All Things Bright and Beautiful

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.

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 Pieta have sculpted itself?  Did the Mona Lisa 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?

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."  (Psalm 19:1) 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 . . ."  (Romans 1:20)  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?" (Psalm 8:3)

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, All Things Bright and Beautiful.

THE TEXT AND ITS LEGACY

Cecil Frances Alexander

The text was written in 1848 by English writer and poet Cecil Frances Alexander (1818-1895), the wife of Anglican clergyman William Alexander, who later became Primate of All Ireland. It has been said that Mrs. Alexander was inspired to write this hymn when trying, with difficulty, to teach a group of children the meaning of the Apostles' Creed. When traditional teaching methods failed, she decided to write a series of hymns based on selected passages in the Creed.  She developed All Things Bright and Beautiful 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):

Refrain

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
The Lord God made them all.

Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colors,
He made their tiny wings.

Refrain

The rich man in his castle,
The poor man at his gate,
He made them, high or lowly,
And ordered their estate.

Refrain

The purple headed mountains,
The river running by,
The sunset and the morning
That brightens up the sky.

Refrain

The cold wind in the winter,
The pleasant summer sun,
The ripe fruits in the garden,
He made them every one.

Refrain

The tall trees in the greenwood,
The meadows where we play,
The rushes by the water,
To gather every day.

Refrain

He gave us eyes to see them,
And lips that we might tell
How great is God Almighty,
Who has made all things well.

Refrain

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!

Mrs. Alexander wrote more hymns to illustrate other elements of the Apostles' Creed, including Once in Royal David's City, and There Is a Green Hill Far Away. She published these and others in a collection entitled Hymns for Little Children in 1848.  It was enormously successful and went through 69 editions during her lifetime and 100 editions altogether. Mrs. Alexander donated the profits from Hymns for Little Children to a school for the deaf, adding to her other endeavors supporting a ministry to unwed mothers and establishing a district nursing service.

It has also been suggested that All Things Bright and Beautiful may have been inspired by a verse from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner: "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)

Llanwenarth House

The place of the hymn's composition also figures in its story. It has been claimed that Mrs. Alexander wrote All Things Bright and Beautiful while staying at Llanwenarth House in Govilon, in the Usk valley of Monmouthshire, Wales.  In this connection, the refrain "the purple headed mountains, the river running by," may refer to the Sugar Loaf and Blorenge mountains and the River Usk (interestingly, Llanwenarth House was sold in 2012). The place of composing the hymn's text has also been attributed to Markree Castle in County Sligo, Ireland, and to Mineheadand the nearby village of Dunster in Somerset, England.

Along the River Usk

While Mrs. Alexander's hymn continued to be widely sung through the years since its publication, it gained greater notoriety when English veterinarian James Herriot, at the suggestion of his young daughter, named his first book All Creatures Great and Small, after a phrase in the hymn's refrain. He later wrote three more books named after the other three lines of the refrain: All Things Bright and Beautiful, All Things Wise and Wonderful, and The Lord God Made Them All. These best-sellers inspired a movie as well as a long-running BBC television series.

THE MUSIC

William H. Monk

All Things Bright and Beautiful has been matched with several melodies over the years. The earliest (1887), and my favorite, is BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL by English organist, church musician, and music editor William Henry Monk (1823–1889) (who also composed the tune "Eventide" used for the hymn "Abide with Me").  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):

Martin F. Shaw

At least as popular today, especially in Great Britain, is the 17th-century English melody ROYAL OAK as adapted and arranged in 1915 by English composer Martin F. Shaw (1875-1958).  The original tune takes its name from a tree at Boscobel, Shropshire, England, in which King Charles II hid during the Battle of Worcester in 1651), which concluded the English Civil War. Here is the music to Mr. Shaw's arrangement:

Also quite popular today, at least outside church services, is a full choral arrangement by contemporary English composer and conductor John Rutter (b. 1945).

REFLECTIONS ON THE HYMN

While All Things Bright and Beautiful 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.

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." (Genesis 1:1-1:31)  That God created this magnificent universe is declared joyfully in the New Testament as well as the Old (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16; Revelation 4:11).  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?" (Matthew 6:26)

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 All Things Bright and Beautiful serve that purpose well.

VIDEO PRESENTATIONS

The following rendition of All Things Bright and Beautiful is by an unidentified chorus singing William H. Monk's tune "Bright and Beautiful," accompanied by a charming video.



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:



Featured in the following video--another gem--is John Rutter's arrangement of All Things Bright and Beautiful. The choir is not identified, but I believe it is The Cambridge Singers:

* * * * *

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them. ~ Isaiah 11:6

It is Well With My Soul

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?"

The Old Testament Book of Job 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. ("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."  Job 1:21)  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?" (Job 2:9-10)  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” (Job 13:15).

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 . . ."  (Romans 5:3-4)  Even more illuminating is Christ's own teaching as recounted in the Gospel of John:

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. (John 9:1-3)

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!

Maybe these truths were in the mind of Horatio Gates Spafford (1828-1888) when, in the mid-1870s, he wrote the words to one of Christendom's most moving and beloved hymns, It is Well With My Soul.  Although it appears 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.

THE STORY BEHIND "IT IS WELL"

If ever there was a modern-day counterpart of Job, it was Horatio Spafford.

Born in Troy, New York 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 Anna were prominent socially and close friends with Dwight L. Moody and other leading evangelists of the day.  After the Civil War 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.

Horatio and Anna Spafford

But suddenly, their fortunes took a dramatic turn for the worse. On October 8, 1871, Horatio Spafford was financially ruined--literally overnight--when the Great Chicago Fire 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 help those who were suffering because of the Fire and assist in rebuilding the city.

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 Ira D. Sankey.  Shortly before their departure the Spaffords' finances were further strained by the Panic of 1873. 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 Ville du Havre 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.

The Spafford daughters

At two o'clock in the morning of November 22, 1873, the Ville du Havre was struck by the Scottish iron clipper Loch Earn, and sank in 12 minutes. Of the 273 people on board, only 47 survived. Anna Spafford was found by the Loch Earn's crew dazed and clinging to a piece of wreckage, but the four Spafford girls had all drowned, despite Anna's frantic efforts to save them. When she reached Cardiff, Wales a few days later, having been picked up with other survivors by an American vessel, she cabled home, "Saved alone, what shall I do?"

The Sinking of the Steamship Ville du Havre

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. According to Bertha Spafford Vester, 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 Ville du Havre 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 It is Well With My Soul. Other accounts, 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 two years later, when Dwight Moody and Ira Sankey were staying at the Spafford home in Chicago.

Either way, no other hymn better expresses the faith, hope, confidence, and contrite submission of the true Christian believer than this one:

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain:
It is well, (it is well),
With my soul, (with my soul)
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

Refrain

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

Refrain

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life,
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

Refrain

But Lord, 'tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul.

Refrain

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

Refrain

[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.]

Gospel singer and composer Philip P. Bliss (1838-1876), another close associate of Moody and Sankey, was so impressed with Spafford's life and the words of his hymn that he composed a beautiful piece of music to accompany the text. It  was published by Bliss and Sankey in 1876. Bliss called the tune Ville du Havre, after the name of the stricken vessel on which the Spafford girls were lost. Tragically, Bliss himself died with his wife in a train wreck in Ohio, not long after this music was written.

THE REST OF THE STORY

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 Jerusalem, 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 American Colony.

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 American Colony Hotel. 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 Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel met in the hotel where they began talks that led to the 1993 Oslo Peace Accord.

Horatio Spafford died on October 16, 1888, of malaria, and was buried in Mount Zion Cemetery, Jerusalem.  Anna Spafford passed away in 1923 after a long illness, and is buried in the American Colony Cemetery in Jerusalem.

REFLECTIONS ON THE HYMN

Given the calamitous series of events that led to the penning of It is Well With My Soul, 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.  It is Well echoes not only Christ's agonized submission in the Garden of Gethsemane ("My soul is exceeding[ly] sorrowful unto death . . . Nevertheless, not what I will, but what Thou wilt."  Mark 14:34-36), 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." (Revelation 21:4)

VIDEO PRESENTATIONS

The first presentation below is by an unidentified choir, with beatiful nature scenes accompanying a thoroughly traditional rendition including solos on some verses:



The next rendition is by a large congregation--more than 5,000 people, if I'm reading the notes right-- from the album, Together for the Gospel Live, by Sovereign Grace Ministries. This video also features beautiful nature scenes and lyrics on the screen as the hymn is sung.



My favorite solo rendition is by contemporary Christian artist Chris Rice--again, accompanied by beautiful natural and Christian imagery:



A still more contemporary performance by Christian singer Brian Doerksen can be viewed here, 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).

For an impressive video presentation on the history behind It is Well With My Soul, see the following:

* * * * * *

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:  "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."  (John 16:33)  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."

     

They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. ~  Psalm 126:5

Battle Hymn of the Republic

Irish Brigade Monument, Antietam National Battlefield

A couple of weeks ago (May 27) people in the United States observed Memorial Day, 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 Battle of Gettysburg, the costliest and, perhaps, most decisive engagement in the American Civil War.  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.

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 (Exodus 20:13), 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." (Isaiah 2:3-4)  And yet, we "put on the whole armour of God" (Ephesians 6:11) and sing rousing hymns that are full of military imagery, such as Onward Christian Soldiers, Who Is on the Lord’s Side?, and Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus, Ye Soldiers of the Cross. 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.

This view suffuses one of Christendom's (and the world's) most famous hymns, The Battle Hymn of the Republic.  This remarkable work may be less of a "hymn" as commonly understood, than an anthem, 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 Battle Hymn 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.

THE HISTORY BEHIND THE HYMN

The text of the Battle Hymn was written in 1861 by Julia Ward Howe (1819–1910), a prominent American social activist and wife of Samuel Gridley Howe (1801–1876), a famed scholar in education of the blind. Samuel and Julia were both deeply involved in the anti-slavery or "abolitionist" 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 Second Great Awakening 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, Holy Warriors: The Abolitionists and American Slavery (1976)). They were also convinced, as were most zealous believers since the Second Great Awakening, that the Millennium 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.

John Brown

By the 1860s the abolition movement seemed--but for the liberation of some thousands of slaves through the "underground railroad"--to have borne little fruit but to set the Northern and Southern sections of the United States implacably against each other. The 1859 assault on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia led by John Brown, 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.

According to various accounts, the Battle Hymn 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 Sanitary Commission--and the Rev. James Freeman Clarke. At some point the passing soldiers began singing John Brown's Body, 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. John Brown's Body itself originated from a popular religious camp-meeting song known as Canaan's Happy Shore or Brothers, Will You Meet Us?, which carried an old folk tune transcribed (and often attributed to) William Steffe (1830–1890), (of whom no known image exists) and published in about 1856. Although the words to John Brown's Body 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:

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. Reminiscences: 1819-1899. Houghton, Mifflin: New York, 1899. p. 275]

Howe's Battle Hymn of the Republic was first published on the front page of the February 1862 issue of the Atlantic Monthly (editor James T. Fields (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 singing and marching to the song.

Since the Civil War, the Battle Hymn has become one of the USA's most beloved patriotic songs. It also appears in many hymnals, 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 The Star Spangled Banner as an American patriotic anthem.

THE MEANING AND IMPORTANCE OF THE HYMN

One cannot fully appreciate the meaning and significance of the Battle Hymn without reading and pondering its text in detail:

    Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:
    He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
    He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:
    His truth is marching on.

        (Chorus)
        Glory, glory, hallelujah!
        Glory, glory, hallelujah!
        Glory, glory, hallelujah!
        His truth is marching on.

    I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps,
    They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
    I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:
    His day is marching on.

        (Chorus)
        Glory, glory, hallelujah!
        Glory, glory, hallelujah!
        Glory, glory, hallelujah!
        His day is marching on.

    I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:
    "As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal;
    Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,
    His truth is marching on."

        (Chorus)
        Glory, glory, hallelujah!
        Glory, glory, hallelujah!
        Glory, glory, hallelujah!
        His truth is marching on.

    He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
    He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat:
    Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet!
    Our God is marching on.

        (Chorus)
        Glory, glory, hallelujah!
        Glory, glory, hallelujah!
        Glory, glory, hallelujah!
        Our God is marching on.

    In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
    With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:
    As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
    While God is marching on.

        (Chorus)
        Glory, glory, hallelujah!
        Glory, glory, hallelujah!
        Glory, glory, hallelujah!
        Our God is marching on.

    He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,
    He is Wisdom to the mighty, He is Succour to the brave,
    So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of Time His slave,
    Our God is marching on.

        (Chorus)
        Glory, glory, hallelujah!
        Glory, glory, hallelujah!
        Glory, glory, hallelujah!
        Our God is marching on.

The Battle Hymn of the Republic 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 Battle Hymn, 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.

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" (". . . the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." Matthew 24:30); "grapes of wrath" ("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."  Revelation 14:19); "terrible swift sword" (". . . out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword . . ."  Revelation 1:16).

As has been noted elsewhere, the main element of the chorus--"Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!"-- was probably also inspired by the book of Revelation: " . . . I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God . . ."  (Revelation 19:1).

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.

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" (Zephaniah 1:14, 16). 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!"

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.

In thus replacing the words to the earthy marching song John Brown's Body, 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 explains: "[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."

OUR CALL TO ACTION?

Perhaps it is well that the Battle Hymn 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 Battle Hymn 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. Marin Luther King, Jr. closed with the first line of the Battle Hymn: "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!"  The Battle Hymn 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 Winston Churchill, for example, and at his request was played at his funeral in 1965.

Some modern Christians are uncomfortable with the militancy of the Battle Hymn 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 Battle Hymn of the Republic would still be a perfect anthem for our efforts.

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VIDEOS ABOUT THE HYMN

It's unusual to have multiple videos telling how a hymn came to be, and of its enduring significance--but the Battle Hymn is a very special piece. Here is the story of the hymn as told by the great actor and director Orson Welles:



Here is another fascinating video relating the story of the Battle Hymn by the great-great-great grandson of Julie Ward Howe:

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PERFORMANCES OF THE HYMN

There are many excellent (and some not so satisfactory) video renditions of the Battle Hymn. 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.

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 live to make men free."  It is unclear when and why this change 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.

Here is the video I thought most impressive musically and visually, featuring full orchestration and a large (though, unfortunately, unidentified) choir:



Good solo performances on video are harder to come by. Here is a good one by Judy Collins, joined by a U.S. Army chorus and the Boys Choir of Harlem in a 1993 concert televised live from Washington, D.C.:



For those who prefer a more spiritual, less military presentation, here's one featuring singer Jim Nabors 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):

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Triumph of Christ, by Gustave Dore (1868)

 . . . [T]hey shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven
with power and great glory.
And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet . . .
~  Matthew 24:30-31

How Deep the Father's Love for Us

The Crucifixion (1622) by Simon Vouet

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. ~ Isaiah 53:4-5

     
Holy Week, beginning with Palm Sunday and culminating in Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday, is the climax of the Christian year.  In this one short period are celebrated (among other events) Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem; the Last Supper; the Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane; Christ's arrest, trial, crucifixion, and death in atonement for our sins; and His resurrection 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.

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." (My Faith Has Found a Resting Place, by Eliza E. Hewitt).

And composers continue celebrating that simple, powerful message today.  Among the best examples is a song by Stuart Townend, an English Christian worship leader and writer of hymns and contemporary worship music. It's called How Deep the Father's Love for Us. 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.

How deep the Father’s love for us,
How vast beyond all measure,
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure.
How great the pain of searing loss -
The Father turns His face away,
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory.

Behold the man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders;
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished;
His dying breath has brought me life -
I know that it is finished.

I will not boast in anything,
No gifts, no power, no wisdom;
But I will boast in Jesus Christ,
His death and resurrection.
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer;
But this I know with all my heart -
His wounds have paid my ransom.

How Deep the Father's Love for Us is very similar in theme and approach to My Song is Love Unknown, which was featured here a few weeks ago. Both hymns reflect the singer's sense of unworthiness and remorse, and of personal 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.

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.

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.

The Scripture student may notice is how this hymn echoes the main themes of Isaiah 53, in which Jesus' suffering and death in atonement for our sins was prophesied more than 700 years before it occurred.

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.

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.

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.

. . . [By] his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

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.

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 How Deep the Father's Love for Us:

[NOTE: If you subscribe to these posts by email, the videos may not appear; in that case you can see them at the Songs of Praises web site.]

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Although How Deep the Father's Love for Us has now been published in at least eight hymnals, 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:



Another fine solo performance is rendered by Christian artist and worship leader Fernando Ortega.

Here is a fine small group performance by contemporary Christian music trio Phillips, Craig and Dean (warning: the video contains some scenes from the film The Passion of the Christ, which may be as violent and hard to watch as they are accurate in depicting Jesus' terrible suffering):

* * * * *

 May you come to know and embrace the miraculous salvation that Jesus Christ
purchased for YOU with His precious blood on the Cross!
God bless you and your family abundantly.

For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things,
in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation
perfect through sufferings. ~ Hebrews 2:10

Be Thou My Vision

 Statue of St. Patrick atop the Hill of Slane

 [B]e not conformed to this world:
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that ye may prove what [is] that
good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

~  Romans 12:2

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: "[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?" (Deuteronomy 10:12-13)  Christ Himself reiterated this truth and expanded on it:  "[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."  (Mark 12:30-31)

These admonitions call us to a life of utmost devotion to our Heavenly Father and all His children.  As author Charles E. Orr observed, "[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.

This desire, and the challenges thrown against it, are beautifully expressed in the hymn Be Thou My Vision (Irish: Bí Thusa 'mo Shúile). With its text and melody both springing from the green hills of Ireland, it's fitting to explore it here in the month of March, when we celebrate the feast (March 17) of her patron Saint Patrick.

Dallán Forgaill

St. Patrick

Be Thou My Vision is based on an Old Irish text called Rop tú mo Baile, which is often attributed to 6th-century Christian Irish poet Dallán Forgaill (ca. 530–598). This poem is said 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 Hill of Slane in County Meath, 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 Druids' festival of Bealtine and of the spring equinox. The pagan High King Lóegaire mac Néill had issued a decree that no fires were to be lit until the lighting of a blaze atop the nearby Hill of Tara, 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 noted,"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."

Rop tú mo Baile remained a part of Irish monastic tradition for centuries. Finally, in 1905, it received a literal translation from Old Irish into English prose by Irish linguist Mary E. Byrne (1880-1931). In 1912 the text was first versified by Irish scholar Eleanor H. Hull (1860-1935) and published in her work Poem Book of the Gael.

The tune most widely association with Be Thou My Vision is called, appropriately, Slane.  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 Patrick Weston Joyce (1827-1914) in his 1909 collection, Old Irish Folk Music and Songs, under the title "By the Banks of the Bann."  Not until 1919 was this melody coupled with Eleanor Hull's versified text of Be Thou My Vision, by Leopold Dix (1861-1935) in the Irish Church Hymnal.

Here are the text and music to this beautiful hymn of devotion:

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

[Click here to hear the original Old Irish text of Rop tú mo Baile sung to the tune Slane.]

As observed 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.'"

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There are many good renditions of Be Thou My Vision 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. [NOTE: If you subscribe to these posts by email, the videos may not appear; in that case you can see them at the Songs of Praises web site.]

The first is a beautiful choral presentation by the George Fox University 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"!



The next choral arrangement, by Lisa Campagnoli Bloom and performed by her as soloist with South Bend, Indiana's Vesper Chorale, is just a little more inventive--and just as moving:



Here is an excellent contemporary performance by the Christian group 4Him, featuring Irish instrumentation as well as lovely artwork and photography:



The live performance below, by Irish Christian singer and songwriter Robin Mark, pairs the hymn with an inspiring pictorial review of some of history's greatest Christian evangelists:

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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.

 

I am crucified with Christ:
nevertheless I live; yet not I,
but Christ liveth in me:
and the life which I now live in the flesh
I live by the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me,
and gave himself for me.
~ Galatians 2:20