq0BDRY_FaFDNDgFDtMzrkkt0FlqgeePcUhnWufNpdnG6U0zM1_wORCGaNDJk5AQPh1tpPzd9f9UXV1B1uHr0J5lX1lUVIZ0fvSzg-irqnoYoz2hP-Y7Uno2Cjg3Vi-xFBhaUWIZIZI0/s1600/Statute+of+St+Patrick+on+the+Hill+of+Slane+5.jpg" /></a></div>
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<i><b> <span style="color: #274e13; font-size: small;">Statue of St. Patrick atop the Hill of Slane</span></b></i></div>
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<i><b> <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #274e13;">[B]e not conformed to this world:<br />but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,<br />that ye may prove what [is] that<br />good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.</span></span></b></i></div>
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<i><b><span style="color: #274e13;">~</span></b></i><i><b><span style="color: #274e13;"></span> <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%2012:2&version=KJV" target="_blank">Romans 12:2</a></b></i> </div>
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If you've ever known someone whose entire life was devoted to God--every day and hour, in thought and in acts small and great--you've known something not only beautiful, but all too rare. Burdened with daily obligations to family and employers, as well as the myriad temptations and distractions today's world puts in our way, a single-minded devotion to our Lord might seem all but unattainable to the average person. Yet, this is the standard He has set: <i>"[W]hat doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?"</i> (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%2010:12-13&version=KJV" target="_blank">Deuteronomy 10:12-13</a>) Christ Himself reiterated this truth and expanded on it: <i>"[T]hou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."</i> (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%2012:30-31&version=KJV" target="_blank">Mark 12:30-31</a>)<br />
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These admonitions call us to a life of utmost devotion to our Heavenly Father and all His children. As author Charles E. Orr <a href="http://library.timelesstruths.org/texts/How_to_Live_a_Holy_Life/Devotion_to_God/" target="_blank">observed</a>, "[d]evotion to God implies ardent affection for Him—a yielding of the heart to Him with reverence, faith, and piety in every act . . ." Moreover, "[e]very devoted Christian desires to be more devoted to his God. . . . It is pleasant to feel in our hearts an ardent desire to love God more." This is a very natural and commendable desire, but one the World treats with contempt and resists fiercely.<br />
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This desire, and the challenges thrown against it, are beautifully expressed in the hymn <span style="color: #274e13;"><a href="http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/b/t/btmvison.htm" target="_blank"><i><b>Be Thou My Vision</b></i></a></span> (Irish: <i>Bí Thusa 'mo Shúile</i>). With its text and melody both springing from the green hills of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Ireland" target="_blank">Ireland</a>, it's fitting to explore it here in the month of March, when we celebrate the feast (March 17) of her patron <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Patrick" target="_blank">Saint Patrick</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSqA1ie7gETw0wR_1Ytc0pd2blS0vAJreksspRqWMSniaEKtFpm6mpcdynKBp4tqtD6u3vsOTeHcHmEmpGUujQzeugLDESTMFGhWKauyvkJcC_KE1qEMMnxTB8o3UYY29d83gcKxZg6Y8/s1600/dallan_forghaill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSqA1ie7gETw0wR_1Ytc0pd2blS0vAJreksspRqWMSniaEKtFpm6mpcdynKBp4tqtD6u3vsOTeHcHmEmpGUujQzeugLDESTMFGhWKauyvkJcC_KE1qEMMnxTB8o3UYY29d83gcKxZg6Y8/s400/dallan_forghaill.jpg" width="157" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #274e13;"><i>Dallán Forgaill</i></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXC_uRpiQFTMsNqvRBxOP1fp-pjhAYQppHxlv9NfWe3Du1H2JXWdP7X5V3n2T1YWF721JfWT1bU89vhahPuTlb8w8-HaDoapZUhKK72s8nmNtYx0DnVJ8becPKBy2opJvzRQ77Antj4Yk/s1600/st_patrick.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXC_uRpiQFTMsNqvRBxOP1fp-pjhAYQppHxlv9NfWe3Du1H2JXWdP7X5V3n2T1YWF721JfWT1bU89vhahPuTlb8w8-HaDoapZUhKK72s8nmNtYx0DnVJ8becPKBy2opJvzRQ77Antj4Yk/s400/st_patrick.JPG" width="285" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #274e13;"><i>St. Patrick</i></span></td></tr>
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<b><span style="color: #274e13;"><i>Be Thou My Vision</i></span></b> is based on an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Irish" target="_blank">Old Irish</a> text called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Be_Thou_My_Vision#Original_Text" target="_blank"><i>Rop tú mo Baile</i></a>, which is often attributed to 6th-century Christian Irish poet <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dall%C3%A1n_Forgaill" target="_blank">Dallán Forgaill</a> (ca. 530–598). This poem is <a href="http://suite101.com/article/be-thou-my-vision-a249138" target="_blank">said</a> to have been written in tribute to the missionary zeal of St. Patrick, as exemplified in an event that occurred in 433 A.D. when St. Patrick came to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill_of_Slane#The_Hill_of_Slane" target="_blank">Hill of Slane </a>in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_Meath" target="_blank">County Meath</a>, Ireland, during his work to convert that then-pagan country to Christianity. It was the night before Easter, as well as the beginning of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid" target="_blank">Druids</a>' festival of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bealtine" target="_blank">Bealtine</a> and of the spring <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_equinox" target="_blank">equinox</a>. The pagan <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%B3egaire_mac_N%C3%A9ill" target="_blank">High King Lóegaire mac Néill </a>had issued a decree that no fires were to be lit until the lighting of a blaze atop the nearby <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill_of_Tara" target="_blank">Hill of Tara</a>, which would mark the spring equinox. The first fire was not King Lóegaire's, however, but a flame (either a bonfire or candles) lit by St. Patrick to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. According to legend, the King was so impressed by St. Patrick's courage that instead of putting him to death, he allowed Patrick to continue with his missionary work throughout Ireland. As one observer has <a href="http://www.irishpage.com/songs/slane.htm" target="_blank">noted</a>,"the lighting of a fire seems trivial to us, but at the time it was equivalent to declaring war on the Druids and their pagan beliefs and war against the King of Ireland. That small act of starting a fire was a turning point in St. Patrick's life and in the history of Ireland."<br />
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<i>Rop tú mo Baile</i> remained a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Be_Thou_My_Vision#cite_note-CHymnal-1" target="_blank">part of Irish monastic tradition</a> for centuries. Finally, in 1905, it received a literal translation from Old Irish into <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Be_Thou_My_Vision#English_Translation" target="_blank">English prose</a> by Irish linguist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Elizabeth_Byrne" target="_blank">Mary E. Byrne</a> (1880-1931). In 1912 the text was first versified by Irish scholar <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_Hull" target="_blank">Eleanor H. Hull</a> (1860-1935) and published in her work <a href="http://archive.org/details/poembookofgaeltr00hulluoft" target="_blank"><i>Poem Book of the Gael</i></a>.<br />
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The tune most widely association with <b><span style="color: #274e13;"><i>Be Thou My Vision</i></span></b> is called, appropriately, <span style="color: #274e13;"><b><i>Slane</i></b></span>. It is an old Irish folk melody, named for the Hill of Slane, where occurred the confrontation between St. Patrick and King Lóegaire that supposedly inspired Dallán Forgaill's poem. Though centuries old, the melody was first published by Irish historian and music collector <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_W._Joyce" target="_blank">Patrick Weston Joyce</a> (1827-1914) in his 1909 collection, <a href="http://www.askaboutireland.ie/aai-files/assets/ebooks/267%20Old%20Irish%20Folk%20Music%20and%20Songs/267%20Old%20Irish%20Folk%20Music%20and%20Songs.pdf" target="_blank"><i>Old Irish Folk Music and Songs</i></a>, under the title "By the Banks of the Bann." Not until 1919 was this melody coupled with Eleanor Hull's versified text of <span style="color: #274e13;"><i>Be Thou My Vision</i></span>, by Leopold Dix (1861-1935) in the <a href="http://www.historichymns.com/HymnalContents.aspx?HymnalID=40" target="_blank"><i>Irish Church Hymnal</i></a>.<br />
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Here are the text and music to this beautiful hymn of devotion:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="color: #274e13;">Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;<br />Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.<br />Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,<br />Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.<br /><br />Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;<br />I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;<br />Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;<br />Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.<br /><br />Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;<br />Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;<br />Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:<br />Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.<br /><br />Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,<br />Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:<br />Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,<br />High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.<br /><br />High King of Heaven, my victory won,<br />May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!<br />Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,<br />Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.</span></b></blockquote>
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<i>[Click <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rop_tu_mo_baile.ogg" target="_blank">here</a> to hear the original Old Irish text of Rop tú mo Baile sung to the tune Slane.]</i><br />
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As <a href="https://songsandhymns.org/hymns/detail/be-thou-my-vision" target="_blank">observed</a> by the Center for Church Music, "[the hymn's] prominent theme encourages single-hearted focus and devotion to Christ. In the hymn lyrics, the poet expresses his adoration of God through the many titles he gives him: Vision, Wisdom, Word, Great Father, Power, Inheritance, High King of heaven, Treasure, bright heaven's Sun, Ruler of all. Today, we continue to sing the words of this hymn, echoing the poet's response to God's many titles. 'Thou my best thought, Thy presence my light.'"<br />
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There are many good renditions of <b><span style="color: #274e13;"><i>Be Thou My Vision</i></span></b> available for viewing and listening on the Internet, and that makes it hard to select just a handful to present here. I thought the four below were strong in musical and video quality, and capture the consuming devotional spirit of the hymn. <i>[<b>NOTE</b>: If you subscribe to these posts by email, the videos may not appear; in that case you can see them at the <a href="http://songsofpraises.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Songs of Praises</a> web site.]</i><br />
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The first is a beautiful choral presentation by the <a href="http://www.georgefox.edu/" target="_blank">George Fox University</a> Concert Choir and String Ensemble, with a video showing scenes of the students' missionary and outreach work--just what it means to let God "be your vision"!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uLMTPERnFIw?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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The next choral arrangement, by Lisa Campagnoli Bloom and performed by her as soloist with South Bend, Indiana's <a href="http://www.vesperchorale.org/" target="_blank">Vesper Chorale</a>, is just a little more inventive--and just as moving:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/KLhka3z7pOA?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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Here is an excellent contemporary performance by the Christian group <a href="http://www.4him.net/" target="_blank">4Him</a>, featuring Irish instrumentation as well as lovely artwork and photography:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/IQxHvBtR7hs?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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The live performance below, by Irish Christian singer and songwriter <a href="http://robinmark.com/" target="_blank">Robin Mark</a>, pairs the hymn with an inspiring pictorial review of some of history's greatest Christian evangelists: <br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6vcQFZyIrFs?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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True devotion to the Lord is a formidable challenge in an age of godlessness and social depravity. Nevertheless, Scripture and history are replete with examples of people, many otherwise unremarkable, who lived God-centered lives in the midst of such conditions. It's done by countless people everywhere, even today. Our God would not lay upon us an expectation that we could not fulfill. Every person has within him- or herself the capacity to walk steadily hand-in-hand with the Lord. Doing so only requires that we develop the inner discipline, patience, and courage that spring from and nourish the defining qualities of the true believer: faith, hope, and selfless love. Let us strive to make Christ our Vision every moment of every day.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZbN-N9Nd5hxNzBBDw-K8lb5myK9TfUB5fH3qAEfYMcPtv8pzBOYk8wPP6TpXdt3zbuHDyuttsuqhR2fJ_JOTNOM336RmM9DLfnVlS51gqpyhfGYWS7CsfYgS2zT0nqHfyHgNk-jJiGok/s1600/sacred_heart_med.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZbN-N9Nd5hxNzBBDw-K8lb5myK9TfUB5fH3qAEfYMcPtv8pzBOYk8wPP6TpXdt3zbuHDyuttsuqhR2fJ_JOTNOM336RmM9DLfnVlS51gqpyhfGYWS7CsfYgS2zT0nqHfyHgNk-jJiGok/s400/sacred_heart_med.jpeg" width="250" /></a> </div>
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<i><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #274e13;">I am crucified with Christ:<br />nevertheless I live; yet not I,<br />but Christ liveth in me:<br />and the life which I now live in the flesh<br />I live by the faith of the Son of God,<br />who loved me,<br />and gave himself for me.</span></span><br />~ <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians%202:20&version=KJV" target="_blank">Galatians 2:20</a></b></i></div>
Thomas Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16651679675833246170noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8749353453885923446.post-53888889071134243382013-02-13T09:19:00.000-05:002013-02-13T09:19:48.485-05:00My Song is Love Unknown<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: small;"><i><b><span class="text Luke-15-4" id="en-KJV-25593">What man of you, having
an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them,<br />doth not leave the ninety and
nine in the wilderness,<br />and go after that which is lost, until he find
it? ~ <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2015:4&version=KJV" target="_blank">Luke 15:4</a></span></b></i></span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>* * * * *</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><b><span style="color: #351c75;">I am the good shepherd:<br />the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.</span> <span style="color: #351c75;">~</span> <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%2010:11&version=KJV" target="_blank">John 10:11</a></b></i></span></span></div>
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It's mid-February, the most common time for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ash_Wednesday" target="_blank">Ash Wednesday</a> (February 13 this year) and the beginning of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lent" target="_blank">Lent</a>. This is the period each year when believers traditionally engage in prayer, repentance, and self-denial in preparation to mark the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ during <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Week" target="_blank">Holy Week </a>and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Sunday" target="_blank">Easter Sunday</a>. By historical coincidence, perhaps, people in many countries around the world also observe <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine%27s_Day" target="_blank">St. Valentine's Day</a> on February 14th. These observances wouldn't seem to have much in common, unless one remembers that the death and resurrection of Jesus climax the <span style="color: #990000;"><b><i>greatest love story ever told</i></b></span>--the one that makes the difference between eternal death and eternal life for each and every one of us.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Christ Enters Jerusalem</i></td></tr>
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Most people in the western world are familiar with the story of Christ's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumphal_entry_into_Jerusalem" target="_blank">triumphal entry into Jerusalem</a> on a donkey; His <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Supper" target="_blank">Last Supper</a> with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Apostles#The_Twelve_Apostles" target="_blank">Disciples</a>; His <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gethsemane" target="_blank">agony in the Garden of Gethsemane</a>; His <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betrayal_of_Christ" target="_blank">betrayal </a>by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judas_Iscariot" target="_blank">Judas Iscariot</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrest_of_Jesus" target="_blank">arrest</a> by the Temple guards; his "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_of_Jesus" target="_blank">trials</a>" before the Sanhedrin and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilate%27s_court" target="_blank">Pontius Pilate</a>; Pilate's acquiescence in the mob's demand that he free the murderer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barabbas" target="_blank">Barabbas</a> instead of Jesus; Christ's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crucifixion_of_Jesus" target="_blank">crucifixion</a>, death, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burial_of_Jesus" target="_blank">burial</a> in Joseph's tomb; and His <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resurrection_of_Jesus" target="_blank">Resurrection</a> on the third day thereafter. But, perhaps largely due to the frequency of its hearing, even Christians tend to approach it as just that: a colorful, interesting story involving things done and said by Jesus and those around him over 2000 years ago, the stuff of epic movies. Too often we don't really experience the story personally, or fully appreciate our own role in it--or that it goes on, even now.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT0SCK_72bhl2Jf9TEkDVBodFoKF7BlkYhC5psM3mAjO8oi1CPamyNhD8vmFbyEhL7osYITq4rLMqTkD6Ao673JODqRiZ25VI72yJXgPuX7o-PMNSl8j1M_OyUaNUvRpAit2XGMig3n5s/s1600/bloch_agony_in_the_garden_s1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT0SCK_72bhl2Jf9TEkDVBodFoKF7BlkYhC5psM3mAjO8oi1CPamyNhD8vmFbyEhL7osYITq4rLMqTkD6Ao673JODqRiZ25VI72yJXgPuX7o-PMNSl8j1M_OyUaNUvRpAit2XGMig3n5s/s400/bloch_agony_in_the_garden_s1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Agony In The Garden, by Carl Bloch</i></td></tr>
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To do so, we have to understand the purpose and the force behind everything that happened that fateful week, and that it was all for us--not just for mankind collectively, but for each one of us, individually. The purpose was our own salvation from sin, so that we could share eternal happiness with our Father and Lord. The force was Love--a love vaster than the Universe and older than Time, yet as immediate and personal as you and I this moment; a love that satisfies both absolute justice and infinite mercy. It is a love that extends to all people and to each individual, as if you were the only person ever born who needed salvation from sin, as if Christ came to this earth, lived and taught, suffered and died on the cross, and rose from the dead specifically to save <b>[your name here]</b> alone (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+15:4&version=KJV" target="_blank">Luke 15:4, 7</a>). It was for YOU He did all this, and to pay for all YOUR wrongs, great or small. It was done not grudgingly, but willingly, even before you were born or had ever heard of Him, and regardless of anything and everything you would ever do, no matter how deep your ignorance or contempt of Him. It is a love beyond rational comprehension and entirely unconditional, having nothing to do with deserving or worthiness--except His.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiSWL_e23Jzcoy4Qx-cXkJeOs41-5eO0ynkIeBqhGMS55C2HJ_KfLyLTM8X8KunaWK1IC0LhW67hMmrFWk0-Y4oid71yNyy9aG_0EQUxVyzeYOqJ7JyL-ryFZs1j6NRFdTSYD5s5yOZDE/s1600/Jesus+before+Pilate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="417" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiSWL_e23Jzcoy4Qx-cXkJeOs41-5eO0ynkIeBqhGMS55C2HJ_KfLyLTM8X8KunaWK1IC0LhW67hMmrFWk0-Y4oid71yNyy9aG_0EQUxVyzeYOqJ7JyL-ryFZs1j6NRFdTSYD5s5yOZDE/s640/Jesus+before+Pilate.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Christ in Front of Pilate, by Mihály Munkácsy (1881)</i></td></tr>
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Many hymns have been written over the centuries extolling God's great love in sending his Son to suffer and die in our place so that we might live with Him forever. But none bring home this awesome truth in a more concrete and personal way than <a href="http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/m/y/s/mysongis.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><i>My Song is Love Unknown</i></b></span></a>. The text was written by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Crossman" target="_blank">Samuel Crossman</a> (1623 -- 1683), an English clergyman (of whom no image is known to exist), and was first published in 1664 as a poem in his short book <i>The Young Man’s Meditation, or Some Few Sacred Poems upon Select Subjects and Scriptures</i>. Crossman was born in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suffolk" target="_blank">Suffolk, England</a>, in 1623. After earning a bachelor of divinity degree at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pembroke_College,_Cambridge" target="_blank">Pembroke College, Cambridge</a>, he <a href="http://stmarysphoenixmusic.wordpress.com/tag/flor-peeters/" target="_blank">ministered</a> at first to both an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglicanism" target="_blank">Anglican</a> and a separate <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puritan" target="_blank">Puritan</a> congregation.Although he had strong Puritan sympathies, he was a <a href="http://neatnik2009.wordpress.com/2010/02/02/feast-of-samuel-crossman-february-4/" target="_blank">non-separatist</a> who tried to reconcile differences with the Anglican establishment. After the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_England" target="_blank">Church of England </a>expelled Crossman and about 2,000 other ministers with similar sympathies in 1662, he renounced Puritanism, rejoined the Church, and became a royal chaplain in 1665. He moved to a post at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Cathedral" target="_blank">Bristol Cathedral </a>in 1667 and became its Dean in 1683, shortly before his death. He now lies buried beneath the south aisle of the cathedral.<br />
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Here is the exquisite text of Crossman's poem, which--reflecting on all the salient events of Holy Week and our Lord's Passion--poignantly expresses sorrow for sin and fervent love for the One who gave up His glory and His life that it might be forgiven:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #351c75;"><b>My song is love unknown,<br />My Saviour’s love to me;<br />Love to the loveless shown,<br />That they might lovely be.<br />O who am I, that for my sake<br />My Lord should take frail flesh and die?<br /><br />He came from His blest throne<br />Salvation to bestow;<br />But men made strange, and none<br />The longed-for Christ would know:<br />But O! my Friend, my Friend indeed,<br />Who at my need His life did spend.<br /><br />Sometimes they strew His way,<br />And His sweet praises sing;<br />Resounding all the day<br />Hosannas to their King:<br />Then “Crucify!” is all their breath,<br />And for His death they thirst and cry.<br /><br />Why, what hath my Lord done?<br />What makes this rage and spite?<br />He made the lame to run,<br />He gave the blind their sight,<br />Sweet injuries! Yet they at these<br />Themselves displease, and ’gainst Him rise.<br /><br />They rise and needs will have<br />My dear Lord made away;<br />A murderer they save,<br />The Prince of life they slay,<br />Yet cheerful He to suffering goes,<br />That He His foes from thence might free.<br /><br />In life, no house, no home<br />My Lord on earth might have;<br />In death no friendly tomb<br />But what a stranger gave.<br />What may I say? Heav’n was His home;<br />But mine the tomb wherein He lay.<br /><br />Here might I stay and sing,<br />No story so divine;<br />Never was love, dear King!<br />Never was grief like Thine.<br />This is my Friend, in Whose sweet praise<br />I all my days could gladly spend.</b></span></blockquote>
It isn't altogether clear what Crossman meant by "love unknown"--love beyond comprehension, perhaps? Or love unknown and unappreciated by those to whom it's extended? The first stanza itself may hold the answer: <i>"Love to the loveless shown/That they might lovely be."</i> We are surely the "loveless," not returning love to Him who freely gave it, that we who were yet sinners might be spotless as He is. (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans+5%3A8&version=KJV" target="_blank">Romans 5:8</a>)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCHE0WN8lEB_X3oFONUFZ9s8_7ryhu6PguLr2t6QiKnqUGZi6AdCDpN8mkwsPpLGozmG3sTgrj9aSWBXyZ0N5gQSsAvlH4OchntIwpeZrDhEeGCtf3QC6x9qsYTXcH77T6dh0Es3tv6QQ/s1600/Crucifixion+of+Jesus+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCHE0WN8lEB_X3oFONUFZ9s8_7ryhu6PguLr2t6QiKnqUGZi6AdCDpN8mkwsPpLGozmG3sTgrj9aSWBXyZ0N5gQSsAvlH4OchntIwpeZrDhEeGCtf3QC6x9qsYTXcH77T6dh0Es3tv6QQ/s400/Crucifixion+of+Jesus+2.jpg" width="317" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ</i></td></tr>
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Note also the personal intimacy reflected throughout the hymn: "who am I, that for MY sake/MY Lord should take frail flesh and die?" And in the second stanza: <i>"O! MY Friend, MY Friend indeed,/Who at MY need His life did spend."</i> This theme of "friendship" with Jesus--a very personal relation indeed--is sounded throughout the hymn. (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%2015:12-14&version=KJV" target="_blank">John 15:12-14</a>) So too is the believer's anguish at the way his "Friend" was first hailed and then betrayed, scorned, murdered, and abandoned by the very people He had come to heal and save--including the believer, who acknowledges that Christ's tomb was where he himself should have lain in death, but for his Savior's love. The hymn is closed by two of the simplest, sweetest lines ever penned: <i>"This is my Friend, in Whose sweet praise/I all my days could gladly spend."</i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqiZCLbycWg6Mwrd6Hw71qeEeCqmxvXWGK5Z7IsajSoL_Tb5Vi3AYuByn7d9jmCrLDgnEwpb8n4GCbMlGYXGp_zj_O-2Xq3yPyQUWHZ7qps-JLTj0Mm77aX-qC36S2Y0j44CPu9gq5d_s/s1600/John+Ireland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqiZCLbycWg6Mwrd6Hw71qeEeCqmxvXWGK5Z7IsajSoL_Tb5Vi3AYuByn7d9jmCrLDgnEwpb8n4GCbMlGYXGp_zj_O-2Xq3yPyQUWHZ7qps-JLTj0Mm77aX-qC36S2Y0j44CPu9gq5d_s/s320/John+Ireland.jpg" width="220" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>John Ireland</i></td></tr>
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Crossman's poem has been set to a number of <a href="http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/m/y/s/mysongis.htm" target="_blank">different tunes</a>, but the one best-known and most often sung today was written by English composer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ireland_%28composer%29" target="_blank">John Ireland</a> (1879 – 1962). Ireland is <a href="http://www.hymnary.org/tune/love_unknown_ireland" target="_blank">said </a>to have composed the melody over lunch one day, within fifteen minutes on a scrap of paper, at the suggestion of organist and fellow-composer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Shaw_%28composer%29" target="_blank">Geoffrey Shaw</a>. The tune, called <b><a href="http://www.hymnary.org/tune/love_unknown_ireland" target="_blank"><i>Love Unknown</i></a> </b>(appropriately enough), was first published in 1919 in <i>The Public School Hymn Book</i>, of which Shaw was an editor.<br />
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<i>[<b>NOTE:</b> Although the work is in the public domain in the USA, I have not been able to locate and reproduce here a copy of the sheet music to Ireland's tune.]</i><br />
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<b>* * * * *</b></div>
Here are three very different, but all very beautiful, renditions of this precious hymn. The first is a traditional arrangement sung by the <a href="http://www.wellscathedral.org.uk/music-the-choir/" target="_blank">Wells Cathedral Choir</a>:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Cjo-JiwyVAE?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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The next is a solo rendition by British singer and vocal coach <a href="http://www.sylviaburnside.co.uk/" target="_blank">Sylvia Burnside</a>. This may be even a better way to sing this hymn, as a solo presentation accentuates its intensely personal, emotional nature, and the words are more easily understood.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3_6WhLtEYVA?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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The third rendition is another solo, by contemporary Christian singer/composer/arranger <a href="http://www.fernandoortega.com/" target="_blank">Fernando Ortega</a>. This version apparently follows the tune <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhosymedre_%28hymn_tune%29" target="_blank"><i>Rhosymedre</i></a>, by Welsh Anglican hymnist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Edwards_%28hymnist%29" target="_blank">John David Edwards</a> (1805 – 1885). It's almost as appealing as John Ireland's tune <i>Love Unknown</i>, but the latter seems--to my ear at least--to better fit the spirit of the text.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lbsj7tBQjdk?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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<b>* * * * *</b><br />
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Never doubt God's love for YOU. You're as precious to Him as any and every other one of His children. Remember that Christ came to earth to save YOU, to pay for YOUR sins, no matter what they might be--and would have done so if even you were the only sinner who had ever lived. He loved YOU so much, that He went through all that He did just so He could have YOUR company in Heaven forever. There's never been a greater miracle. It truly is the Greatest Love Story Ever Told!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOv5JbHmpsXy3Rpi_DqHZA0aSE98jNbgfsWRzvpf4oQDGX-SF5MQljgE5nPitPowVbZ5lHU5-IFCzFhxRMJtl5wMa3I_YYMqhA4r558k21FY5JLiKyLAF_vQEqhfHW7zL_clEYt3i57LA/s1600/744px-Jacopo_Tintoretto_-_The_Resurrection_of_Christ_(detail)_-_WGA22556.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOv5JbHmpsXy3Rpi_DqHZA0aSE98jNbgfsWRzvpf4oQDGX-SF5MQljgE5nPitPowVbZ5lHU5-IFCzFhxRMJtl5wMa3I_YYMqhA4r558k21FY5JLiKyLAF_vQEqhfHW7zL_clEYt3i57LA/s400/744px-Jacopo_Tintoretto_-_The_Resurrection_of_Christ_(detail)_-_WGA22556.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Resurrection of Christ, by Jacopo Tintoretto</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><b><i>For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord . . .<br /> ~ <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+8:38-39&version=KJV" target="_blank">Romans 8:38-39 </a></i></b></span></span></span>Thomas Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16651679675833246170noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8749353453885923446.post-29551277500788777862013-01-20T19:48:00.001-05:002013-01-20T19:48:27.982-05:00On Jordan’s Stormy Banks I Stand<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Moses Viewing the Promised Land (1846), <br />by Frederic Edwin Church</i></td></tr>
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Tyranny, terrorism, massacres, corruption, financial collapse, riots, wars, environmental disaster, hunger, disease, earthquakes and storms--the world seems engulfed in a wave of calamity. Individuals are everywhere beset with personal crises as well--family discord, divorce, unemployment, bankruptcy, homelessness. So many desperate people, knowing not where to turn, take their own lives or turn on their neighbors in helpless rage. Is there any hope for the world, or for ourselves?<br />
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Blinded by our modern expectations and distractions, we forget that such troubles have been the common plight of mankind since we appeared on this earth. Yet, people of the past seem to have coped better with the trials of life; they were at once more accepting of adversity, and met challenges with greater resolve and endurance, than most people do today. Whence came that inner strength, that reservoir of hope and confidence?<br />
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I think it was faith in God, and in His assurance of a happier world beyond this one. As is stated in the letter to the Hebrews, the faithful:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, . . . were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. . . . But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Heb.%2011:13-16&version=KJV">Heb. 11:13-16</a>)</blockquote>
The believer's fervent longing to dwell in that city, that "better country," is often expressed in the hymns people wrote and sung in earlier, more spiritually "enlightened" times. A common theme, often appearing in the latter verses, is the joy of deliverance and perfect peace in the Lord's kingdom when our sorrowful sojourn here is over. In this theme death is not feared, but anticipated, as the doorway to eternal life and happiness--to <i>"a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."</i> (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2012:33-34&version=KJV">Luke 12:33, 34</a>)<br />
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A marvelous example of this attitude is the hymn <i><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><a href="http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/o/j/o/ojordsbi.htm">On Jordan’s Stormy Banks I Stand</a></b></span></i>, written by English <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptist">Baptist</a> minister <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Stennett">Samuel Stennett</a> (1727 – 1795), one of the <a href="http://homeschoolblogger.com/hymnstudies/602699/">most respected</a> and influential preachers among the Dissenting or non-conformist groups of his time.The text of this hymn was <a href="http://www.hymnalaccompanist.com/Story/story620.html">first published</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Rippon">John Rippon</a>’s 1787 <a href="http://books.google.com/books/about/Selection_of_Hymns_from_the_Best_Authors.html?id=o0o-AAAAcAAJ"><i>Selection of Hymns</i></a>, with the title “Heaven Anticipated.” The tune to which the hymn was first set, called "Promised Land," appeared in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Walker_%28composer%29">William Walker</a>'s 1835 <a href="http://www.ccel.org/ccel/walker/harmony/files/harmony.html"><i>Southern Harmony</i></a>, and was <a href="http://www.ccel.org/ccel/walker/harmony/files/intro.html">attributed</a> by Walker to Matilda Durham (1815 - 1901 (of whom no known image exists), a music teacher from Spartanburg County, South Carolina. Later, prominent Southern musician <a href="http://www.hymnary.org/person/McIntosh_RM">Rigdon McCoy McIntosh </a>changed the tune from minor to major and added the refrain. The hymn was first published in its present form, in 1895, in a hymnal called <a href="http://www.hymnary.org/hymnal/GLHT1895"><i>The Gospel Light</i></a>, edited by H. R. Chrisite.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFbAvi8sDYTc_xThU3xucwIQMCvAIeJeLDNHIgbE-Z7N42I7-t37JRgUe5DSvtA4V4QKgZO0y-RIiRfUrI2J6W2Nh1chIQWguV3uzwiV7kNQDhtRb4v8MtEuD9sKkC37IVaRpC7RLpg3w/s1600/stennett_samuel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFbAvi8sDYTc_xThU3xucwIQMCvAIeJeLDNHIgbE-Z7N42I7-t37JRgUe5DSvtA4V4QKgZO0y-RIiRfUrI2J6W2Nh1chIQWguV3uzwiV7kNQDhtRb4v8MtEuD9sKkC37IVaRpC7RLpg3w/s320/stennett_samuel.jpg" width="232" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Samuel Stennett</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBzB9xZo-DiX2-5c-qU3cpG1CvA6wF6swhyphenhyphenhNd8-ZLhjxkrDCjaTFLkaY_GvF5z6rxyLMkfGIvLsmNZsnycCwsIVyXaYSxVuAl-aGyVCfLi5GcgodfalBO5mT2SYzyGhCQa_DdUQbfBuE/s1600/mcintosh_rm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBzB9xZo-DiX2-5c-qU3cpG1CvA6wF6swhyphenhyphenhNd8-ZLhjxkrDCjaTFLkaY_GvF5z6rxyLMkfGIvLsmNZsnycCwsIVyXaYSxVuAl-aGyVCfLi5GcgodfalBO5mT2SYzyGhCQa_DdUQbfBuE/s320/mcintosh_rm.jpg" width="232" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Rigdon M. McIntosh</i></td></tr>
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Among the best known revival spirituals, this hymn was especially popular among 19th-century American <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methodism">Methodists</a>, being sung in camp meetings and brush arbors, and is part of the American <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shape_note">shape note</a> tradition.<br />
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Below is the text to this delightful hymn, which points us to the true destiny of the believer and echoes the exultant cry of Paul in <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2015:55&version=KJV">1 Corinthians 15:55</a>, <i>"O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"</i><span style="color: #20124d;"><b> </b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><b>On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand,<br />And cast a wishful eye<br />To Canaan’s fair and happy land,<br />Where my possessions lie.</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="color: #20124d;"><i>Refrain</i><b><br /><i>I am bound for the promised land,<br />I am bound for the promised land;<br />Oh who will come and go with me?<br />I am bound for the promised land.</i><br /><br />O the transporting, rapturous scene,<br />That rises to my sight!<br />Sweet fields arrayed in living green,<br />And rivers of delight!</b></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><b></b><i><i>Refrain</i><b><br /><br />There generous fruits that never fail,<br />On trees immortal grow;<br />There rocks and hills, and brooks and vales,<br />With milk and honey flow.</b></i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><b></b><i>Refrain</i><b><br /><br />O’er all those wide extended plains<br />Shines one eternal day;<br />There God the Son forever reigns,<br />And scatters night away.</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><b><br /></b><i>Refrain</i><b><br /><br />No chilling winds or poisonous breath<br />Can reach that healthful shore;<br />Sickness and sorrow, pain and death,<br />Are felt and feared no more.</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><b><br /></b><i>Refrain</i><b><br /><br />When I shall reach that happy place,<br />I’ll be forever blest,<br />For I shall see my Father’s face,<br />And in His bosom rest.</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><b><br /></b><i>Refrain</i><b><br /><br />Filled with delight my raptured soul<br />Would here no longer stay;<br />Though Jordan’s waves around me roll,<br />Fearless I’d launch away.</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><b><br /></b><i>Refrain</i></span></blockquote>
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What I so love about this hymn is its joyful and sure conviction of the deliverance to come. As another astute observer has <a href="http://www.hymnalaccompanist.com/Story/story620.html">noted</a>, <i>"anticipation has always been an important characteristic of God’s people. In the Old Testament, it was Israel’s anticipation of the promised land, Canaan. For the New Testament believer, it is the glorious hope of one day sharing eternity with our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ." </i>(an excellent analysis of <span style="color: #20124d;"><i><b>On Jordan's Stormy Banks</b></i></span> as expressing the believer's "anticipation of heaven" can be found <a href="http://homeschoolblogger.com/hymnstudies/602699/">here</a>)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Jordan River today</i></td></tr>
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Perfectly complementing the text is the happiness and pleasing rhythm of the music. I can't imagine a better thing to sing to lift one's spirits and get through some trial of life, great or small.<br />
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You'll see what I mean in the following video by <a href="http://gaither.com/">Bill and Gloria Gaither and Friends</a>--this is my favorite rendition of the hymn:<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="400" src="http://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/xt1ly2" width="540"></iframe><br /><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xt1ly2_bill-gloria-gaither-on-jordan-s-stormy-banks-i-stand-live_music" target="_blank">Bill & Gloria Gaither - On Jordan's Stormy...</a> <i>by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/Bill-Official" target="_blank">Bill-Official</a></i><br />
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Following is a very different take on the hymn; while basically faithful to the original text and tune, it's sung here in a very creative, vocally impressive performance arrangement by the <a href="http://singers.byu.edu/">Brigham Young University (BYU) Singers</a>:<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>* * * * *</b></span></div>
No matter how difficult and challenging life becomes, remember that there is always hope, always light, always life at the end of the tunnel--if you have faith, there IS a beautiful, happy, eternal home prepared just for you, where our Lord awaits with open arms!<br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><b><i>I go to prepare a place for you.<br />And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again,<br />and receive you unto myself;<br />that where I am, there ye may be also.</i></b></span><span style="color: #20124d;"><b><i><span style="color: #20124d;"><b><i> ~ </i></b></span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2014:1-3&version=KJV">John 14:1-3</a></i></b></span></div>
Thomas Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16651679675833246170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8749353453885923446.post-34960499524456625932012-12-22T11:18:00.000-05:002012-12-22T11:18:30.618-05:00O Holy Night (Cantique de Noël)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<strong><em><span style="color: #20124d;">His law is love and His gospel is peace . . .</span></em></strong></div>
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The Christmas season is the height of the year for sacred music and the singing of hymns. Among the most popular and <a href="http://www.secondhandsongs.com/work/12961">oft-recorded</a> is the one known in the English-speaking world as <a href="http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/o/h/o/oholynit.htm"><strong><span style="color: #cc0000;">O Holy Night</span></strong></a>, and to French speakers as <strong><span style="color: #20124d;">Cantique de Noël</span></strong>. No other hymn captures the message of Christmas more beautifully or fully, and none has a more interesting history.</div>
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It all started in 1847, when <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placide_Cappeau%20%20Cappeau">Placide Cappeau</a> (1808–1877), a wine merchant and occasional poet living in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roquemaure,_Gard">Roquemaure, France</a>, was asked by a parish priest to write a Christmas poem. Cappeau, though not a regular churchgoer, agreed to try. On December 3, in a carriage about halfway to Paris where he was headed on a business trip, Cappeau was inspired to write the poem <em>Minuit, Chrétiens (Midnight, Christians)</em>. When Cappeau arrived in Paris he took the poem to an acquaintance, the composer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolphe_Adam">Adolphe Adam</a> (1803-1856)--who had composed the music for the famous ballet <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giselle">Giselle</a></em> in 1841--and asked him to set <em>Minuit, Chrétiens </em>to music. Adam agreed and wrote the tune in a few days, and the resulting hymn <em>Cantique de Noël</em> received its premier at midnight Mass on Christmas Eve 1847, in Roquemaure.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Placide Cappeau</em></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Adolphe Adam</em></td></tr>
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The hymn soon became one of the most beloved hymns in France, and was incorporated into many Roman Catholic Christmas services. Incredibly, however, it was later denounced by the French church when Placide Cappeau abandoned Catholicism and became a socialist, and church leaders discovered that Adolphe Adam was of Jewish descent. One French bishop went so far as to criticize the hymn for its supposed "lack of musical taste and total absence of the spirit of religion." Nevertheless, <em>Cantique de Noël</em> remained popular among the French people.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>John S. Dwight</em></td></tr>
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By 1855, Cappeau's text had been translated into English by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sullivan_Dwight">John Sullivan Dwight</a> (1813–1893), a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitarian_church">Unitarian</a> minister and America's first influential classical music critic. Now titled <em><span style="color: #20124d;"><strong>O Holy Night</strong></span></em>, the hymn <a href="http://www.findthepower.com/ChristmasPagesTheStoryOfOHolyNight.htm">quickly found favor</a> in this country, especially in the North during the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War">American Civil War</a>.<br />
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Reading Dwight's text, it's easy to see why people have been inspired by this hymn for more than 150 years: its affirmation of of hope and the promise of redemption; its celebration of the miracle of God come to earth and made man like us; and its declaration of a new kingdom of love, peace, and freedom for all God's children.<br />
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<strong><span style="color: #20124d;">O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,<br /> It is the night of our dear Saviour's birth.<br /> Long lay the world in sin and error pining,<br /> 'Til He appear'd and the soul felt its worth.<br /> A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,<br /> For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: #20124d;">Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices!<br /> O night divine, O night when Christ was born;<br /> O night divine, O night, O night Divine.</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: #20124d;">Led by the light of Faith serenely beaming,<br /> With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.<br /> So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,<br /> Here come the wise men from Orient land.<br /> The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger;<br /> In all our trials born to be our friend.</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: #20124d;">He knows our need, to our weakness is no stranger,<br /> Behold your King! Before Him lowly bend!<br /> Behold your King, Before Him lowly bend!</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: #20124d;">Truly He taught us to love one another;<br /> His law is love and His gospel is peace.<br /> Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;<br /> And in His name all oppression shall cease.<br /> Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,<br /> Let all within us praise His holy name.</span></strong><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><strong>Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,<br /> His power and glory evermore proclaim.,<br /> His power and glory evermore proclaim.</strong></span><br />
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It's interesting to note how Placide Cappeau's strongly abolitionist views, which were shared by John S. Dwight, are clearly expressed in the third and fourth lines of the hymn's final stanza.<br />
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There is a <a href="http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/o_holy_night.htm">legend</a> that on Christmas Eve in 1870, during the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco-Prussian_War">Franco-Prussian War</a>, a French soldier suddenly jumped out of his trench and sang <em>Cantique de Noël</em>. Moved by this brave gesture, the Germans did not fire upon the French soldier; instead, a German soldier emerged from his trench and sang Luther's <em><a href="http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/f/r/fromheav.htm">Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her (From Heaven Above To Earth I Come)</a></em> a <br />
popular Christmas hymn in his country. According to the story, fighting stopped for the next 24 hours while the men on both sides observed a temporary peace in honor of Christmas Day.<br />
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Perhaps the most remarkable story about <strong><em><span style="color: #20124d;">O Holy Night</span></em></strong> is one that is indisputably true: it was the second piece of music ever broadcast on radio, and the first musical performance ever broadcast live. On Christmas Eve in 1906, Canadian-born inventor <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginald_Fessenden">Reginald Aubrey Fessenden</a> broadcast the first <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AM_radio">AM radio</a> program, which started with Fessenden reading the Biblical account of the birth of Christ from <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%202&version=KJV">Luke Chapter 2</a> over the air, followed by a phonograph recording of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Frideric_Handel">Handel's</a> aria "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ombra_mai_fu">Ombra mai fu</a>," and concluding with Fessenden playing <strong><span style="color: #20124d;"><em>O Holy Night</em></span></strong> on the violin while singing the final verse. Broadcast from Brant Rock, Massachusetts, the program was picked up by radio operators on board a number of ships along the Atlantic northeast coast and from shore stations as far south as Norfolk, Virginia.<br />
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From that humble beginning, <strong><span style="color: #20124d;"><em>O Holy Night</em></span></strong> has become one of the most treasured hymns of Christmas, the world over. Watch this video for an excellent summary of its history:<br />
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Here is a remarkably beautiful rendition of <strong><em><span style="color: #20124d;">O Holy Night</span></em></strong> by the all-female Irish musical ensemble <a href="http://www.celticwoman.com/">Celtic Woman</a>:<br />
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The incomparable <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole">Nat King Cole</a> recorded <strong><em><span style="color: #20124d;">O Holy Night</span></em></strong> in 1960; this rendition is presented in the lovely video below:<br />
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<strong><span style="color: #cc0000;">HAVE A BLESSED AND JOYOUS CHRISTMAS!</span></strong></div>
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<em><strong><span style="color: #20124d;">And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. </span></strong></em><em><strong><span style="color: #20124d;">And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord </span></strong></em></div>
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<em><strong><span style="color: #20124d;">shone round about them: </span></strong></em><em><strong><span style="color: #20124d;">and they were sore afraid. </span></strong></em><em><strong><span style="color: #20124d;">And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you </span></strong></em></div>
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<em><strong><span style="color: #20124d;">is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.</span></strong></em><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: #20124d;">~ </span></strong></em><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+2%3A8-11&version=KJV"><em><strong><span style="color: #20124d;">Luke 2:8-11</span></strong></em></a></div>
Thomas Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16651679675833246170noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8749353453885923446.post-41776609966963600302012-11-10T21:22:00.001-05:002012-11-10T21:28:33.786-05:00Eternal Father, Strong to Save (Navy Hymn)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO4n9SR260568g9KiWhzF_Rs6Nw0pSeEIT_I3kOVISqktnD3gLDMq48yvD1r4HyfNmJslCNvrBZ5AhnH9jMi3xZ3JXZVJZ4jlKX7HjJ7gvFVCzhlhc3uLLKEMI23R82kRDm6ZTb7xUReA/s1600/Stained-Glass-Window-Jesus-Miracle-Calming-the-Storm-rel02-16-34.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO4n9SR260568g9KiWhzF_Rs6Nw0pSeEIT_I3kOVISqktnD3gLDMq48yvD1r4HyfNmJslCNvrBZ5AhnH9jMi3xZ3JXZVJZ4jlKX7HjJ7gvFVCzhlhc3uLLKEMI23R82kRDm6ZTb7xUReA/s400/Stained-Glass-Window-Jesus-Miracle-Calming-the-Storm-rel02-16-34.jpg" width="367" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: #20124d;"><i>And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him! ~ <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%208:24-27&version=KJV">Matt. 8:24-27 </a></i></span></b><br />
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Sunday, November 11, is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veterans_Day">Veterans Day</a> in the United States and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrance_Day">Remembrance Day</a> in Great Britain and the Commonwealth (click <a href="http://songsofpraises.blogspot.com/2011/11/o-valiant-hearts.html">here</a> for my 2011 post on observance of this day). Established in the 1920s to commemorate the signing of the Armistice on November 11, 1918 that ended World War I, Veterans Day has since been re-christened in the United States as an occasion to remember and honor all men and women who have served in the Armed Forces of the United States, from Revolutionary times to the present. Given how many of them made the ultimate sacrifice to preserve freedom for us all, and how close so many service members live to the edge of mortality, day in and out, the singing of hymns in their remembrance is most fitting.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil4SnK1MytUb00yQPlD_7rEMROQxOUiegju_72hNBLuaBcqVZjDpG2kKErDA2J2b87NcPyqBFP_9Wm-s8PKSLGvc50RRIkSYZci0wsUOvhCvjPEXvkHjCDpY1L7eXld7MyFx2ERBHfLMA/s1600/Dad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil4SnK1MytUb00yQPlD_7rEMROQxOUiegju_72hNBLuaBcqVZjDpG2kKErDA2J2b87NcPyqBFP_9Wm-s8PKSLGvc50RRIkSYZci0wsUOvhCvjPEXvkHjCDpY1L7eXld7MyFx2ERBHfLMA/s200/Dad.jpg" width="158" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>John W. Fleming</i></td></tr>
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Veterans Day is special to me, in large part, because my father (at left, as a young man) is a veteran of the <a href="http://www.navy.mil/">United States Navy </a>(and, while he served as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpsman">Hospital Corpsman</a> with occupation forces in 1950s Japan, of the <a href="http://www.marines.mil/">United States Marine Corps</a>). He is very proud of his service, and so is everyone in our family! In his honor, I'd like to feature the hymn most closely associated with the Navy and sailors in general, <a href="http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/e/t/eternalf.htm"><span style="color: red;"><i><b>Eternal Father, Strong to Save</b></i></span></a>.<br />
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According to the <a href="http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq53-1.htm">Naval History and Heritage Command</a>, the work known to United States Navy men and women as the "<span style="color: #20124d;"><b>Navy Hymn</b></span>" is a musical benediction long having a special appeal to seafarers, particularly in the American Navy and the Royal Navies of the British Commonwealth. The original text was written as a poem by a schoolmaster and clergyman of the Church of England, the Rev. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Whiting_%28poet%29">William Whiting</a> (1825-1878). He resided on the English coast near the sea and at the age of 35 survived a furious storm while on a voyage in the Mediterranean. Later, <a href="http://songsandhymns.org/hymns/detail/eternal-father-strong-to-save">a student came to Whiting</a> and confided to him an overwhelming fear of the ocean, which he had to cross in order to travel to America. Whiting told him of his experiences on the ocean, and assured him: "Before you depart, I will give you something to anchor your faith."<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-O_swKbxT5xhiIeYfugqr1WDHqhCe0lzh17pJhJyDGb0Meb6wj0oEGkcQ2jQ-JAW_spdofdiaJ8xC-tXLXVs65aBpFVV0aiNy1pKCopgLmsY3cgCmQ_63lbe94t2O35NYDBNu00Mqiq0/s1600/whiting_w.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-O_swKbxT5xhiIeYfugqr1WDHqhCe0lzh17pJhJyDGb0Meb6wj0oEGkcQ2jQ-JAW_spdofdiaJ8xC-tXLXVs65aBpFVV0aiNy1pKCopgLmsY3cgCmQ_63lbe94t2O35NYDBNu00Mqiq0/s200/whiting_w.jpg" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>William Whiting</i></td></tr>
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The compilers of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hymns_Ancient_and_Modern"><i>Hymns Ancient and Modern</i></a> revised the text when they included it in their first edition in 1861 to the form in which it is now known. Whiting himself rewrote the entire hymn in 1869, and it is this version which is found in most hymnals. Also in 1861, the text was adapted to music by another English clergyman, the Rev. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bacchus_Dykes">John Bacchus Dykes</a> (1823-1876), who originally wrote the music as "Melita," an ancient name for the Mediterranean island of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malta">Malta</a>, where the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostle_Paul">Apostle Paul</a> was supposedly shipwrecked. Rev. Dykes composed the music to many other well-known hymns, including <a href="http://songsofpraises.blogspot.com/2011/10/lead-kindly-%20%20light.html"><i>Lead, Kindly Light</i></a>; <a href="http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/h/o/holyholy.htm"><i>Holy, Holy, Holy</i></a>; <a href="http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/j/l/jlmysoul.htm"><i>Jesus, Lover of My Soul</i></a>; and <a href="http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/n/m/nmgtthee.htm"><i>Nearer, My God to Thee</i></a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoJC173T9xITk1QS7IEU8VGHeeukhsO3gEVf22VreZ4rSUdrcbtsQf3PHPTUzZtNtGpO7WGVnsOcD1X9dQ4zSTFrxIC0IjPdIkuNvM9zGRjqCIMob-M48__mEWnrDYNkYswzJPiXpOwIw/s1600/dykes_jb.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoJC173T9xITk1QS7IEU8VGHeeukhsO3gEVf22VreZ4rSUdrcbtsQf3PHPTUzZtNtGpO7WGVnsOcD1X9dQ4zSTFrxIC0IjPdIkuNvM9zGRjqCIMob-M48__mEWnrDYNkYswzJPiXpOwIw/s200/dykes_jb.jpg" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>John B. Dykes</i></td></tr>
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Whiting's text presents us with an eloquent expression of man's frailty before God and the power of His Creation, and with a moving prayer for His continued mercy and loving protection. Dykes' music is like the sea itself, rising and falling; brooding, ascending, and finally coming to rest. No wonder it has been the sailor's favorite for more than 150 years!<br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><b>Eternal Father, strong to save,<br />Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,<br />Who bidd'st the mighty ocean deep<br />Its own appointed limits keep;<br />Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,<br />For those in peril on the sea!<br /><br />O Christ! Whose voice the waters heard<br />And hushed their raging at Thy word,<br />Who walkedst on the foaming deep,<br />And calm amidst its rage didst sleep;<br />Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,<br />For those in peril on the sea! <br /><br />Most Holy Spirit! Who didst brood<br />Upon the chaos dark and rude,<br />And bid its angry tumult cease,<br />And give, for wild confusion, peace;<br />Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,<br />For those in peril on the sea!<br /><br />O Trinity of love and power!<br />Our brethren shield in danger's hour;<br />From rock and tempest, fire and foe,<br />Protect them wheresoe'er they go;<br />Thus evermore shall rise to Thee<br />Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.</b></span></blockquote>
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<i>Eternal Father, Strong to Save</i> has had an interesting history since its first publication. In 1879 Lt. Comdr. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_J._Train">Charles Jackson Train</a>, an 1865 graduate of the <a href="http://www.usna.edu/homepage.php">United States Naval Academy</a> who went on to become a Rear Admiral, was stationed at the Academy in charge of the Midshipman Choir. In that year Train inaugurated the tradition, still observed, of concluding each Sunday's Divine Services at the Academy with the singing of the first verse of this hymn.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQZURFx8_IKoH0lKb4HggMhAN4bEs6twENJWTC_8Mbs4bbkTTQky9FRigfqcGrnfnTPGu2NIiu3wywG4L7sPwT2FZb2hkw26NebigS9JjavxjwanjWLZtWWAZ3435RlpWvZHR4RYrHFA/s1600/calming_the_storm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQZURFx8_IKoH0lKb4HggMhAN4bEs6twENJWTC_8Mbs4bbkTTQky9FRigfqcGrnfnTPGu2NIiu3wywG4L7sPwT2FZb2hkw26NebigS9JjavxjwanjWLZtWWAZ3435RlpWvZHR4RYrHFA/s320/calming_the_storm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill">Winston Churchill </a>requested the singing of <i>Eternal Father, Strong to Save</i> at a church service aboard the Royal Navy battleship <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Prince_of_Wales_(53)">HMS Prince of Wales </a>during his 1941 conference with President <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt">Franklin D. Roosevelt</a> for creation of the Atlantic Charter. Ironically, this was also the last hymn sung during the Sunday, April 14, 1912 church service aboard the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Titanic">RMS Titanic</a> just hours before it sank. It was sung at the funeral of President Roosevelt (who had previously served as Secretary of the Navy); played by the Navy Band at the funeral of President <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy">John F. Kennedy</a>, a World War II PT-boat commander; sung at the funeral of former President <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon">Richard Nixon</a>; and played by the Navy and Coast Guard Bands during the funeral of the late President <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan">Ronald Reagan</a>. The hymn was performed by the U.S. <a href="http://www.navyband.navy.mil/sea_chanters.shtml">Navy Sea Chanters</a> at the funeral of President <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_R._Ford">Gerald R. Ford</a>, who had served in the Navy during World War II in the Pacific Theater. This was also the final hymn sung at the 2011 funeral in Australia of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Choules">Claude Choules</a>, the last living seaman and combat veteran of World War I.<br />
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<i>Eternal Father, Strong to Save</i>, and variants of it for every branch of service from submariners, Marines, Seabees, and airmen to Coast Guardsmen, nurses, astronauts, and even Arctic explorers, has been performed in such popular films as <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112740/"><i>Crimson Tide</i></a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086197/"><i>The Right Stuff</i></a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0177971/"><i>The Perfect Storm</i></a>,<i> </i>and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120338/"><i>Titanic</i></a>.<br />
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<b>*****</b></div>
The video below features a congregation singing <i>Eternal Father, Strong to Save</i> with moving scenes of seamen, ships, crashing waves, and cathedral windows memorializing the sea service:<br />
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This presentation is by the <a href="http://www.usna.edu/Music/Accessable/ensembles/mgc/mgc_index.html">Naval Academy Men's Glee Club </a>in a 2008 visit to San Antonio, Texas:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="380" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4Iu8y2pvuRg?rel=0" width="560"></iframe><br />
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There are many times in life when we feel utterly helpless and in peril of our lives, at the mercy of dark, raging forces we cannot stem. We call upon God to save us, as He is the only One with power and love enough to move all Creation to protect us from destruction. Give joyful thanks and praise always that we can trust always in the arms of such a faithful Lord!<br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><b><i>They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; these see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit's end. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven. ~ <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20107:23-30&version=KJV">Psalm 107:23-30</a></i></b></span></div>
<br />Thomas Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16651679675833246170noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8749353453885923446.post-63923265581464816122012-10-14T15:33:00.000-04:002013-03-12T20:40:24.295-04:00All People That on Earth Do Dwell (Old 100th)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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For the believer, praising God is as natural and as vital as breathing. We praise Him for all his wonderful works (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20%20Chronicles%2016:9&version=KJV">1 Chronicles 16:9</a>; <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2019:37&version=KJV">Luke 19:37</a>); for his protection (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2056:4&version=KJV">Psalm 56:4</a>); for His mercy (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20106:1&version=KJV">Psalm 106:1</a>); for the countless, undeserved blessings he showers upon us; for the joy and peace he brings into our lives. As we praise God we grow in humility and in awareness of His power, His providence, and His presence in our lives and everything around us. Others see and hear our praise, the manifestation of our contentment in God, and are moved to seek Him out for themselves (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2040:3&version=KJV">Psalm 40:3</a>).<br />
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Among the best ways to praise our Lord is in "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in [our] heart[s] to the Lord . . ." (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians%205:19&version=KJV">Ephesians 5:19</a>; <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians%203:16&version=KJV">Colossians 3:16</a>). And surely among the most inspiring of such hymns is <a href="http://www.hymnary.org/text/all_people_that_on_earth_do_dwell"><i><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>All People That on Earth Do Dwell</b></span></i></a>. The text calls on us to rejoice in the wonder of our own creation, in God's loving care for us, and in His goodness, mercy, and truth. We are urged to "praise, laud, and bless His Name always," just because "it is seemly so to do."<br />
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<b><span style="color: #20124d;">All people that on earth do dwell,<br />Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice.<br />Him serve with fear, His praise forth tell;<br />Come ye before Him and rejoice.<br /><br />The Lord, ye know, is God indeed;<br />Without our aid He did us make;<br />We are His folk, He doth us feed,<br />And for His sheep He doth us take.<br /><br />O enter then His gates with praise;<br />Approach with joy His courts unto;<br />Praise, laud, and bless His Name always,<br />For it is seemly so to do.<br /><br />For why? the Lord our God is good;<br />His mercy is for ever sure;<br />His truth at all times firmly stood,<br />And shall from age to age endure.<br /><br />To Father, Son and Holy Ghost,<br />The God Whom Heaven and earth adore,<br />From men and from the angel host<br />Be praise and glory evermore.</span></b></blockquote>
According to a good capsule history of the hymn at <a href="http://www.lectionary.org/HymnStories/All%20People%20That%20on%20Earth%20Do%20Dwell.htm">Lectionary.org</a>, the text first appeared in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genevan_psalter">Anglo-Genevan Psalter of 1561</a> and is attributed to the Scottish clergyman and Bible translator <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Kethe">William Kethe</a>, (died 6 June 1594) (of whom no image is known to exist) who had fled to Switzerland from the persecutions of Catholic <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Mary_I_of_England">Queen Mary</a> in England. Kethe helped with the translation of the Geneva Bible in 1560 and contributed 25 psalms to the Anglo-Genevan Psalter, which he carried with him back to England in 1561, after the restoration of Protestantism there by Mary's half-sister <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_I_of_England">Queen Elizabeth I</a>. The text is based on the short, beautiful <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%20100&version=KJV">Psalm 100</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><b><i>Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.<br />Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.<br />Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us,<br />and not we ourselves;<br />We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.<br />Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise:<br />Be thankful unto him, and bless his name.<br />For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth<br />endureth to all generations.</i></b></span></blockquote>
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Even more famous throughout Christendom is the music matched with Kethe's text in the 1561 Anglo-Genevan Psalter. The melody has come to be called "<b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_100th">Old 100th</a></b>" or "Old Hundredth," based on the text's paraphrase of Psalm 100. Generally attributed to the French composer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loys_Bourgeois">Loys "Louis" Bourgeois</a> (c.1510–1560) (also of whom no known image exists), this hymn tune first appeared in the 1551 edition of the Genevan Psalter (although, at that time, it accompanied a paraphrase of Psalm 134). Bourgeois was the individual most responsible for the tunes in that Psalter, which--thanks in large part to William Kethe a decade later--became the source for the hymns of both the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reformed_Church">Reformed churches</a> in England and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilgrim_(Plymouth_Colony)">Pilgrims</a> in America. Nevertheless, Bourgeois fell out with the musical authorities in Geneva and was imprisoned in 1551 for changing the tunes of some well-known psalms "without a license" (he was released only on the personal intervention of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Calvin">John Calvin</a>)!<br />
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Another text widely associated with the Old 100th is <a href="http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/p/r/praisegf.htm"><i>Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow</i></a>, which is commonly sung as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doxology">doxology</a> (a short hymn of praises to God often added to the end of canticles, psalms, and hymns)--in fact, traditionally referred to as <i>The</i> Doxology--and written in 1674 by Anglican clergyman <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Ken">Thomas Ken</a> as the final verse of two companion hymns, <i><a href="http://www.hymnary.org/text/awake_my_soul_and_with_the_sun">Awake, My Soul, and With the Sun</a></i> and <a href="http://www.hymnary.org/text/all_praise_to_thee_my_god_this_night">Glory to Thee, My God, This Night</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><b><i>Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;<br />Praise Him, all creatures here below;<br />Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;<br />Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.</i></b></span></blockquote>
As demonstrated by these and other iconic pieces, traditional Christian hymnody resembles a great tapestry woven together by men and women working under God's inspiration at widely different times and places, and from diverse faith traditions, to create a priceless treasure that moves us to give the greatest thanks and praise to God!<br />
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<i>All People That on Earth Do Dwell</i> was sung at the coronation of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Elizabeth_II">Queen Elizabeth II</a> in 1953, with harmonization and arrangement by the composer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Vaughan_Williams">Ralph Vaughan Williams</a>. This version was sung again at the National Service of Thanksgiving to celebrate the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_Jubilee_of_Elizabeth_II">Diamond Jubilee</a> of Her Majesty at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Paul%27s_Cathedral">St Paul's Cathedral</a> on Tuesday, 5th June 2012 (among other prominent figures you'll see in the congregation are Prime Minister David Cameron (at 0:53) and Queen Elizabeth; Charles, the Prince of Wales; and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwal) (at 1:06):<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="335" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/us2O62TTqYA?rel=0" width="580"></iframe><br />
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And now for something completely different: an absolutely stunning a capella rendition by by the Christian group <a href="http://www.the-martins.com/">The Martins</a> (this is my favorite!):<br />
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Try this: memorize the text and learn the tune by heart, and then sing this to yourself (or even out loud) ever morning before going to work or school. It's guaranteed to send your spirit soaring, and put you in most humble, thankful, and confident frame of mind!<br />
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<span style="color: #660000;"><i><b>Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!<br />Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,<br />who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,<br />who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,<br />who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.</b></i></span><br />
~ <i><span style="color: #660000;"><b><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20103:1-5&version=KJV">Psalm 103:1-5</a> (ESV)</b></span></i></div>
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Thomas Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16651679675833246170noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8749353453885923446.post-20817660350624633762012-07-28T19:35:00.000-04:002012-07-28T19:35:03.594-04:00In the Garden<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #073763;">Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">~ <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+20:15&version=KJV">John 20:15</a></span></i></b><br />
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Among the most precious experiences for any believer is peaceful communion with our Savior. Through the Word and prayer we can walk and talk with Him in those quiet moments at the beginning or end of the day, or even with the noise and tumult of the workaday world swirling about us. For many such communion is most sublime when one is surrounded by the glories of God's creation, as in a beautiful garden.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhixtbm9Wugvzdq0_BfQ3MjmPr9aEZmrFkDUEHp-2NyuToSPEtl79CIJPDE6XK661jHhPmV8m7EWgqQkmDa5AZvaTlidQfQlc9T0-IEeUhfOfJFI8MjCLtQ5zRJm5O5ch_bVfkdAGYmhD0/s1600/miles_ca.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhixtbm9Wugvzdq0_BfQ3MjmPr9aEZmrFkDUEHp-2NyuToSPEtl79CIJPDE6XK661jHhPmV8m7EWgqQkmDa5AZvaTlidQfQlc9T0-IEeUhfOfJFI8MjCLtQ5zRJm5O5ch_bVfkdAGYmhD0/s200/miles_ca.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>C. Austin Miles</b></i></td></tr>
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Such a moment is poignantly captured in the beloved hymn <a href="http://nethymnal.org/htm/i/t/g/itgarden.htm"><i style="color: #cc0000;"><b>In the Garden</b></i></a>. The text and music were composed and first published in 1912 by American pharmacist-turned-Christian music publisher <a href="http://nethymnal.org/bio/m/i/l/miles_ca.htm">C. Austin Miles</a> (1868-1946). While the hymn presents a vision of perfect peace and contentment, it was inspired by the heart-rending experience of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Magdalene">Mary Magdalene</a>, related in <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2019:41-42&version=KJV">John 19:41-42</a> and <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2020:11-18&version=KJV">20:11-18</a> when, while searching with broken heart for His body, she encounters Jesus at the garden sepulcher on the morning of His resurrection. Moreover, <a href="http://mnkurmudge.blogspot.com/2005/02/lifes-little-ironies-austin-miles-goes.html%20">according to</a> Miles' great-granddaughter, the song "was written on a cold, dreary day in a cold, dreary and leaky basement in New Jersey that didn't even have a window in it let alone a view of a garden." Miles himself gave this account:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>One day in March, 1912, I was seated in the dark room, where I kept my photographic equipment and organ. I drew my Bible toward me; it opened at my favorite chapter, John 20-whether by chance or inspiration let each reader decide. That meeting of Jesus and Mary had lost none of its power to charm.<br /><br />As I read it that day, I seemed to be part of the scene. I became a silent witness to that dramatic moment in Mary's life, when she knelt before her Lord, and cried, "Rabboni!"<br /><br />My hands were resting on the Bible while I stared at the light blue wall. As the light faded, I seemed to be standing at the entrance of a garden, looking down a gently winding path, shaded by olive branches. A woman in white, with head bowed, hand clasping her throat, as if to choke back her sobs, walked slowly into the shadows. It was Mary. As she came to the tomb, upon which she place her hand, she bent over to look in, and hurried away.<br /><br />John, in flowing robe, appeared, looking at the tomb; then came Peter, who entered the tomb, followed slowly by John.<br /><br />As they departed, Mary reappeared; leaning her head upon her arm at the tomb, she wept. Turning herself, she saw Jesus standing, so did I. I knew it was He. She knelt before Him, with arms outstretched and looking into His face cried "Rabboni!"<br /><br />I awakened in full light, gripping the Bible, with muscles tense and nerves vibrating. Under the inspiration of this vision I wrote as quickly as the words could be formed the poem exactly as it has since appeared. That same evening I wrote the music. (</i><i>as related in 25 Most Treasured Gospel Hymn Stories, by Kenneth W. Osbeck) </i></blockquote>
Here are the words to this simple and most comforting hymn: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b style="color: #20124d;">I come to the garden alone<br />While the dew is still on the roses<br />And the voice I hear falling on my ear<br />The Son of God discloses.</b><br />
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<i>Refrain</i>:<br />
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<b style="color: #20124d;">And He walks with me, and He talks with me,<br />And He tells me I am His own;<br />And the joy we share as we tarry there,<br />None other has ever known.</b><br />
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<b style="color: #20124d;">He speaks, and the sound of His voice,<br />Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,<br />And the melody that He gave to me<br />Within my heart is ringing.</b><br />
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<i>Refrain</i><br />
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<b style="color: #20124d;">I’d stay in the garden with Him<br />Though the night around me be falling,<br />But He bids me go; through the voice of woe<br />His voice to me is calling.</b><br />
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<i>Refrain </i></blockquote>
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Being from outside the Protestant music tradition, my first encounter with <i style="color: #0c343d;"><b>In the Garden</b></i> came when I saw the Academy Award-winning movie <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087921/"><i>Places in the Heart</i></a> in 1984. In my last post, I featured the hymn <a href="http://songsofpraises.blogspot.com/2012/07/blessed-assurance.html"><i>Blessed Assurance</i></a>, which opened that same remarkable movie. In its final scene, the congregation of a small country church in mid-1930s Texas is taking communion as the minister reads <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2013&version=KJV">1 Corinthians 13</a>, and the choir strikes up <b style="color: #0c343d;"><i>In the Garden</i></b> behind him. Communion is gently passed from person to person, and the viewer suddenly realizes that some of these people are living and some are dead; some were hurt or mistreated in the film's story, and others passing them communion were the ones who did the hurting or mistreating--including the last pair, the late husband of Sally Fields' character and the young black boy who had shot him in a drunken stupor and was lynched for it--and who seems to whisper <i>"Peace of God”</i> to him as he takes communion from the older man. It is one of the most moving scenes I've ever seen in any film, and maybe the best for conveying the power of forgiveness, as well as the truth of eternal life. Here is that scene:<br />
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<i style="color: #0c343d;"><b>In the Garden</b></i> lends itself to moving solo performance as a "gospel song," as well. One of the best I've seen is by country music legend <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loretta_Lynn">Loretta Lynn</a>:<br />
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Yet another touching rendition is by the golden-voiced <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Reeves">Jim Reeves</a>, graced (appropriately enough) with lovely garden scenes:<br />
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Other fine performances available on video include those by <a href="http://youtu.be/QMwMMqeHiwY">Ella Fitzgerald</a>, <a href="http://youtu.be/_2eSfKqMRbA">Mahalia Jackson</a>, <a href="http://youtu.be/LW0WA8OSXZg">Alan Jackson</a>, and <a href="http://youtu.be/Kn7gTVSmE6c">Elvis Presley</a>.<br />
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When confounded by the problems and stresses of everyday life, it's a priceless comfort to know that we can walk and talk with our Savior any time, <i style="color: #0c343d;"><b>In the Garden</b></i> or anywhere else!<br />
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<b><i>The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.<br />He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:<br />He leadeth me beside the still waters.<br />~ <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2023:1-3&version=KJV">Psalm 23:1-3</a></i></b></div>Thomas Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16651679675833246170noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8749353453885923446.post-57263870263317032982012-07-06T12:52:00.002-04:002014-12-21T14:22:55.286-05:00Blessed Assurance<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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These are trying times in which to live. We naturally want to ground our
lives on things that are certain, reliable, and true, yet modern
culture insists that everything we would put our faith in--especially
anything pertaining to religion and morality--is doubtful,
untrustworthy, and relative. It's hard not to feel lost in all the
confusion--unless you have a strong faith in the Rock of our salvation,
Jesus Christ! With all the "change and decay" around us, He is the One
"who changeth not" (see the timeless old hymn <a href="http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/a/b/i/abidewme.htm"><i>Abide With Me</i></a>).
Ever sure are the hope and the promise He brings the believer--of
comfort and guidance in time of trouble, of peace and joy, and of
eternal salvation with Him. It is the "hope within us" (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Peter+3:15&version=KJV">1 Peter 3:15</a>)
that gives the believer the strength and confidence to overcome even
the greatest challenges in life, praising God all the while. <br />
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Scripture often sums up these truths in the term "assurance." Modern <a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/assurance">dictionaries</a> define it both as the act of assuring--that is, a declaration or other act tending to inspire full confidence--and the state of being assured: firm persuasion; full confidence or trust; freedom from doubt; certainty. God provides assurance of many things, in different ways. For example, the prophet Isaiah states that "the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever." (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2032:17&version=KJV">Isaiah 32:17</a>) In the Book of Acts we are told that God "hath given assurance unto all men" that the Lord will come again to judge the world in righteousness. (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2017:31&version=KJV">Acts 17:31</a>) The faithful believer is given "the full assurance of understanding" (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians%202:2&version=KJV">Colossians 2:2</a>) and of the power of the Holy Spirit. (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Thessalonians%201:5&version=KJV">1 Thessalonians 1:5</a>) Diligence in following Christ brings "the full assurance of hope unto the end" (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%206:11&version=KJV">Hebrews 6:11</a>), and a pure, true heart a "full assurance of faith." (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%2010:22&version=KJV">Hebrews 10:22</a>)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg32s-lIGWMVdQBqIgjpat1e2y7hVU7S-h653oVSFPVcK_8LkJvhLrOPvX6KlZX7bFlyhF-0YYJMohwmxMQjtt9HP0NbsYZvn577h2X3Rz1es20VS6qM_j_-K4pFUB4o9vjo-KbVUE-w4c/s1600/fanny3.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg32s-lIGWMVdQBqIgjpat1e2y7hVU7S-h653oVSFPVcK_8LkJvhLrOPvX6KlZX7bFlyhF-0YYJMohwmxMQjtt9HP0NbsYZvn577h2X3Rz1es20VS6qM_j_-K4pFUB4o9vjo-KbVUE-w4c/s320/fanny3.gif" height="320" width="202" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Fanny Crosby</i></b></td></tr>
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These truths are celebrated in one of the most beloved of Christian hymns, <i style="color: red;"><b><a href="http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/b/l/e/blesseda.htm">Blessed Assurance</a></b></i>. The text was written in 1873 by America's most prolific and inspiring hymnist, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Crosby">Frances Jane "Fanny" Crosby </a>(1820 - 1915). Her very life was a testament to the "blessed assurance" that a follower of Christ enjoys, as she wrote more than 8000 sacred songs and hymns over a life of almost 95 years, all while completely blind due to a doctor's mistake in treating a cold when she was six weeks old. However, Fanny <a href="http://www.earnestlycontending.com/KT/bios/fannycrosby.html">never felt resentment</a> against the doctor and at an early age resolved to not to be defeated by her handicap, believing that it had been permitted by the Lord in order to fulfill His plan for her life. She is reported to have said, "if I had a choice, I would still choose to remain blind . . . for when I die, the first face I will ever see will be the face of my blessed Savior." She eventually became a household name, a friend of Presidents, and the "<a href="http://landmarksse.org/fannycrosby.html">mother of modern congregational singing</a> in America."<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>Phoebe Knapp</b></i></td></tr>
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The story behind the composition of <b style="color: #073763;"><i>Blessed Assurance</i></b> is both simple and intriguing. Fanny (her married name was van Alstyne) was visiting her friend <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoebe_Knapp">Phoebe Palmer Knapp</a> while a large pipe organ was being installed in the Knapp home (Mrs. Knapp lived in a luxurious mansion, while Fanny lived in the Manhattan slums and worked in rescue missions). Since the organ was incomplete, Mrs. Knapp played on the piano a new melody she had composed and asked her friend, "What do you think the tune says?" "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!", answered Fanny almost instantly. Fanny soon provided the rest of the text, and the hymn was published in the July 1873 issue of <i>Palmer's Guide to Holiness and Revival Miscellany</i>, a magazine printed by Mrs. Knapp's evangelist parents. This printing, though perhaps not the first, helped to popularize what eventually became one of the most beloved hymns of all time. Because of its close association with Crosby's lyrics, the tune is now called "Assurance."<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b style="color: #20124d;">Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!<br />Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!<br />Heir of salvation, purchase of God,<br />Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.</b></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b style="color: #20124d;"></b><i style="color: #20124d;">Refrain:</i><b style="color: #20124d;"><br />This is my story, this is my song,<br />Praising my Savior all the day long;<br />This is my story, this is my song,<br />Praising my Savior all the day long.<br /><br />Perfect submission, perfect delight,<br />Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;<br />Angels, descending, bring from above<br />Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.<br /><br />Perfect submission, all is at rest,<br />I in my Savior am happy and blest,<br />Watching and waiting, looking above,<br />Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.</b></blockquote>
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Some have <a href="http://www.hymnpod.com/2009/03/10/blessed-assurance/">noted</a> the many references to sight in this hymn ("visions," "sight", "watching"), even though Fanny had never been able to see--proof that there is no blindness in a soul so well-attuned to our Lord. No other hymn or song I know of so perfectly captures the thankfulness, confidence, and joyful anticipation that comes from the "perfect submission" of faith!<br />
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Those raised in church-going Protestant families have probably been familiar with <i><b style="color: #073763;">Blessed Assurance</b> </i>since childhood. My upbringing was in a different tradition, so my first exposure to this hymn was in what became one of my favorite movies, the beautiful and moving <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087921/"><i>Places in the Heart</i></a> (1984), about a young widow's struggle to survive as a cotton farmer in 1930s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waxahachie,_Texas">Waxahachie, Texas</a>.The film opens with a small church congregation singing the hymn behind scenes of everyday life there, and gives the viewer a remarkably true feeling for a place, a people, and a time perhaps closer to God. Here is a clip of that portion of the movie:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="405" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/FwVhTcmDZLc?rel=0" width="525"></iframe> <br />
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<i style="color: #073763;"><b>Blessed Assurance</b></i> has also proven very adaptable to more contemporary arrangements (though I love the traditional best). Here is one, with moving images and lyrics, by the Christian artist <a href="http://www.jadonlavik.com/">Jadon Lavik</a>: <br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="405" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/q7n4hDo_rxo?rel=0" width="525"></iframe><br />
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Here is another good contemporary rendition from <a href="http://www.springharvest.org/">Spring Harvest</a>, with a short introduction and postscript providing more details about Fanny Crosby and the writing of this beautiful hymn:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/GT9esnBI5h4?rel=0" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<i><b>May you, too come to know the blessed assurance that faith in our Savior brings!</b></i></div>
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Thomas Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16651679675833246170noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8749353453885923446.post-89090125919216299582012-05-27T21:28:00.000-04:002012-05-27T21:28:34.505-04:00Mansions of the Lord<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><i>He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth;<br />he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder;<br />he burneth the chariot in the fire. ~ <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalms%2046:9&version=KJV">Psalms 46:9</a></i></b></div>
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Tomorrow, May 28, is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day">Memorial Day</a> in the United States. On this day we remember and honor those men and women in the Armed Forces who gave their lives in service to our country. Today, for those who have never lost a close relative or friend serving in the military, Memorial Day seems to mean little more than an extra day off from work and an occasion for picnics and used car sales. But for those who have borne such a loss, or who have simply made it their business to honor our fallen heroes and support their families, Memorial Day is a profoundly moving time.<br />
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But not always a somber, wretched time. Perhaps because Memorial Day falls in the fullest flower of spring, it has always cast for me a ray of light and hope, just behind the dark wall of painful remembrance. As a child I would go with my grandmother every "Decoration Day"--as it was then called--to the cemetery behind our family's church, where we laid a pot of flowers at my long-departed grandfather's grave and with Grandma would say a brief, silent prayer. I recall it as always being sunny and warm. All the veterans' graves were adorned with colorful flags. Yes, we often had a family picnic too, but it was always preceded by that quiet remembrance.<br />
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This bonding of grief and hope, sadness and peace is reflected in a moving contemporary hymn to fallen servicemen called <i style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Mansions of the Lord</b></i>. The text was composed by Christian songwriter, screenwriter, and director <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randall_Wallace">Randall Wallace</a>, and the music by English film score composer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Glennie-Smith">Nick Glennie-Smith</a>.It was sung by the <a href="http://www.joecieplinski.com/usmaglee/index.html">U.S. Military Academy Glee Club</a> during the closing credits of the 2002 film <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0277434/"><i>We Were Soldiers</i></a>, which chronicled the November 1965 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ia_Drang">Battle of Ia Drang</a> in Viet Nam. The hymn also served as the recessional in the 2004 funeral of President Ronald Reagan.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i> Randall Wallace and Nick Glennie-Smith</i></b></div>
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The text consists of three short stanzas that dwell not on war and death, but on the eternal peace of Heaven--the "Mansions of the Lord"--to which a fallen soldier (or sailor or airman) is commended by his comrades, who promise to stand guard and remember him always. The hymn reminds us that in that blessed place there is no more war, no fear or pain, no anguish or loss--just "divine embrace, eternal light." The music is likewise simple, dignified, and uplifting, and reinforces the text's message of hope (as the hymn is not in the public domain the sheet music can't be reproduced here, but if you'd like to view and download it for a fee, click <a href="http://www.scribd.com/drmidi/d/7702796-The-Mansions-of-the-Lord-Choral-Sheetmusic">here</a>).<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b style="color: #20124d;">To fallen soldiers let us sing,<br />Where no rockets fly nor bullets wing,<br />Our broken brothers let us bring<br />To the Mansions of the Lord.<br /><br />No more bleeding, no more fight,<br />No prayers pleading through the night,<br />Just divine embrace, eternal light<br />In the Mansions of the Lord.<br /><br />Where no mothers cry and no children weep,<br />We will stand and guard though the angels sleep,<br />All through the ages safely keep<br />The Mansions of the Lord.</b></blockquote>
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<b><i>Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Washington, DC, USA</i></b></div>
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The presentation below is the original version of the hymn sung in <i>We Were Soldiers</i> by the Cadet Glee Club of West Point, along with a stirring orchestration and a moving video tribute to fallen warriors and their families:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="435" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/WtXNh9oxbSY?rel=0" width="580"></iframe><br />
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You'll notice that this presentation includes a solo voice portion not part of the hymn itself, excerpted from the lament <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sgt._MacKenzie"><i>"Sgt. MacKenzie"</i></a> by Joseph Kilna MacKenzie, as sung in a Scottish dialect and with a "translation" to standard English: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i>Lay me doon in the caul caul groon<br />Whaur afore monie mair huv gaun<br />Lay me doon in the caul caul groon<br />Whaur afore monie mair huv gaun<br /><br />Ains a year say a prayer faur me<br />Close yir een an remember me<br /> *****<br />Lay me down in the cold cold ground<br />Where before many more have gone<br />Lay me down in the cold cold ground<br />Where before many more have gone<br /><br />Once a year say a prayer for me<br />Close your eyes and remember me</i></div>
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Below is another presentation, also sung (I believe) by the Cadet Glee Club but without orchestration--except for a very poignant bugle introduction--and is accompanied by another very moving video.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="435" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZeasNTq1mQA?rel=0" width="580"></iframe><br />
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The video below presents the Cadet Glee Club itself performing <i>Mansions of the Lord</i>, with an introduction that provides some very thought-provoking information on just how many men and women have given their lives in America's service in the last hundred years:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="435" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/hGoSWn1tHeo?rel=0" width="580"></iframe><br />
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War, though sometimes necessary in the defense of truth, justice, and national survival, is perhaps the greatest scourge in human experience. The believer--especially the believing soldier and his or her family--longs and prays for the day when war and conflict are no more, and we rejoice eternally, together, in the presence of our Savior and Heavenly Father. It is this hope that we share with departed loved ones, and which, perhaps, inspired these beautiful passages from Scripture:<br />
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<div style="color: #20124d; text-align: center;">
<i><b>[T]hey shall beat their swords into plowshares,<br />and their spears into pruning hooks;<br />nation shall not lift up sword against nation,<br />neither shall they learn war anymore. ~ <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%2021:4&version=KJV">Isaiah 2:4</a></b></i></div>
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<i style="color: #20124d;"><b>And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes;<br />and there shall be no more death,<br />neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain:<br />for the former things are passed away. ~ <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%2021:4&version=KJV">Revelation 21:4 </a></b></i></div>
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<b>May the soldiers, sailors, and airmen of today live to see it,<br />and lock arms with their departed comrades once more.</b></div>
<br />Thomas Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16651679675833246170noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8749353453885923446.post-90096015521690454092012-05-01T23:44:00.000-04:002012-05-01T23:58:14.949-04:00Leaning on the Everlasting Arms<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLSranf89TcuoNHFuePNSGmRrOqXu4pf9EAXQN-aEM7IpJurP42VZ0pgWlP5wuYacAKnU0wl1y6950h8ew5FhOJsiqCIBzSrBqIvkdqCssP2vtwNQqiZUhczL950Deoy4GglwkSsmdMN8/s1600/in_jesus_arms.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLSranf89TcuoNHFuePNSGmRrOqXu4pf9EAXQN-aEM7IpJurP42VZ0pgWlP5wuYacAKnU0wl1y6950h8ew5FhOJsiqCIBzSrBqIvkdqCssP2vtwNQqiZUhczL950Deoy4GglwkSsmdMN8/s1600/in_jesus_arms.jpg" /></a></div>
As the <a href="http://www.biblestudycharts.com/HH_Leaning_On_The_Everlasting.html">story</a> goes, one day in 1887 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Johnson_Showalter">Anthony J. Showalter</a> (1858-1924), a Presbyterian elder and principal of a music school in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalton,_Georgia">Dalton, Georgia</a>, was leading a singing school in a local church in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartselle,_Alabama">Hartselle, Alabama</a>. After dismissing the class for the evening, he returned to his boardinghouse and found that two letters had arrived, both from former students of his. And each had recently suffered the same heartbreaking loss, the death of his wife. Seeking to comfort them, Showalter wrote back to the young men and included this passage from <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deut%2033:27&version=KJV">Deuteronomy 33:27</a>: <b style="color: #0c343d;"><i>"The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms . . ."</i> </b> Reflecting on these words, Showalter thought of a simple stanza: <i>"Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms; Leaning, Leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms." </i>After finishing the letters, Showalter wrote another to his friend, Presbyterian minister and hymnist <a href="http://bereanbibleheritage.org/extraordinary/hoffman_elisha.php">Elisha Albright Hoffman</a> (1839-1929), saying, <i>"Here is the chorus for a good hymn from Deuteronomy 33:27, but I can't come up with any verses." </i> Hoffman obligingly wrote three stanzas and sent them back to his friend in Dalton. Showalter (or, <a href="http://bereanbibleheritage.org/hymns/leaning_on_the.php">perhaps his nephew</a> Sam E. Duncan) then set the text to music, and published it later that year in the hymnal <i>Glad Evangel for Revival, Camp, and Evangelistic Meetings</i>. The result was one of America's most beloved gospel songs, <a href="http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/l/o/lotearms.htm"><b style="color: #cc0000;"><i>Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.</i></b></a><b style="color: #cc0000;"><i> </i></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYpElCr1dM63zfMVbrhXyzvDd4w5I7zupXtDZhUf9FNvMRLhnIYImlY7gqLIvSmU0TiROox9j-MoJ_5ngvi_ETAw6ENEoy9RO-tEzjwchWzscg00QyWVfe1F_AKfMwqQq0IR_ugf1sxKk/s1600/showalter_walter_1885.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYpElCr1dM63zfMVbrhXyzvDd4w5I7zupXtDZhUf9FNvMRLhnIYImlY7gqLIvSmU0TiROox9j-MoJ_5ngvi_ETAw6ENEoy9RO-tEzjwchWzscg00QyWVfe1F_AKfMwqQq0IR_ugf1sxKk/s320/showalter_walter_1885.jpg" width="241" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6W451EMYzS1-fw3X99qtAA34_-l7fWrSfsEOkYitB0Ffd6BErpWRlycClwREQoPeWIEsppr120SStDgA9ScG7nkcobwUUn2kTiLT4VV-FvxGk9TBT9ZcIZH-e61rD0TE3uM3jg4aHZS4/s1600/hoffman_ea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6W451EMYzS1-fw3X99qtAA34_-l7fWrSfsEOkYitB0Ffd6BErpWRlycClwREQoPeWIEsppr120SStDgA9ScG7nkcobwUUn2kTiLT4VV-FvxGk9TBT9ZcIZH-e61rD0TE3uM3jg4aHZS4/s320/hoffman_ea.jpg" width="220" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>Anthony J. Showalter and Elisha A. Hoffman</i></b></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b style="color: #20124d;">What a fellowship, what a joy divine,</b><br />
<b style="color: #20124d;">Leaning on the everlasting arms;</b><br />
<b style="color: #20124d;">What a blessedness, what a peace is mine,</b><br />
<b style="color: #20124d;">Leaning on the everlasting arms.</b><br />
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<i style="color: #20124d;">Refrain</i><br />
<b style="color: #20124d;">Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms;</b><br />
<b style="color: #20124d;">Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.</b><br />
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<b><span style="color: #20124d;">O how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way,</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;">Leaning on the everlasting arms;</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;">O how bright the path grows from day to day,</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;">Leaning on the everlasting arms.</span></b><br />
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<i style="color: #20124d;">Refrain</i><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;">Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms;</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;">Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="color: #20124d;">What have I to dread, what have I to fear,</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;">Leaning on the everlasting arms;</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;">I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;">Leaning on the everlasting arms.</span></b><br />
<br />
<i style="color: #20124d;">Refrain</i><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;">Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms;</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #20124d;">Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.</span></b></blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUB0onyxNPklFKlBDkX2EKE1U5-4nPDye4biS_wSE41I8uIy2icLuk-uhPdABmT8XIBaRlvrzIGqd_5m6EqZ18F8HXI__bOPC6Sg_xjArQhSS9FCZR3VdxvVbiy_5FxCG4MoyTXIcTSG4/s1600/everlasting_arms_music.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUB0onyxNPklFKlBDkX2EKE1U5-4nPDye4biS_wSE41I8uIy2icLuk-uhPdABmT8XIBaRlvrzIGqd_5m6EqZ18F8HXI__bOPC6Sg_xjArQhSS9FCZR3VdxvVbiy_5FxCG4MoyTXIcTSG4/s1600/everlasting_arms_music.jpg" /></a></div>
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In the simplest yet sweetest terms possible, <i>Leaning on the Everlasting Arms</i> expresses the inner peace and sense of safety that the believer enjoys. Even in the gravest trouble and the deepest grief, we know that the Lord is near (<i>"I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."</i> (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+13:5&version=KJV">Hebrews 13:5</a>));He is "with [us] always, even unto the end of the world." (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+28:20&version=KJV">Matthew 28:20</a>) With faith in Him, we need never fear for our souls or for the endless life with Him that we have been promised. Just as Anthony Showalter reminded his grieving friends, we have our Eternal God for a refuge, and are upheld by His everlasting arms! (for perhaps the most complete and compelling expression of these wonderful truths, see <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2091&version=KJV">Psalm 91</a>)<br />
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You can still visit the place where <i>Leaning on the Everlasting Arms</i> was, according to local folks, first sung in public: the 1850s-vintage <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96B1_HTHr_M">Old Stone Church</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringgold,_Georgia">Ringgold, Georgia</a>--just a few miles south of where I used to live in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chattanooga,_Tennessee">Chattanooga, Tennessee</a> (and where Anthony Showalter passed away in 1924). They say that Mr. Showalter led singing in the church twice a month while its pastor was away in Dalton; one Sunday after services he was invited home for lunch by one of the church members, and while there put the finishing touches on the song, which the Ringgold congregation debuted that evening. Watch the video below for the full story:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ogCp1wQoAuM?rel=0" width="480"></iframe><br />
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From a review of the available video rendition, it appears that <i>Leaning on the Everlasting Arms </i>is usually sung at a very sprightly tempo--perhaps in keeping with its positive, happy message. Here is a version by an unidentified church congregation, performed at the song's normal rhythm:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8bT0VJUEyM0?rel=0" width="480"></iframe><br />
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I prefer a more stately, heartfelt rendition, which keeps the song's message of perfect hope and joy, while infusing it with a greater reverence. Here is one by the great <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahalia_Jackson">Mahalia Jackson</a>:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3Mb0XA2BDx0?rel=0" width="480"></iframe><br />
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But my favorite is the rendition by American folk singer <a href="http://www.irisdement.com/biography.html">Iris DeMent</a>, which served as the underlying musical theme and closing number in the 2010 Western film <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1403865/"><i>True Grit</i></a>. In my opinion, no version better captures the simple earnestness and peaceful assurance that the text conveys. The video below features Ms. DeMent's singing, along with beautiful country scenes and images of the Savior.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/t2BAqUuIQqo?rel=0" width="480"></iframe><br />
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<b>May you feel the Lord's arms enfolding you and bearing you up every moment of every day!</b><br />
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<i><b>Listen to me . . .<br />you who have been borne by me<br />from before your birth,<br />carried from the womb;<br />even to your old age I am he,<br />and to gray hairs I will carry you.<br />I have made, and I will bear;<br />I will carry and will save.</b></i></div>
<i><b>~ <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2046:3-4&version=ESV" style="color: #0c343d;">Isaiah 46:3-4</a><span style="color: #0c343d;"> (ESV)</span></b></i>Thomas Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16651679675833246170noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8749353453885923446.post-69230151437857523042012-04-07T10:25:00.031-04:002012-04-07T14:53:01.916-04:00Christ the Lord is Risen Today<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPQoai7b3f4xC050CMdMVj4FCQCQRBr9tq97l8D-XoC2QJ2IJWJf7PyKU2lwp_X6oDZlV3NgYyxLzotd_jJuEdapoi75kexpaihGXKMTgjmvymZgFh43vazfzgLia1M7lKDMJasK8CMmU/s1600/Risen+-+hughes.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 305px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPQoai7b3f4xC050CMdMVj4FCQCQRBr9tq97l8D-XoC2QJ2IJWJf7PyKU2lwp_X6oDZlV3NgYyxLzotd_jJuEdapoi75kexpaihGXKMTgjmvymZgFh43vazfzgLia1M7lKDMJasK8CMmU/s400/Risen+-+hughes.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728730904276411266" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here;<br />He has risen, just as He said." </span>~ </span><a style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+28&version=NIV">Matthew 28:5-6</a><br /><br />Easter is the happiest and holiest of holy days in the Christian faith. It is the day we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of God's promise of redemption and salvation for all men who would receive Him--the victory of Goodness and Love over Sin and Death, making possible Eternal Life with Him. Even as a youngster I was awestruck by the dramatic swings of the Easter story, from the triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, through the darkness and horror of Jesus' trial and crucifixion only a few days later, and finally His miraculous Resurrection and loving reassurance to His grieving disciples. The anguish and despair they must have been feeling in the immediate wake of the Master's death is beyond comprehension. Equally unimaginable is their joy upon seeing Him again, hearing His voice, and even touching Him. He lives still today, and forever--and so the disciples' joy is ours too!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSXuXMc8f0g1b0cdGZ23AEiquI53y6LVcnjHBoDKS2AXsCy55HNZc9QBzgnjFAD-XroXFklTs_IX4LLu8H6YnhRSUzNA-X5Db8vnnP-zumIZqkkw_TakAEfDd3UucLI4WoCTPhHhmJA-4/s1600/Charles_wesley.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 140px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSXuXMc8f0g1b0cdGZ23AEiquI53y6LVcnjHBoDKS2AXsCy55HNZc9QBzgnjFAD-XroXFklTs_IX4LLu8H6YnhRSUzNA-X5Db8vnnP-zumIZqkkw_TakAEfDd3UucLI4WoCTPhHhmJA-4/s200/Charles_wesley.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728719343991771970" border="0" /></a>The perfect theme for history's greatest triumph might be the beloved hymn <a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" href="http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/c/t/l/ctlrisen.htm"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Christ the Lord is Risen Today</span></a>, with text written by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglicanism">Anglican</a> minister, preacher, and co-founder of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methodism">Methodism</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Wesley">Charles Wesley</a> (1707-1788). Considered by some the <a href="http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/131christians/poets/charleswesley.html">greatest hymnist</a> of all time, Wesley wrote many thousands of hymns, far more than the only other possible candidate, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Watts">Isaac Watts</a>. <a href="http://www.lectionary.org/HymnStories/Christ%20the%20Lord%20Is%20Risen%20Today.htm">Among his earliest</a> was <span style="font-style: italic;">Christ the Lord is Risen Today</span>, which was written to be sung <a href="http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/c/t/l/ctlrisen.htm">at the first worship service</a> in London's Wesleyan Chapel (the famous "Foundry Meeting House") on Easter Sunday in 1739. The hymn was <a href="http://wordwisehymns.com/2010/03/29/today-in-1739-christ-the-lord-is-risen-today-sung/">then titled</a> “Hymn for Easter-Day,” but we know it today by the first line of Wesley's text. This exuberant song is one of the <a href="http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/c/t/l/ctlrisen.htm">most popular</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter">Easter</a> hymns in the English language.<br /><br />The hymn's appeal lies in its perfect marriage of inspiring words and soaring music. Originally comprising eleven four-line stanzas and published by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wesley">John</a> and Charles Wesley in <a href="http://archive.org/details/hymnsandsacredpo00wesliala"><span style="font-style: italic;">Hymns and Sacred Poems</span></a> (1739), the text celebrates exultantly our Savior's everlasting triumph over evil and death through His own death and resurrection, which redeems us from Hell and opens for us the door to Eternal Life.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxWttj5GT6QF4YhNWIDcJ_pUWzKOouR_n9JY4L2Jn-A4W1RJ6oh_HYoL7dP2CFkB-0SOaCMcYtI-Bo2kHBOIRa8N2FN8NaBE179_XhXYaXN6Ljnqkbe4Qg_IS3C8IWVfzKiosUlbC7oSs/s1600/Risen+1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 173px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxWttj5GT6QF4YhNWIDcJ_pUWzKOouR_n9JY4L2Jn-A4W1RJ6oh_HYoL7dP2CFkB-0SOaCMcYtI-Bo2kHBOIRa8N2FN8NaBE179_XhXYaXN6Ljnqkbe4Qg_IS3C8IWVfzKiosUlbC7oSs/s320/Risen+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728720413395177634" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUmcGFINZVoVYmq_WiXTbqj-SJiCa2syFmuh_9UiyVeJxGWTR2JA9nUaZ6OUWeCSg6u2WVJBy3anHGBGQ4akHmdtykwbTUomrWprQ_jNlrPTMVaRfXiU0ib5aSrTsfItijIrDXXoi1vyA/s1600/Riesn+2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 173px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUmcGFINZVoVYmq_WiXTbqj-SJiCa2syFmuh_9UiyVeJxGWTR2JA9nUaZ6OUWeCSg6u2WVJBy3anHGBGQ4akHmdtykwbTUomrWprQ_jNlrPTMVaRfXiU0ib5aSrTsfItijIrDXXoi1vyA/s320/Riesn+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728721386937148898" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwvVgXuSrCa3W862KsqYStLkMSIJyF_g2XBS2s1oxK3959n0XmCyZ7GpBV3lRcnewB-ulylMYtCq2TI45_YrrNDXUvyqxcvkvSr3tucYNtcHmxS3e8VBuP6D1Z8Dpf5LGPrfmGI2Qw9Ck/s1600/Risen+3.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 173px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwvVgXuSrCa3W862KsqYStLkMSIJyF_g2XBS2s1oxK3959n0XmCyZ7GpBV3lRcnewB-ulylMYtCq2TI45_YrrNDXUvyqxcvkvSr3tucYNtcHmxS3e8VBuP6D1Z8Dpf5LGPrfmGI2Qw9Ck/s320/Risen+3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728721963730525906" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Christ the Lord is Risen Today ("Hymn for Easter-Day"), as it appeared in </span>Hymns and Sacred Poems<span style="font-style: italic;"> (1739)</span><br /><br />The most distinctive element of the hymn as sung today is the conclusion of each line with an extended "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alleluia">Alleluia</a>," the anglicized form of a Hebrew term meaning “Praise the Lord!” <span style="font-style: italic;">Alleluia </span>is meant to convey emphatic joy, thanksgiving, and triumph; early Christians <a href="http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/news/2005/mar24.html">greeted each other on Easter</a> with the call and response: "Alleluia! He is risen!" "Alleluia! He is risen indeed!"<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Sing, ye heav’ns, and earth, reply, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Lo! the Sun’s eclipse is o’er, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Lo! He sets in blood no more, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Vain the stone, the watch, the seal, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Christ hath burst the gates of hell, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Death in vain forbids Him rise, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Christ hath opened paradise, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Once He died our souls to save, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Soar we now where Christ hath led, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Hail, the Lord of earth and Heaven, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Praise to Thee by both be given, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Thee we greet triumphant now, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Hail, the resurrection, thou, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">King of glory, Soul of bliss, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Everlasting life is this, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Thee to know, Thy power to prove, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Thus to sing and thus to love, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Hymns of praise then let us sing, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Unto Christ, our heavenly King, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Who endured the cross and grave, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Sinners to redeem and save. Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">But the pains that He endured, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Our salvation have procured, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Now above the sky He’s King, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Where the angels ever sing. Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Our triumphant holy day, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Who did once upon the cross, Alleluia!</span><br style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Suffer to redeem our loss. Alleluia!</span></blockquote>The tune "Easter Hymn," to which <span style="font-style: italic;">Christ the Lord is Risen Today</span> is <a href="http://songsandhymns.org/hymns/detail/christ-the-lord-is-risen-today">now commonly sung</a>, was first published anonymously in <a href="http://archive.org/details/lyradavidicaorco00lond"><span style="font-style: italic;">Lyra Davidica</span></a> (1708). Its sprightly rhythm and major C key give the hymn a positive, infectious, rafter-ringing quality loved by everyone who sings it!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLti3-3BTArVvh5OyAXFe493t0sG8zHhaZOtmGfOM5XYoWU8gSppyesubvxm6li1qQ6v-6ufYrtGn4Nk7n2_HaueM-L_dDyCBXMdXFJ4E5oTgsoPA05M5Z0GXdeduPiCjZvMcs0vxEmpA/s1600/ChristTheLordIsRisenToday.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLti3-3BTArVvh5OyAXFe493t0sG8zHhaZOtmGfOM5XYoWU8gSppyesubvxm6li1qQ6v-6ufYrtGn4Nk7n2_HaueM-L_dDyCBXMdXFJ4E5oTgsoPA05M5Z0GXdeduPiCjZvMcs0vxEmpA/s400/ChristTheLordIsRisenToday.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728728846832587698" border="0" /></a>As it turns out, however, the hymn we know as <span style="font-style: italic;">Christ the Lord is Risen Today</span> <a href="http://www.lectionary.org/HymnStories/Christ%20the%20Lord%20Is%20Risen%20Today.htm">differs significantly</a> from the one written by Charles Wesley and sung in the Foundry Meeting House 173 years ago. First, whatever tune Wesley used with his hymn, it was not the "Easter Hymn" tune that we associate with it today. In <span style="font-style: italic;">Lyra Davidica</span>, "Easter Hymn" is paired with the different, if quite similar, hymn <a href="http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/j/c/i/jcirtoda.htm"><span style="font-style: italic;">Jesus Christ Is Risen Today</span></a>, which was translated from a 14th Century Bohemian Latin carol. Moreover, the original Wesley hymn had no "alleluias." Someone whose name has been lost to history apparently decided to set Wesley's words to the "Easter Hymn" tune that we now use--a tune composed by still another unknown person--and since those words didn't fit that tune, he added the "alleluias" to make it fit. Thus, <span style="font-style: italic;">Christ the Lord is Risen Today</span> is actually a hybrid of the work of several different people who lived hundreds of years apart!<br /><br />Surprisingly, there seem to be few good video presentations of <span style="font-style: italic;">Christ the Lord is Risen Today</span>. Following is one by the incomparable <a href="http://mormontabernaclechoir.org/">Mormon Tabernacle Choir</a>:<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/aFTqpptLLwg?rel=0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" width="480"></iframe><br /><br />Here is another (though it's a static, single-image video) by an unidentified full choir, and nicely orchestrated, with lyrics:<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uWbpsmBbZMg?rel=0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" width="480"></iframe><br /><br />In the name of our risen Lord and Savior, I pray that each and every one of you has a joyous Easter this and every year!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5EJPiQpR2UEpMVfJOT1pkL3aLT8hFS8Wy5GK5095o1AT252Ih4ei6ex-5t0l5JhNPnvoOpd2_zi29Qccl-Oe_CQe4L2Ts-U9xu9bhx8dZ-0dV8GiX9P2Wt9Ls5cZSuY84JPozO0Rw0ig/s1600/Victory_over_the_Grave.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5EJPiQpR2UEpMVfJOT1pkL3aLT8hFS8Wy5GK5095o1AT252Ih4ei6ex-5t0l5JhNPnvoOpd2_zi29Qccl-Oe_CQe4L2Ts-U9xu9bhx8dZ-0dV8GiX9P2Wt9Ls5cZSuY84JPozO0Rw0ig/s400/Victory_over_the_Grave.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5728731310778433298" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="display: block;" id="formatbar_Buttons"><span onmouseover="ButtonHoverOn(this);" onmouseout="ButtonHoverOff(this);" onmouseup="" onmousedown="CheckFormatting(event);FormatbarButton('richeditorframe', this, 8);ButtonMouseDown(this);" class="" style="display: block;" id="formatbar_CreateLink" title="Link"></span></span>Thomas Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16651679675833246170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8749353453885923446.post-85644991642808719902012-03-21T22:09:00.043-04:002012-03-24T15:26:55.703-04:00What Wondrous Love Is This?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt8UIU3fRk8bDomYvIMRpw3eo43yTQ1lsIOQAWBI7o0ABOZPa3VW8EEw38joBmO5wyOwNhajKix7uefPzS7GZGq5m21VaPIBQsRfBYNUucuug57sFON-v_JYvFbbmsyo99Tls56kOC7dE/s1600/Calvary1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt8UIU3fRk8bDomYvIMRpw3eo43yTQ1lsIOQAWBI7o0ABOZPa3VW8EEw38joBmO5wyOwNhajKix7uefPzS7GZGq5m21VaPIBQsRfBYNUucuug57sFON-v_JYvFbbmsyo99Tls56kOC7dE/s400/Calvary1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723532725394285298" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might<br />live through him.<br />Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us,<br />and sent his Son<br />to be the propitiation for our sins.</span><br />~ <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20John%204:9-10&version=KJV">1 John 4:9-10</a><br /></div><br />Among the miracles of sacred music is that one doesn't have to have an extensive education in writing to compose inspiring text, nor in composition or arrangement to marry the text with a beautiful, moving tune. Nor is great skill or experience in musical performance needed to sing most of the exquisitely moving hymns that have come down to us over the centuries. Many of the most famous and moving hymns familiar to us today, sung in churches and in gatherings of Christian believers throughout the world, sprang from the spiritual experiences and sentiments of unknown humble people living otherwise ordinary lives, in remote times and places. These treasures have become enshrined in our culture through oral tradition, often aided by the work of more educated men and women who sojourned among the common people and preserved their best native music in compilations from which organized churches later drew much of the material for their hymnals and songbooks, thus bringing them out of obscurity and into the spiritual experience of believers everywhere.<br /><span style="display: block;" id="formatbar_Buttons"><span onmouseover="ButtonHoverOn(this);" onmouseout="ButtonHoverOff(this);" onmouseup="" onmousedown="CheckFormatting(event);FormatbarButton('richeditorframe', this, 8);ButtonMouseDown(this);" class="" style="display: block;" id="formatbar_CreateLink" title="Link"><img src="http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif" alt="Link" class="gl_link" border="0" /></span></span><br />A leading example of these "folk hymns" is the hauntingly beautiful <a href="http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/w/h/a/whatwond.htm"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">What Wondrous Love is This?</span></a>, often titled simply <span style="font-style: italic;">Wondrous Love</span>. Its discovery and preservation are most widely attributed to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Walker_%28composer%29">William Walker</a> (1809-1875), an American Baptist song leader, shape note "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singing_school#List_of_singing_masters">singing master</a>," and compiler of folk music. A <a href="http://nethymnal.org/bio/w/a/l/walker_w.htm">brief biography</a> notes that while yet a teenager the musically gifted Walker led congregational singing at the First Baptist Church in his home town of Spartanburg, South Carolina; later he collected and arranged folk tunes, and participated in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singing_school">singing schools </a>and compiled melodies from southern <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachia">Appalachia</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_meeting">camp meetings</a>. After moving to Hartford, Connecticut, Walker published <a href="http://www.ccel.org/ccel/walker/harmony/files/harmony.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion</span></a> in 1835, using the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shape_note">shaped note</a> music notation system that was for generations the foundation of musical teaching in rural America, and on which the "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_Harp">Sacred Harp</a>" singing tradition <a href="http://www.kentuckypress.com/live/title_detail.php?titleid=1232">is based</a>. <span style="font-style: italic;">Wondrous Love</span> was included in this compilation, and from it this hymn gained its first widespread exposure (although it may have first appeared in print in earlier, lesser-known <a href="http://www.hymnary.org/text/what_wondrous_love_is_this_oh_my_soul?%20%20tab=instances&extended=true">compilations</a>).<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6QtooCBnbZNcnPe85bnR05v6gfHXatxoR6o0pZhExtqwugaXcQOKzuQt8WsnRBRSyizm6zLhdf_gIJuwZO0p5LbwR9nV6ojY2kq_lFvBhX8s1CRRINKUaf66PXmxfCa0liOFsbwI7_9A/s1600/William+Walker.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 170px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6QtooCBnbZNcnPe85bnR05v6gfHXatxoR6o0pZhExtqwugaXcQOKzuQt8WsnRBRSyizm6zLhdf_gIJuwZO0p5LbwR9nV6ojY2kq_lFvBhX8s1CRRINKUaf66PXmxfCa0liOFsbwI7_9A/s320/William+Walker.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723534444092621138" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1GF3Wcr0NMynV6SSwG21DMh2HJiYUbKuqx-X4pitAbgz0T9HNbhYihoYqxvsQiugTASyEkW66DE7r4mg29Y5uDfVT2FBdaJejqV5r3sjIwNxqnaZ2tv4h6wm3zAdBBQMmzuKuraJcNlg/s1600/Southern_Harmony_and_Musical_Companion_2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1GF3Wcr0NMynV6SSwG21DMh2HJiYUbKuqx-X4pitAbgz0T9HNbhYihoYqxvsQiugTASyEkW66DE7r4mg29Y5uDfVT2FBdaJejqV5r3sjIwNxqnaZ2tv4h6wm3zAdBBQMmzuKuraJcNlg/s320/Southern_Harmony_and_Musical_Companion_2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723534769315441282" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">William Walker and his </span><span style="font-style: italic;">Southern Harmony and Musical Companion</span>, 1835<br /></div><br />True to its folk origins, the melody of <span style="font-style: italic;">Wondrous Love</span> <a href="http://people.bethel.edu/%7Erhomar/CatagoryText/FolkHymmsCampmeetingSongs.html">appears to be</a> a variant of a once-familiar dance tune that was set to the text of a song called "<a href="http://mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=1085">Captain Kid</a>." The tune is <a href="http://valleystationhymnody.blogspot.com/2010/11/what-wondrous-love-is-this.html">in a form of minor </a>called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorian_mode">Dorian mode</a>, which gives the hymn its <a href="http://www.lectionary.org/HymnStories/What%20Wondrous%20Love%20is%20This.htm">"haunting" or "plaintive" character</a>. This mode also leaves an impression that the melody should end <a href="http://valleystationhymnody.blogspot.com/2010/11/what-wondrous-love-is-this.html">one step lower </a>than it does, producing a sense of incompletion--when it is over, one feels as if there is still more to sing. This is serves as an invitation to repetition, which is central to the hymn's appeal.<br /><br />This becomes clear from the text of <span style="font-style: italic;">Wondrous Love</span>, which recounts and celebrates the central truth, and most precious miracle, of being: that Justice and Mercy are One, that God is love (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20John%204:8&version=KJV">1 John 4:8</a>), and that to save every person from his own sins, the innocent Lord of All left His glorious throne in Eternity and, while we were yet sinners, gave His life for us (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%205:8&version=KJV">Romans 5:8</a>).<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span><blockquote><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!<br />What wondrous love is this, O my soul!<br />What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss<br />To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,<br />To bear the dreadful curse for my soul.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down,<br />When I was sinking down, sinking down,<br />When I was sinking down beneath God’s righteous frown,<br />Christ laid aside His crown for my soul, for my soul,<br />Christ laid aside His crown for my soul.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">To God and to the Lamb, I will sing, I will sing;<br />To God and to the Lamb, I will sing.<br />To God and to the Lamb who is the great "I Am";<br />While millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing;<br />While millions join the theme, I will sing.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on;<br />And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on.<br />And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing and joyful be;<br />And through eternity, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on;<br />And through eternity, I’ll sing on.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span></blockquote><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZffGFb5-QU3nDeYIMD3RKvsOy3KGGQAD93nRv9K16kwvScd6S1Sbof9lE6M78uNBwVEs2JZ3YTfhAJ3hAh0j_KEKBVF4fmEp5HmZpSqGjzszoUfsO4Zh8w_cwbjnDWQGdSmdeiJPcwgQ/s1600/WhatWondrousLoveIsThis.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 258px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZffGFb5-QU3nDeYIMD3RKvsOy3KGGQAD93nRv9K16kwvScd6S1Sbof9lE6M78uNBwVEs2JZ3YTfhAJ3hAh0j_KEKBVF4fmEp5HmZpSqGjzszoUfsO4Zh8w_cwbjnDWQGdSmdeiJPcwgQ/s400/WhatWondrousLoveIsThis.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723541563821556418" border="0" /></a>Despite the tune's minor key, which is often associated with sadness, <span style="font-style: italic;">Wondrous Love</span> bursts with the redeemed sinner's joyful exultation, thankfulness, and praise for his Savior. This glorious theme is strengthened by the repetition in each stanza, which not only made the hymn easy to learn and remember for the 19th century Appalachian pioneers who first sang it, but also (as one observer <a href="http://northcoastview.blogspot.com/2009/03/what-wondrous-love-is-this.html">notes</a>), functions like a rhythmic incantation or mantra, building and reinforcing the power of the message as the hymn progresses. Beginning with a sense of wonder and awe, the hymn becomes a triumphant anthem that literally echoes "through eternity."<br /><br />As this is a folk-based song published a number of times in <a href="http://www.hymnary.org/text/what_wondrous_love_is_this_oh_my_soul?tab=instances&extended=true">various compilations and hymnals</a> since the early 19th century, there are many <a href="http://www.hymnwiki.org/What_Wondrous_Love_Is_This">additional or alternative verses</a>, and there have been a number of arrangements.<br /><br />Several excellent video performances of <span style="font-style: italic;">Wondrous Love</span> are available; my only difficulty was choosing which to feature here. The rendition below is a capella by the fine bluegrass group <a href="http://mountainblueharmony.com/">Mountain Blue</a>--and the video presents a host of inspiring images of our Savior:<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gbUepCiRCWw?rel=0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" width="480"></iframe><br /><br />The next rendition is by American folksinger and songwriter <a href="http://www.conniedover.com/">Connie Dover</a> in a vaguely Celtic style, accompanied by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uilleann_pipes">uilleann pipes</a> and synthesized background music. The verses here are more numerous and depart somewhat from the traditional text--focusing less on Christ's bearing of our guilt than on the joy of knowing His love--but are still historically grounded, and beautiful.The video features stunning images of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo">Michelangelo</a>'s <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo%27s_Piet%C3%A0">Pieta</a> and other great works of Christian art:<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/yiJIUFy5a1w?rel=0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe><br /><br />Christian artist <a href="http://www.fernandoortega.com/">Fernando Ortega</a> presents a unique and beautiful arrangement for solo piano and cello, accompanying his achingly expressive voice:<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uP0tEceh8Bg?rel=0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" width="480"></iframe><br /><br />And now for something completely different--yet, perhaps, truest to its origins: <span style="font-style: italic;">Wondrous Love</span> sung in the "Sacred Harp" style! This was recorded at the Southwest Theological Seminary, Fort Worth Texas, in January 2012:<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gZkVDwJT1I4?rel=0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe><br /><br />As we remember the Passion of our Lord during this Lenten season, and approach the precious time of Easter, let us all "sing and joyful be," and keep always in our hearts and minds the Wondrous Love that makes possible life with Him "through all eternity"!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1uYPNUBiDnMFjH0V7OA1gdKVK1xlfGJl08p9HsjfFJp2cMEQXfwxfzU5zVJHTsvbgZ5jJpZEs7tPCvv2IxdqN6EJwmVbhM_JVlmzWcd5wvS-ADpu9Fj3-i4aprDv8EIIdcGcwIPl8_NQ/s1600/Jesus+crowned+with+thorns.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 234px; height: 293px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1uYPNUBiDnMFjH0V7OA1gdKVK1xlfGJl08p9HsjfFJp2cMEQXfwxfzU5zVJHTsvbgZ5jJpZEs7tPCvv2IxdqN6EJwmVbhM_JVlmzWcd5wvS-ADpu9Fj3-i4aprDv8EIIdcGcwIPl8_NQ/s320/Jesus+crowned+with+thorns.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723537883388160610" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">But we see Jesus,<br />who was made a little lower than the angels<br />for the suffering of death,<br />crowned with glory and honour;<br />that He by the grace of God<br />should taste death for every man.</span><br style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">~ </span><a style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%202:9&version=KJV">Hebrews 2:9</a><br /></div>Thomas Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16651679675833246170noreply@blogger.com3