Hymn of the Week: O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go

George Matheson 1882 Text
Albert L. Peace Music

O Love, that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in Thee;
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in Thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O Light, that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to Thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in Thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy, that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to Thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain
That morn shall tearless be.

O cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.

Many hymn writers say they struggle when composing a hymn text, revising and tweaking it until the meter and choice of images are exactly right. Others conceive the hymn as a whole and transmit it to paper as quickly as they can write it down. In the case of “O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go,” a mystical experience inspired the creative process.

George Matheson (1842-1906) provides us with an account of the origins of one of the most beloved hymns of the late 19th century: “My hymn was composed in the manse of Innellan on the evening of the 6th of June, 1882. . . . Something happened to me, which was known only to myself, and which caused me the most severe mental suffering. The hymn was the fruit of that suffering. It was the quickest bit of work I ever did in my life. I had the impression rather of having it dictated to me by some inward voice rather than working it out myself.

“I am quite sure that the whole work was completed in five minutes and equally sure it never received at my hands any retouching or correction. I have no natural gift of rhythm. All the other verses I have ever written are manufactured articles; this came like a day spring from on high. I have never been able to gain once more the same fervor in verse.”

This hymn was published in 1882 while he was in Innellan, Argyllshire. Though some have speculated, we are not sure of the cause of the intense suffering that led to the composition of this hymn. It was first published in the Church of Scotland monthly magazine Life and Work in January 1882 (some say 1883) and soon afterward in the Scottish Hymnal (1885).

Though nearly blind by age 18, Matheson became a brilliant student at Glasgow University. He never married, and his sister learned Greek, Latin, and Hebrew to help him through his theological studies. She also helped with his pastoral responsibilities.

He served effectively as a minister in parishes in Glasgow, and in 1886 became the pastor of the 2,000-member St. Bernard’s Parish Church in Edinburgh. Matheson authored several books on theology and one volume of poetry, Sacred Songs (1890). He was awarded the Doctor of Divinity degree by the University of Edinburgh in 1879 and the LL.D. from the University of Aberdeen in 1902.

Albert L. Peace (1844-1912), a well-known Scottish organist of his day, wrote the tune ST. MARGARET at the request of the Scottish Hymnal Committee. According to Peace, the tune came to him as quickly as the text had come to Matheson: “After reading it over carefully, I wrote the music straight off, and may say that the ink of the first note was hardly dry when I had finished the tune.”

Each of the four stanzas begins with a keyword—Love, Light, Joy, and Cross—that are not only attributes of his relationship with Christ, but also names given to Christ. Love is a haven for a “weary soul” and is as deep as the “ocean.” The second stanza focuses on Light that illumines the way of the singer. Our “flickering torch” is augmented by the “sunshine’s blaze” of Christ, the Light of the world. Stanza three is one of Joy—a joy that seeks for us “through pain.” The “rainbow” is a promise of hope following the rain indicating that “morn shall tearless be.”

The Cross is the theme of the concluding stanza. Through Christ’s suffering on the cross “blossoms red” are formed that lead to the birth of new life.

Citing the Handbook of the Church Hymnary (1951) by Scottish hymnologists James Moffat and Millar Patrick, Carlton Young notes that when Matheson “wrote ‘blossoms red’… he was thinking of the blossom that comes out of sacrifice—the sacrificial life which blossoms by shedding itself. ‘White’ is the blossom of prosperity, ‘red’ of self-sacrificing love.”

Dr. Hawn is a professor of sacred music at Perkins School of Theology.

Hymn of the Week: When the Roll is Called Up Yonder

Music and Text James E. Black 1893

1 When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more,
And the morning breaks, eternal, bright and fair;
When the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore,
And the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.

Refrain:
When the roll is called up yonder,
When the roll is called up yonder,
When the roll is called up yonder,
When the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.

2 On that bright and cloudless morning when the dead in Christ shall rise,
And the glory of his resurrection share;
When his chosen ones shall gather to their home beyond the skies,
And the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there. [Refrain]

3 Let us labor for the Master from the dawn till setting sun;
Let us talk of all his wondrous love and care.
Then when all of life is over and our work on earth is done,
And the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there. [Refrain]

Today’s story comes from Robert Morgan’s book Then Sings My Soul: 150 of the World’s Greatest Hymn Stories. 2011

This old favorite was inspired by disappointment. James Black was calling roll one day for a youth meeting at his church in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. One name didn’t answer – young Bessie, the daughter of an alcoholic. Crestfallen at her absence, James commented, “O God, when my own name is called up yonder, may I be there to respond!” Returning home, a thought struck him while opening the front gate. He went to the piano and set the words and music effortlessly.

Years later, this song comforted a group of traumatized children in a Japanese concentration camp. In his book, A Boy’s War, David Mitchell, tells of being in a boarding school in Chefoo, China, during the Japanese invasion. On November 5, 1942, the students and faculty were marched from their camp and eventually ended up in Weihsien Concentration Camp.

Among the students was Brian Thompson, a lanky teenager. One evening about a year before the war ended, Brian was restless, waiting for the evening roll call which was long overdue. A bare wire from the searchlight tower was sagging low, and some of the older boys were jumping up and touching it with their fingers. “Whew, I got a shock off that,” said one.

Brian decided to try. Being taller than the others, his hand was drawn into the wire and it came down with him. When his bare feet hit the damp ground, the electricity shot through him like bolts of lightning. His mother, who had been interred with the students, tried to reach him, but the others held her back or she, too, would have been electrocuted. Finally, someone found an old wooden stool and managed to detach the electrical wire, but it was too late.

At roll call that night, when the name “Brian Thompson” was called, there was no answer. David Mitchell later wrote: “Our principal and Mr. Houghton led a very solemn yet triumphal funeral service the next day. The shortness of life and the reality of eternity were brought home to us with force as Paul Bruce related that Brian has missed the roll call in camp but had answered the one in Heaven. How important it was for us to sing and know, “When the Roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.”

Hymn of the Week: Here is Wine, Here is Bread

Music and Text Graham Kendrick 1991

Here is bread, here is wine,
Christ is with us, He is with us.
Break the bread, drink the wine,
Christ is with us here.

Here is grace, here is peace,
Christ is with us, He is with us.
Know His grace, find peace,
feast on Jesus here.

In this bread there is healing,
in this cup there's life forever.
In this moment, by the Spirit,
Christ is with us here.

Here we are, joined as one,
Christ is with us, He is with us.
We'll proclaim, 'til he comes,
Jesus crucified.

Copyright: 1991 Make Way Music (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.)

While this is a hymn not found in Glory to God, it can be found in a supplement I have used off and on from The Faith We Sing. With World Communion happening on the first Sunday of October as we celebrate with churches around the world, I invite you to listen to this delightful song.

When I finished my first year of university education, my cousin gave me Richard Bertinet’s book, Dough: Simple Contemporary Bread. Over the course of the year, she had taught me to make bread by hand from scratch — no bread machine required! Although the book includes recipes for five different kinds of dough: white, olive oil, brown, rye, and sweet, I’ve never once ventured beyond the first chapter; I make a round loaf of white dough with four simple ingredients: flour, water, yeast, and salt. Warm water activates the yeast, flour, and salt to make it thick, and then my hands knead it into a ball for it to rise. Bread, which has come to symbolize so much, is nothing mysterious. It is made of the simplest stuff.

Two thousand years of ritual practice around Communion have shrouded the moment in mystery. If we strip the theology away for a moment, we uncover a table, a cup of wine, and a loaf of bread — simple things for everyone. Graham Kendrick’s hymn, “Here is Bread,” honors the simplicity of the ritual while acknowledging the immensity of the moment.

Born in Northamptonshire, England, in 1950, Kendrick is widely known for his hymn, “Shine, Jesus, Shine” (1987). The son of a Baptist minister, he studied to be a teacher before becoming a contemporary folk-rock singer and songwriter (Westermeyer, 2010, 310). As a young person in the church, he experienced its inability to properly connect with youth, and he set about using rock and folk music as a means of outreach and evangelism (Canterbury Dictionary). As he discusses in a 2002 interview, his work was meant to evoke a sense of drama, to engage the congregation with the Holy Spirit in a special moment. Music becomes worshipful, he says, only when the congregation itself commits to a deeper relationship with God, offering praise through Christ, by the Holy Spirit.

As complex as the above might sound, “Here Is Bread” (1991) exemplifies the relative simplicity of these goals. Each stanza is made up of two tercets (sets of three lines): two three-syllable lines, followed by the uniting thought, “Christ is with us: He is with us.” The contrast between the two ideas is striking: the visible bread and wine are somehow the same as the immensity of the Christ experience. The course of the hymn deepens our understanding of these simple elements of bread and wine. It isn’t about tackling the issue of transubstantiation; instead, we come to see that the bread and wine are also grace and peace (in the second verse). The refrain describes the transformational power of Communion (“In this bread, there is healing; in this cup, there’s life forever). The force of this moment propels us into the third verse, which is not only emblematic of our communal identity as Christians (“Here we are, joined as one”) but reminds us of our responsibility to proclaim the gospel (“We’ll proclaim till he comes…”). Underscored by a fragmented melody of thirds and seconds, united by a steady accompaniment for piano or guitar, the simple and seemingly separate words and elements are essential to one another.

As with the baking of a loaf of bread, which fuses disparate ingredients into one, the heart of the Communion ritual brings together God — above, incarnate, and spirit — and the many people and joins them together through flour, yeast, salt, and water.

FOR FURTHER READING:

• Westermeyer, Paul. Hymnal Companion to Evangelical Lutheran Worship. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2010.

• Nancy Jiwon Cho. "Graham Kendrick." The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press, accessed August 12, 2017, http://www.hymnology.co.uk/g/graham-kendrick.

• Melissa Riddle, "10 Questions With: Graham Kendrick," Crosswalk.Com (http://www.crosswalk.com/church/worship/10-questions-with-graham-kendrick-1165981.html)

_______________________

Joshua Zentner-Barrett received a master of sacred music degree from Perkins School of Theology, SMU, in May 2017, where he studied hymnology with Dr. C. Michael Hawn.

This article is provided as a collaboration between Discipleship Ministries and The Hymn Society in the U.S. and Canada. For more information about The Hymn Society, visit thehymnsociety.org.

Hymn of the Week: Come, Worship God
Glory to God: 386

Text Michael Perry 1980
Music Paris Antiphoner 1680

Come, worship God, who is worthy of honor;
enter God’s presence with thanks and a song!
You are the rock of your people’s salvation,
to whom our jubilant praises belong.

Ruled by your might are the heights of the mountains;
held in your hands are the depths of the earth.
Yours is the sea, yours the land, for you made them,
God above all gods, who gave us our birth.

We are your people, the sheep of your pasture;
you are our Maker, and to you we pray.
Gladly we kneel in obedience before you;
great is the one whom we worship this day!

Now let us listen, for you speak among us;
open our hearts to receive what you say.
Peace be to all who remember your goodness,
trust in your word, and rejoice in your way!

The text comes to us from the 1980s with a brief bio about the hymn writer, below.

Initially studying mathematics and physics at Dulwich College, Michael A. Perry (b. Beckenham, Kent, England, 1942; d. England, 1996) was headed for a career in the sciences. However, after one year of study in physics at the University of London, he transferred to Oak Hill College to study theology. He also studied at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, and received a Master of Philosophy from the University of Southhampton in 1973. Ordained a priest in the Church of England in 1966, Perry served the parish of St. Helen's in Liverpool as a youth worker and evangelist. From 1972 to 1981 he was the vicar of Bitterne in Southhampton and from 1981 to 1989, rector of Eversley in Hampshire and chaplain at the Police Staff College. He then became vicar of Tonbridge in Kent, where he remained until his death from a brain tumor in 1996. Perry published widely in the areas of Bible study and worship. He edited Jubilate publications such as Hymns for Today's Church (1982), Carols for Today (1986), Come Rejoice! (1989), and Psalms for Today (1990). Composer of the musical drama Coming Home (1987), he also wrote more than two hundred hymns and Bible versifications.

The hymn tune comes to us from a much earlier time. Paris 1680. The tune itself was based on a tune by Peter Abelard. In 1898 John B. Dykes took the tune and put it into the form we know today. Below is a brief introduction to Peter Abelard’s life and the great love of his life, Heloise.

Peter Abelard was born in Pallet, France, in 1079 and died in Priory St. Martel, France, in 1142. At a young age, Abelard showed an unusual capacity for knowledge. He soon became a lecturer at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Although many students flocked to Abelard because of the grace and simplicity of his lectures, his rationalistic views brought him into conflict with many of his colleagues.

Abelard’s life took many twists and turns because he was a priest who fell in love with Heloise, the niece of Canon Fulbert of Notre Dame. When the two could no longer hide their affair, they fled to Brittany, France, where they privately married and had one son. When Abelard and Heloise returned to Paris, Canon Fulbert hired men to emasculate Abelard. After this, Heloise became a nun; and Abelard, a monk. In fact, it was for Heloise’s Convent of the Paraclete, founded at Nogent-sur-Seine in 1129 that Abelard wrote “O Quanta, Qualia Sunt Illa Sabbata."

Finding a place at the Abby of St. Denis, Abelard resumed teaching and again attracted crowds. St. Bernard of Clairvaux instituted a trail for heresy based on Abelard’s Theologia. He was condemned for heresy by the Council of Soissons in 1121 and by the Council of Sens in 1141 and was forced to cease teaching. He appealed to Rome; unfortunately, he died on his way there. He and Heloise are buried together in the Cemetery of Père-la-Chaise, Paris. This storied romance has been the subject of numerous novels and plays (Glover, 1994, vol. 3A, 311); (Young, 1993, 714).

John Mason Neale’s (1818–1866) translation of Abelard’s text appeared first in 1854 for the Hymnal Noted. Neale was an Anglican priest, scholar, and hymn writer. His contribution to hymnody in the nineteenth century is vast. Neale is primarily known for his translations from Latin and Greek sources into English. Neale is the original author or translator of over 350 hymn texts.

FOR FURTHER READING:

• Glover, Raymond F. The Hymnal 1982 Companion. Vol. 3a. New York, NY: Church Hymnal Corp., 1994.

• Young, Carlton R. Companion to the United Methodist Hymnal. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1993.

• “O What Their Joy and Their Glory Must Be” at hymnary.org, http://hymnary.org/text/o_what_their_joy_and_their_glory_must_be

ABOUT THIS WEEK'S WRITER:

Darrell St. Romain currently serves as Director of Music and Liturgy at St. James and St. Philip Catholic Churches in St. James and Vacherie, LA respectively. He also serves as the assistant director for the Diocesan Gospel Choir for the Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge, LA.

This article is provided as a collaboration between Discipleship Ministries and The Hymn Society in the U.S. and Canada. For more information about The Hymn Society, visit thehymnsociety.org.

I am including two videos this week to show you the version we are familiar with and the tune as Abelard initially conceived it.

Hymn of the Week: In the Midst of New Dimensions
Glory to God: 315

Text and Music Julian B. Rush 1979

1. In the midst of new dimensions, in the face of changing ways,
Who will lead the pilgrim peoples wandering in their separate ways?
God of rainbow, fiery pillar, leading where the eagles soar,
We your people ours the journey now and ever, now and ever, now and evermore.

2. Through the flood of starving people, warring factions and despair,
Who will lift the olive branches? Who will light the flame of care?
God of rainbow, fiery pillar, leading where the eagles soar,
We your people ours the journey now and ever, now and ever, now and evermore.

3. As we stand, a world divided by our own self seeking schemes,
Grant that we, your global village, might envision wilder dreams.
God of rainbow, fiery pillar, leading where the eagles soar,
We your people ours the journey now and ever, now and ever, now and evermore.

4. We are man and we are woman, all persuasions, old and young,
Each a gift in your creation, each a love song to be sung.
God of rainbow, fiery pillar, leading where the eagles soar,
We your people ours the journey now and ever, now and ever, now and evermore.

5. Should the threats of dire predictions cause us to withdraw in pain,
May your blazing phoenix spirit resurrect the church again.
God of rainbow, fiery pillar, leading where the eagles soar,
We your people ours the journey now and ever, now and ever, now and evermore.

“In the Midst of New Dimensions,” sometimes called “Ours the Journey,” and its associated tune, NEW DIMENSIONS, were written by Julian B. Rush (b. 1936). Rush was an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church, serving as Minister of Education at First United Methodist Church of Boulder, Colorado, in the late 1970s. According to his friend Donna Hamilton in her article “‘Ours the Journey’ Complete at Last,” published in The Hymn in the summer of 2010, this hymn was written for the 1985 Rocky Mountain Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church, the theme of which was diversity. According to Carl P. Daw, Jr., in Glory to God: A Companion, the congregation at First UMC, Boulder, was itself diverse, made up of people of many cultures. At the 1985 Rocky Mountain Annual Conference meeting, Rev. Roy Sano was commissioned as the first Japanese-American United Methodist bishop.

During his seventeen years of ministry with youth in churches in Texas and Colorado, and prior to his coming out as a gay man, Julian Rush wrote many songs and plays. Typically performed by the youth, these plays embodied the angst he felt in his search to find his own identity, but without blatantly expressing these feelings. However, the congregations for whom these plays were written and performed did not get the underlying message. When he separated from his wife, acknowledged his homosexuality, and informed the church leaders at his current appointment, he was staunchly opposed by many, even those who had been avid supporters of his ministry. The leadership of the Boulder church vehemently opposed his staying there, and there was no other appointment available for him at the time. In order to bring in an income during this tumultuous time, he began working at Montgomery Ward but missed being able to use his gifts in church ministry. Eventually, an unpaid position was created for him at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Denver. This church was one of the first United Methodist Churches to declare itself a Reconciling Congregation, the UMC term for a church “open and affirming” of the LGBTQ community. Years later, in 1997, First United Methodist of Boulder also began to identify as Reconciling.

According to Daw, the hymn was first published in Chalice Hymnal in 1995. It has since been included in The New Century Hymnal (1996), The Faith We Sing (2000), Sing the Faith (2003), and Glory to God: the Presbyterian Hymnal (2013). The five stanzas are identical in all but the first publication, which omitted two of the five, and added another not found elsewhere. The hymn is also published in a book of worship resources titled Shaping Sanctuary: Proclaiming God’s Grace in an Inclusive Church, which included six stanzas.

In her 2010 article about the hymn, Donna Hamilton compiles seven stanzas in the order specified by Rush. The tune was presented in unison with accompaniment in Chalice Hymnal but was harmonized in four parts for the subsequent publications.

As Hamilton notes, these are seven stanzas of rich and dense text. Rush uses many allusions to Scripture and vivid imagery to describe the weaknesses of humanity and the power of God. He touches on many facets of the human condition: “starving people” (2.1), “warring factions” (2.2), “world divided” (3.1), and “self-seeking” (3.2). In other portions of the text, he names the healthier characteristics of humans. These include “global village” (3.3), “all persuasions” (4.2), and “each a gift” (4.3). The two stanzas omitted in The Faith We Sing contain perhaps more controversial ideas. In them, Rush describes the “rainbow coalition” to include black, Asian, Indian, Hispanic, and white, who are “all of value in [God’s] sight.” He also includes “gays and lesbians together fighting to be realized.” Whether listed specifically in the stanzas or not, the refrain names everyone together as “we your people” and declares that unity “now and evermore.”

The entirety of the text can be viewed as a prayer. Some stanzas end with questions addressed to God, and some conclude with statements about the necessity to have “wider dreams” (3.4). The refrain answers the stanzas’ prayers by naming the covenant promises of God to humanity. “God of rainbow” refers to God’s promise to Noah following the great flood found in Genesis 9. The Israelites were assured of God’s constant presence through a “fiery pillar,” recorded in Genesis 13. Exodus 19:4 and Deuteronomy 32:11-12 show God as an eagle caring for God’s people. All humans are God’s people, and God is always faithful, present, and caring for those people.

While the text is quite complex and thought-provoking, the music is contrasting in its simplicity. With a limited vocal range and AA’BB’ form, the tune is easy for any congregation to learn.

“In the Midst of New Dimensions” is just as relevant today as it was at its creation, now forty-three years ago. The first stanza begins “In the midst of new dimensions, in the face of changing ways,” which certainly describes the present world. The prayers of many Christians include the sentiments of Rush’s text, and God still guides all of God’s people. As the subtitle of Shaping Sanctuary declares, this is truly a hymn for inclusive worship.

FOR FURTHER READING:

• Bennett, Doug. Riverview Friend. https://riverviewfriend.wordpress.com/2013/05/12/a-new-hymn-in-the-midst-of-new-dimensions

• Bryant, Linda K. “In the Midst of New Dimensions.” Chalice Hymnal: Worship Leader's Companion. St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 1998. No. 458.

• Daw, Carl P. Jr. “In the Midst of New Dimensions.” Glory to God: A Companion. Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 2013. No. 315.

• Forman, Kristen L., ed. “In the Midst of New Dimensions.” The New Century Hymnal Companion: A Guide to the Hymns. Cleveland, OH: The Pilgrim Press, 1998. No. 391.

• Hamilton, Donna. “'Ours the Journey' Complete at Last.” The Hymn 61, no. 3 (Summer 2010): 41-43.

• “In the Midst of New Dimensions.” Hymnary.org, https://hymnary.org/text/in_the_midst_of_new_dimensions

• Trillin, Calvin. “Let Me Find a Place.” The New Yorker, Jan. 25, 1982. 80-88.

• Turney, Kelly, ed. Shaping Sanctuary: Proclaiming God's Grace in an Inclusive Church. Chicago, IL: Reconciling Congregation Program, 2000.

Check out this awesome setting of a beautiful and exciting hymn!

Hymn of the Week: You Satisfy the Hungry Heart
Glory to God: 523

Text and Music Omer Westendorf

You Satisfy the Hungry Heart

You satisfy the hungry heart
With gift of finest wheat;
Come give to us, O saving Lord,
The bread of life to eat.

As when the shepherd calls his sheep,
They know and heed his voice;
So when you call your family Lord,
We follow and rejoice.

You satisfy the hungry heart
With gift of finest wheat;
Come give to us, O saving Lord,
The bread of life to eat.

With joyful lips we sing to you,
Our praise and gratitude,
That you should count us worthy, Lord,
To share this heavenly food.

You satisfy the hungry heart
With gift of finest wheat;
Come give to us, O saving Lord,
The bread of life to eat.

Is not the cup we bless and share
The blood of Christ out-poured?
Do not one cup, one loaf, declare
Our oneness in the Lord?

You satisfy the hungry heart
With gift of finest wheat;
Come give to us, O saving Lord,
The bread of life to eat.

The mystery of your presence, Lord,
No mortal tongue can tell:
Whom all the world cannot contain
Comes in our hearts to dwell.

You satisfy the hungry heart
With gift of finest wheat;
Come give to us, O saving Lord,
The bread of life to eat.

You give yourself to us, O Lord;
Then selfless let us be,
To serve each other in your name
In truth and charity.

You satisfy the hungry heart
With gift of finest wheat;
Come give to us, O saving Lord,
The bread of life to eat.

Following the reforms of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), the role of the congregational song became much more prominent in Roman Catholic worship. The ecumenical worshipping community has been the beneficiary of some music composed for Catholic worship since that time, especially music for Communion.

Omer Westendorf (1916-1997) was one of the leading post-Vatican II composers and his hymn, “Gift of finest wheat,” is one of the best-known Communion hymns to come from the decades immediately following the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council.

Beginning at age 20, he received his master’s of music degree at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, and for most of his professional musical career served as organist and choirmaster at St. Bonaventure Church in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Under his direction, the Bonaventure Choir sang concerts and recorded sacred music for several decades. One of his greatest achievements was the founding of the World Library of Sacred Music in 1950 and World Library Publications in 1957. These organizations have been primary distributors of music for Mass in the U.S. and beyond.

Westendorf was also known for his lectures and seminars on sacred music, consultations on liturgical music, and as a hymn writer. UM Hymnal editor Carlton Young notes that Westendorf’s “People’s Mass Book, 1964, 1966, 1970, 1976, was the first vernacular hymn and service book to implement the Catholic liturgies decreed by Vatican Council II. He wrote Music Lessons for the Man in the Pew to teach the art of sight reading choral music.”

One of the prominent features of Catholic hymns from this era is a memorable and singable refrain. For example, think of how easily congregations learn the refrain by Catholic musician Daniel Schutte, “Here I Am, Lord.” “You satisfy the hungry heart” has an equally memorable refrain, though more reflective.

The refrain evokes the agrarian image of “finest wheat,” the source of bread, a primary staple that sustains life.

The hymn writer first addresses Christ directly in the second person, implying an intimate relationship, and offers a petition to Christ to “give to us... the bread of life to eat.”

The hymn is replete with biblical references. The refrain echoes John 6:25-37, a passage where Christ develops the imagery of bread and says, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger.”

Stanza one focuses on the metaphor of Christ as a shepherd drawn from several passages, but especially from John 10. Stanza three is almost a direct quotation of I Corinthians 10:16-17: “The cup of blessing which we bless is it not a participation in the blood of Christ. The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?”

The final stanza cites the selfless and self-giving gift of Christ reminding us of Philippians 2:5-11, a creedal hymn of the early church.

Finally, this hymn integrates beautifully with the actual distribution of the sacrament. In the Catholic context, the assembly processes forward to receive the elements.

The refrain of the hymn is easily committed to memory so that people may sing as they walk forward. The stanzas are often sung by a cantor or the choir, allowing the individual communicant to process forward to receive the sacrament without carrying a hymnal.

*© 1977 Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Dr. Hawn is a professor of sacred music at Perkins School of Theology.

Hymn of the Week: Open My Eyes, That I May See
Glory to God: 451

Text and Music Clara H. Scott 1895

Open my eyes that I may see
glimpses of truth thou hast for me.
Place in my hands the wonderful key
that shall unclasp and set me free.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my eyes, illumine me,
Spirit divine!

Open my ears that I may hear
voices of truth thou sendest clear,
and while the wave notes fall on my ear,
ev’rything false will disappear.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my ears, illumine me,
Spirit divine!

Open my mouth and let me bear
gladly the warm truth ev’rywhere.
Open my heart and let me prepare
love with thy children thus to share.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my mouth, illumine me,
Spirit divine!

Clara H. Scott (1841-1897) provides us with a hymn of consecration that has been sung for over 100 years. A Midwesterner, she was born in Illinois and died in Iowa.

In 1856, Scott attended the first Music Institute held by C.M. Cady in Chicago, Ill. By 1859, she was teaching music at the Ladies' Seminary, Lyons, Iowa. She married Henry Clay Scott in 1861 and in 1882 published the Royal Anthem Book, the first volume of choir anthems published by a woman.

Horatio R. Palmer, an influential church musician in Chicago and later New York City was a source of encouragement for Scott and helped her publish many of her songs. Three collections were issued before her untimely death, when a runaway horse caused a buggy accident in Dubuque, Iowa.

The text of "Open My Eyes" was written in 1895 shortly before Scott's death. Each stanza reveals an increasing receptiveness to the "Spirit divine." Open eyes lead to "glimpses of truth."Open ears lead to "voices of truth." An open mouth leads to sharing the "warm truth everywhere." An open heart leads to sharing "love to thy children."

The image of open eyes is common in the Bible. In some cases, this is a sign of Christ's healing power, as when Jesus gave sight to the blind man at the pool of Siloam in John 9. Closed eyes, on the other hand, could be a metaphor for avoiding the truth as in the case of John 12:40, a passage following the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem and beginning his journey to the cross: "He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them."

The image of open ears is also significant in the biblical witness. Matthew often reprises the theme "Who hath ears to hear, let him hear." Closed ears become a metaphor for a lack of understanding: "For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them" (Matthew 13:15).

While the eyes and the ears are receptive organs, the mouth has the capacity to project. The mouth may project "cursing and deceit and fraud" (Psalm 10:7), or it may be an organ that projects praise, as Psalm 51:15 exhorts us: "O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall show forth thy praise."

The heart is the only organ included in this hymn that is not visible. It may harbor deceit. Jesus asks in Matthew 9:4, "Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?" But Jesus also realized that the heart has the capacity for purity: "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8).

Scott has given us not only a list of organs through which we may receive and project truth and love but also provides the method in her refrain:

Silently now I wait for thee,
ready my God, thy will to see.
Open my eyes, ears, and heart,
illumine me, Spirit divine!

Learning to use these organs requires patience and reflection. The gentle 6/8 meter of Scott's music provides a subtle sense of dancing in tune with the Spirit as we learn to see, hear and speak the truth from our hearts.

Dr. Hawn is the director of the Sacred Music program at Perkins School of Theology.

Enjoy this simple and poignant rendering of a much-loved hymn.

Hymn of the Week:  Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies
Glory to God: 662

Text Charles Wesley 1740
Music German Folk Melody

Christ, whose glory fills the skies
Christ, the true, the only Light,
Sun of Righteousness, arise,
Triumph o’er the shades of night;
Dayspring from on high, be near,
Daystar, in my heart appear.

Dark and cheerless is the morn
Unaccompanied by Thee;
Joyless is the day’s return,
Till Thy mercy’s beams I see,
Till Thou inward light impart,
Glad my eyes, and warm my heart.

Visit then this soul of mine,
Pierce the gloom of sin and grief;
Fill me, Radiancy divine,
Scatter all my unbelief;
More and more Thyself display,
Shining to the perfect day.

The 18th-century Englishman Charles Wesley (1707-1788) wrote, according to eminent 20th-century hymnologist Erik Routley, “more than 8,989 poems with over 6,000 of them qualifying as ‘hymns.’” That’s 3.4 poems per week, Routley added, “assuming him to have died in the act of writing.”

Judging solely by quantity, Wesley can be matched by a few sacred poets in history. The quality and depth of theology found in these hymns, however, is why hymnologist Routley dubbed Wesley “the first and, surely for all time, the greatest evangelical hymn writer.”

Of the many great hymns by Charles Wesley, “Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies” is considered one of his best. American Methodist hymnologist Robert McCutchan quotes hymnal editor Alexander MacMillan saying it is “one of the greatest morning hymns in our language, but it is more. It is a glorious hymn to Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, the Light of the World.”

Originally titled “A Morning Hymn,” this hymn first appeared in the Wesley collection Hymns and Sacred Poems (1740) in three stanzas as well as other collections prepared by the Wesley brothers. In Hymns Ancient and Modern (1861) it was first paired with RATISBON, the tune that most often accompanies the text today.

Wesley begins the hymn with the antithesis between light and night. Also found throughout the first stanza is the personification of “Sun,” “Dayspring” and “Daystar.” The personification of these objects engages the singer’s imagination and creates vivid pictures in the mind. In stanza two of this hymn, Wesley uses the first words of each line to tell the story of redemption. The first three lines begin with “Dark,” “Unaccompanied,” and “Joyless.” The plight of humanity has been set. The next two lines begin with “till” which represents hope for salvation. Finally, after the hope is given and the work is done, line six begins with the “Cheer” which comes from our redemption through Jesus Christ.

In stanza three Wesley once again personifies an idea that represents a deeper meaning so that it might have life in the singer’s imagination. “Radiancy divine” is personified in lines three and four. The picture of scattering our unbelief is wonderfully cheerful, which is only appropriate after sin and grief have been pierced. As Wesley comes to his dramatic close, he employs the technique of epizeuxis (“more and more”) to show the excitement of the writer as well as the singer. The repeating of “more” at that moment implies the idea that we can never see enough of the “Radiancy divine” which has “[pierced] the gloom of sin and grief.”

Scripture references may be found throughout, ranging from books of prophecy to a literal incarnation account in Luke and a theological incarnation account in John. The Rev. Carlton Young, the editor of the UM Hymnal (1989), points out a reference to John 1:9 concerning the “true light” in line two. Stanza one continues with direct references to Isaiah 2:6 and Malachi 4:2 in line three about the “Sun of Righteousness.” The “Day-star” inline six is a direct reference to Isaiah 14:12 and 2 Peter 1:19.

Routley explores two interesting ideas about this hymn in his book, Hymns and the Faith(1968). First, he points out that the idea of worshipping the sun was a pagan religion. By referencing Christ as the “Sun of Righteousness,” Christianity has put “back on the right track religious instincts which had gone astray.”

The other idea concerns the very first word of the hymn. Routley states that “God, whose glory fills the sky” would not have been anything out of the ordinary. He continues that “Christ, whose glory fills the sky” is an “epic” idea that until this hymn had not been present in Christian thinking or writing. Christ is no longer a being that can only be at one place at one time, but he is one with God in his omnipresence and omniscience.

Routley rightly proclaims, “Never was written a more thoroughly and richly happy hymn than this.”

Mr. Hehn is a candidate for the master of sacred music degree, at Perkins School of Theology, and studies hymnology with Dr. Michael Hawn.

Hymn of the Week:  When Morning Guilds the Skies

Text Edward Caswall
Music Joseph Barnby

When morning gilds the sky,
our hearts awaking cry:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
in all our work and prayer
we ask his loving care:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

To God, the Word on high,
the hosts of angels cry:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Let mortals too upraise
their voices in hymns of praise:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

Let earth's wide circle round
in joyful notes resound:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Let air and sea and sky
from depth to height reply:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

Be this, when day is past,
of all our thoughts the last:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
The night becomes as day
when from the heart we say:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

Then let us join to sing
to Christ, our loving King:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Be this the eternal song
through all the ages long:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

Psalter Hymnal, 1987

From Dr. Micheal Hawn’s website Discipleship Ministries | History of Hymns: "When Morning Gilds the… (umcdiscipleship.org)

As has often been noted in this column, we would not have many of our favorite hymns without the work of skillful translators. When it comes to preparing a poetic translation that will be sung (rather than a literal prose translation), the result is actually a new poetic creation rooted in the meaning of another language.

This is the case with Edward Caswall’s translation of the well-known hymn, “When morning gilds the skies.”

One must start with the powerful interrelationship between the text and the music in this hymn. Usually thought of as a morning hymn of praise, the rising melodic motif complements the rising sun that “gilds the skies” of the early morning. Within two phrases we soar an octave above our starting pitch—indeed our voices ascend with the rising sun about which we are singing.

The melody ends on an unusually high note for hymns, proclaiming the text, “May Jesus Christ be praised!” These five words form a brief refrain that encapsulates the intent of the entire hymn. Furthermore, the singer must summon extra effort to sing these words, unabashedly broadcasting Christ as the center of our praise. Even the tune name, LAUDES DOMINI (Praise to the Lord), captures this idea.

“Beim frühen Morgenlicht” (With the early morning light) is the opening line of the original German hymn. While we are uncertain of the exact origins of the text, it first appeared in Katholiches Gesangbuch für den öffentlich Gottesdienst im Biszthume (Catholic Songbook for Public Worship in the [locale of] Biszthume Würzburg ). It appears in an altered version in am 1855 Franconian collection of folksongs, Frankische Völkslieder.

Caswall himself made two translations into English, in 1854 and 1858. An altered form of the 1858 version has become standard for most hymnals. UM Hymnal editor Carlton Young points out that a stanza that departed from the original German, while revealing something of the style of the time, was better left omitted:

My tongue shall never tire
Of chanting in the choir;
May Jesus Christ be praised:
This song of sacred joy
It never seems to cloy;
May Jesus Christ be praised.

Distinguished English poet and translator Robert Bridges (1844-1930) tried his hand at improving the text, noting in 1899, “It is of great merit, and I have tried to give a better version of it than the current one, keeping the original meter, preserving the first lines of the old translation, since it is by them that the hymn is known.”

So the hymn we sing today has 19th-century German roots, with a translation by Caswall (1814-1878), a Roman Catholic converted under the influence of Cardinal Newman and one of the foremost translators of hymns of his era, adapted by Robert Bridges, and set to music by English choirmaster Joseph Barnby

(1938-1896). The images of the rising sun carry over to the second stanza as the “night becomes as day” and the “powers of darkness fear.” However, stanzas three and four switch from visual images of light to aural images “joyous with the sound” of praising Christ.

We may have been stirred initially by the sight of the rising sun in the first stanza of the hymn, but we conclude in stanza four by singing our “canticle divine”—which becomes our “eternal song through all the ages long” that amplifies our praise to Christ.

Dr. Hawn is a professor of sacred music at Perkins School of Theology.

The video for this hymn involves an extended introduction to the first half of the hymn, a small recap of the intro followed by the second half of the hymn, and then the intro music comes around again to wrap it all up!

Hymn of the Week:  Like the Murmur of the Dove’s Song

Like the Murmur of the Dove’s Song

Text Carl Daw 1982
Music Peter Cutts 1969

Like The Murmur Of The Dove’s Song,
Like The Challenge Of Her Flight,
Like The Vigor Of The Wind’s Rush,
Like The New Flame’s Eager Might:
Come, Holy Spirit, Come.

To The Members Of Christ’s Body,
To The Branches Of The Vine,
To The Church In Faith Assembled,
To Her Midst As Gift And Sign:
Come, Holy Spirit, Come.

With The Healing Of Division,
With The Ceaseless Voice Of Prayer,
With The Power To Love And Witness,
With The Peace Beyond Compare:
Come, Holy Spirit, Come.

As I look weekly at the beautiful image of the dove and think about Karen’s sermon series before she went on sabbatical, I am drawn to this beautiful hymn with text written in 1982 by Carl Daw.

The Rev. Carl P. Daw Jr., an Episcopal priest, and a hymn writer was born in Louisville, Ky in 1944., and ordained in 1982. His father studied in Louisville at the seminary there to become a Baptist minister. During World War II, his father served as a Navy chaplain and then became pastor of First Baptist Church in Newport, TN. After the pastorate, he went on to Nashville to graduate school for five years then moved to Murfreesboro, TN where our hymn writer spent most of his boyhood before college. He studied both cello and piano while a boy in Murfreesboro.

Carl became an English major at Rice University in Texas and went on to pursue his M.A. and Ph.D. in English in 1967 and 1970 at the University of Virginia. His dissertation was titled, “An Annotated Edition of Five Sermons by Jonathan Swift.” He met his wife. May Bates, a local librarian while completing his doctorate. They were married in 1969.

He began teaching English at William and Mary where he taught a great course on the effect of music on text. For this course, he used records he had accumulated over the years and built a harpsichord to demonstrate Elizabethan lute songs, which his wife sang while he played.

He felt the call to become an Episcopal minister and went to the School of Theology at the University of the South in Sewanee, TN. While there, the Episcopal hymn was going through changes and he was called upon to lend a hand. It was during this time that he began writing hymn texts himself.

His hymns can be found in many English-speaking hymnals around the world. “Like the murmur of the dove’s song” has also been translated into Spanish for Albricias (1987), a collection of hymns published by the National Hispanic Office of the Episcopal Church.

Dr. Daw found his inspiration for this hymn from A Religion for Our Time by Louis Evely. In this 1969 book, Evely described the Holy Spirit saying, “the image of the dove was chosen not because of the shape of the bird, but because of the moan. The dove murmurs all the time. It is because the Holy Spirit moans all the time that he is represented under the form of a dove; it is a verbal and not a plastic image.”

Evely went on to quote Romans 8:26: “In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.” Evely could have given further evidence by referring to Isaiah 38:14 or 59:11, which describe the moaning dove as a metaphor for praying in distress.

The first stanza portrays how the Spirit comes. There are both visual and aural aspects that present the dove as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. In addition, two traditional images of the Spirit—wind, and fire—are found in this stanza. These images are intended to remind the reader or singer of the first Christian Pentecost (Acts 2:2-3). Also, the words “vigor” and “might” are presented to recall the Lucan emphasis on the power of the Spirit.

The second stanza turns to where the Spirit dwells and affirms that it is a corporate gift to the Church. There are several biblical references in this stanza. In A Year of Grace: Hymns for the Church Year (1990), Dr. Daw demonstrates that this hymn offers Pauline, Johannine, and Lucan understandings of the Church—all of which share recognition of the Holy Spirit as a divine gift. Paul sees the Spirit in the body of Christ (Romans 12:4-5 and I Corinthians 12:12-13). The Gospel of John represents Christ as the true vine (John 15:1-5) and Luke reveals the work of the Spirit in the assembled community gathered in faith (Acts 2:1).

The third stanza clarifies why the Spirit works. The Holy Spirit comes for the purpose of reconciliation, prayer, divine power, and quiet confidence. Raymond Glover, an editor of The Hymnal 1982 Companion, says the text is like the ancient hymn “Veni Sancte Spiritus” (“Come, Holy Spirit”), using the images of the Spirit and the people of God to suggest the scope of divine power and the depth of human need. We as humans need God, and the Holy Spirit is providing this need. This can be seen in Acts 1:8 and John 20:22-23.

This hymn is perfect for use on Pentecost Sunday. Because of the nature of the text, it can also serve other liturgical functions such as confirmation and ordination services. These two services call for the Holy Spirit to come down during the laying on of hands. The hymn can also be sung on Sundays when the gifts of the Spirit are the center of the service.

• *© 1982 Hope Publishing Company, Carol Stream, IL 60188. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

• Mr. St. Romain is a sacred music student of Dr. Michael Hawn at Perkins School of Theology, SMU.

• With Tongues of Fire – Profiles in 20th-century Hymn Writing by Paul Westermeyer 1995 Concordia Publishing House.

Enjoy John Carter’s beautiful arrangement of this hymn. I love playing this arrangement.

Hymn of the Week:  When I Can Read My Title Clear
 

When I Can Read My Title Clear

Text. Isaac Watts
Tune PISGAH. Southern Harmony

When I can read my title clear
To mansions in the skies,
I'll bid farewell to every fear,
And wipe my weeping eyes. 

[Refrain]
I'm goin' to trust in the Lord,
I'm goin' to trust in the Lord,
I'm goin' to trust in the Lord till I die:
I'm goin' to trust in the Lord,
I'm goin' to trust in the Lord,
I'm goin' to trust in the Lord till I die.

Should earth against my soul engage,
And fiery darts be hurled,
Then I can smile at Satan's rage,
And face a frowning world. [Refrain]

Let cares like a wild deluge come,
Let storms of sorrow fall!
May I but safely reach my home:
My God, my heaven my all. [Refrain]

There shall I bathe my weary soul
In seas of heavenly rest,
And not a wave of trouble roll
Across my peaceful breast. [Refrain]

This week’s hymn combines two different periods in hymn writing yet again. This week, we have another text by the 18th-century hymn writer, Isaac Watts and a 19th hymn tune entitled PISGAH originating in the mountains of North Carolina. Read below to discover their origins.

When I Can Read My Title Clear. I. Watts. [Assurance of Faith and Hope.] Appeared in his Hymns and Spiritual Songs, 1707, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines. It is headed "The Hopes of Heaven our Support under Trials on Earth." Its use in Great Britain and America is very extensive. The text has undergone several alterations at the hands of Bickersteth in his Psalms & Hymns, 1833; Elliott in his Psalms & Hymns, 1835, and others. The most important is Bickersteth's rendering of stanza 4

"There, anchor'd safe, my weary soul
Shall find eternal rest,
Nor storms shall beat, nor billows roll,
Nor fears assail my breast."

It is hard to see that this is an improvement upon Watts's original:—

"There shall I bathe my weary soul
In seas of heavenly rest,
And not a wave of trouble roll
Across my peaceful breast."

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

The hymn tune PISGAH that you can hear in Mark Hayes’ stirring arrangement has an interesting beginning. For Bible scholars, we know the name PISGAH is associated with the mountain where God showed Moses the Promised Land. European settlers gave the name to a mountain in North Carolina, originally called Elsetoss by the Cherokee Native Americans.

The tune comes from this region of North Carolina and has become a part of the Southern Harmony or Shape Note Hymn tunes collection.

Hymn of the Week:  Lord, When I Came into This Life
Glory to God #691

Lord, When I Came into This Life

Text Fred Kaan, 1929-2009
Text written 1976
Music American Folk Melody

Lord, when I came into this life
you called me by my name;
today I come, commit myself,
responding to your claim.

Within the circle of the faith,
as member of your cast,
I take my place with all the saints
of future, present, past.

In all the tensions of my life,
between my faith and doubt,
let your great Spirit give me hope,
sustain me, lead me out.

So help me in my unbelief
and let my life be true:
feet firmly planted on the earth,
my sights set high on you.

Today’s hymn has many different settings set to a much-loved American folk tune! Enjoy reading about this stirring text by Fred Kaan.

Fred Kaan Hymn Writer
His hymns include both original work and translations. He sought to address issues of peace and justice. He was born in Haarlem in the Netherlands in July 1929. He was baptized in St Bavo Cathedral but his family did not attend church regularly. He lived through the Nazi occupation, saw three of his grandparents die of starvation, and witnessed his parent's deep involvement in the resistance movement. They took in a number of refugees. He became a pacifist and began attending church in his teens.

Having become interested in British Congregationalism (later to become the United Reformed Church) through a friendship, he attended Western College in Bristol. He was ordained in 1955 at the Windsor Road Congregational Church in Barry, Glamorgan.

In 1963 he was called to be the minister of the Pilgrim Church in Plymouth. It was in this congregation that he began to write hymns. The first edition of Pilgrim Praise was published in 1968, going into second and third editions in 1972 and 1975. He continued writing many more hymns throughout his life.

Dianne Shapiro, from an obituary written by Keith Forecast in Independent (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/fred-kaan-minister-and-celebrated-hymn-writer-1809481.html)
 

Here is some background on the beloved folk tune!

LAND OF REST is an American folk tune with roots in the ballads of northern England and Scotland. It was known throughout the Appalachians; a shape-note version of the tune was published in The Sacred Harp (1844) and titled NEW PROSPECT as the setting for "O land of rest! for thee I sigh." The tune was published again with that same text in J. R. Graves's Little Seraph (Memphis, 1873). The name LAND OF REST derives from the tune's association with that text.

The tune was known to Annabel M. Buchanan (b. Groesbeck, TX, 1888; d. Paducah KY, 1983), whose grandmother sang it to her as a child. She harmonized the tune and published it in her Folk Hymns of America (1938), noting similarities between this tune and the tune for "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" (616).

Known especially as a musicologist of American folk music, Buchanan was educated at the Landon Conservatory, Dallas, Texas, and the Guilmant Organ School, New York City. She taught at several colleges, including Stonewall Jackson College, Abingdoll, Virginia. Buchanan published numerous articles on folk traditions of the Appalachian area of the United States. She also lectured widely on this topic and gave recitals of folk music. Her own compositions also show the influence of folk music.

Like many other folk tunes, LAND OF REST should be sung rather lightly and energetically with two pulses per measure, and faster in a small group. Sing stanzas 1 and 2 in unison (or using a soloist) and stanzas 3 through 5 in harmony.

Hymn of the Week: Jesu, Jesu, Fill Us With Your Love
 

Jesu, Jesu, Fill Us With Your Love

Text Tom Colvin 1963
Music Ghanaian Folk Song

Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love,
show us how to serve
the neighbors we have from you.

1 Kneels at the feet of his friends,
silently washes their feet,
Master who pours out himself for them. [Refrain]

2 Neighbors are rich folk and poor,
varied in color and race,
neighbors are nearby and far away. [Refrain]

3 These are the ones we should serve,
these are the ones we should love;
all these are neighbors to us and you. [Refrain]

4 Kneel at the feet of our friends,
silently washing their feet,
this is the way we should live with you. [Refrain]

Following African independence movements throughout the 1960s and 1970s, a number of Western missionaries encouraged the composition of Christian songs in African idioms. Thomas S. Colvin (1925-2000) was one of these missionaries. Colvin was a pastoral missionary for the Church of Scotland in Ghana from 1958-1964 and Nyasaland (now Malawi) from 1954-'58 and 1964-'74. Trained as an engineer before studying theology at Trinity College in Glasgow, he was an active member of the ecumenical Iona Community for nearly 50 years. In concert with his commitment to the rule of Iona Community members, Colvin's missionary ministry was characterized by justice issues such as Christian service committees, refugee resettlement, and community development projects. Among his many activities, Colvin participated in community development training in parts of southern Africa and aided refugees from Mozambique that were seeking sanctuary in neighboring Malawi. These areas of service were the focus of Colvin's ministry, rather than the development of the indigenous congregational songs.

The songs collected by Colvin have been spread by members of the Iona Community around the world. Several of his texts set to African melodies have found a home in Western hymnals. Colvin nurtured new African congregational songs by adapting local melodies and writing new texts appropriate for African Christians and, as it turns out, Christians around the world. He introduced his hymns first to the Iona Community and then beyond in two collections, Free to Serve (1969) and Leap My Soul (1976). These collections were brought together in a single volume, Fill Us With Your Love (1983). The last volume, Come, Let Us Walk This Road Together, was added in 1997. "Jesu, Jesu" is Colvin's most popular hymn. The melody is adapted from a Ghanaian folk song he heard during his years of service in that country. The tune name CHEREPONI comes from a town in northern Ghana, where the hymn was written. The harmonization written for the UM Hymnal does not reflect an African musical style. Because of the reference to foot washing in stanza 1 (John 13:1-17), this hymn may be used successfully during Holy Week. However, the general theme of service makes the hymn appropriate for any time of the year. The dominant theme is the equality of all peoples in Christ (John 13:16). All people -- "rich and poor" and "black and white" -- are our neighbors.

The focus on our neighbors recalls Luke 10:27 where, following a conversation with a lawyer who tempted him in a discussion of the law, Christ responds, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself." One might also see this hymn as a model for a new relationship between the former colonizers and those who were colonized. A "one-way" mission approach characterized the 19th and much of the 20th centuries when missionaries brought the Gospel to a foreign land. Now that the gospel has taken root around much of the world, this hymn suggests that relationships among all peoples should be as equals, where our love for each other through Christ "puts us on our knees, serving as though we were slaves." (stanza 4) The composition of the hymn itself is symbolic of collaboration between two cultures. The text comes from a European Christian inspired by his service in Ghana. The melody comes from a West African country. In this composition, even the act of hymn singing may become a metaphor for neighborly relationships that are possible in Christ.

Dr. Hawn is the director of the sacred music program at Perkins School of Theology.

*(c)1969 Hope Publishing Company, Carol Stream, IL 60188. All rights reserved. Used by permission

Hymn of the Week: My Country, ‘Tis of Thee
Glory to God: 337

Text Samuel Francis Smith
Tune Harmonia Anglicana 1744

1 My country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing:
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims' pride,
From every mountainside
Let freedom ring.

2 My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills;
My heart with rapture thrills
Like that above.

3 Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees
Sweet freedom's song.
Let mortal tongues awake;
Let all that breathe partake;
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong.

4 Our fathers' God, to thee,
Author of liberty,
To thee we sing.
Long may our land be bright
With freedom's holy light;
Protect us by thy might,
Great God, our King.

When Martin Luther King Jr. made his famous "I have a dream" speech on August 28, 1963, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., to over 200,000 civil rights supporters, the refrain -- "Let freedom ring!" -- that climaxed this famous speech came from Samuel Smith's patriotic hymn.

Samuel Smith (1808-1895) wrote the hymn in 1831 and Martin Luther King's speech took place 132 years later -- a testimony to the power of a song to shape and maintain an idea.

Smith was born in Boston and educated at Harvard and Andover Theological Seminary. Though inspired by Adoniram Judson to mission service, poor health forced him to give up that dream.

Smith was a friend of Lowell Mason, the famous Boston music educator and hymn tune writer. According to hymnologist Leonard Ellinwood, "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" was one of a group of German poem adaptations Smith wrote for Mason.

It is not until the final stanza that God and country are linked. The author offers a prayer of petition to God to maintain "freedom's holy light" in our land and to "protect us by thy might."

Infinitely more singable than the National Anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner," "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" earned Smith a certain level of popularity. The famous 19th-century Chicago evangelistic singer, Ira Sankey, cites one example:

"Dr. Smith visited the Board of Trade in Chicago in May of 1887. While sitting in the gallery he was pointed out to some of the members. Soon he became the center of considerable notice. All at once, the trading on the floor ceased, and from the wheat pit came the familiar words, 'My country 'tis of thee.' After two stanzas had been sung, Dr. Smith arose and bowed. A rousing cheer was given by the men on the floor, to which Dr. Smith was now escorted by the secretary of the Board. The members flocked around Dr. Smith and grasped his hand. Then they opened a passage through the crowd and led him to the wheat-pit, where they took off their hats and sang the rest of the hymn."

It is doubtful that many United States citizens could sing the entire hymn by memory today, but, thanks to Martin Luther King Jr., the power of the first stanza continues to resonate in ways probably not imagined by the author. King transformed Smith's antebellum poem into a civil rights refrain in one of the most famous speeches ever given in the history of the United States.

Discipleship Ministries | History of Hymns: "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" (umcdiscipleship.org)

Enjoy Mahalia Jackson’s stirring rendition of this much-loved song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gupDzXBxkzU

Hymn of the Week: Joy to the World

Christmas? in almost July!

Text Isaac Watts 1719
Tune Georg Frederic Handel (1742 ) & Thomas Hawels 1792

Based on Psalm 98

1 Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
let ev’ry heart prepare him room
and heav’n and nature sing,
and heav’n and nature sing,
and heav’n, and heav’n and nature sing.

2 Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ,
while fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains,
repeat the sounding joy,
repeat the sounding joy,
repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

3 No more let sins and sorrows grow
nor thorns infest the ground;
he comes to make his blessings flow
far as the curse is found,
far as the curse is found,
far as, far as the curse is found.

4 He rules the world with truth and grace
and makes the nations prove
the glories of his righteousness
and wonders of his love,
and wonders of his love,
and wonders, wonders of his love.

Isaac Watts

During the summer months, we will be looking at one hymn poet per month. For the month of June, we will be focused on 4 wonderful texts by one of the greatest hymn writers of this and every age, Isaac Watts.

Christmas? in almost July (Title for this week )

While this hymn has always been associated with Christ’s first coming as a baby in a manger, you will see from Dr. Hawn’s article that its origins are quite different and it has had a circuitous journey from where it began to where it ended. Our Presbyterian hymnal lists Joy to the World twice: once as the Christmas hymn we know it as, and then in the section of our hymnal Jesus Christ: Ascension and Reign which is concerned with Christ’s second coming.

“Joy to the world” is perhaps an unlikely popular Christmas hymn. First of all, it is based on a psalm, and, second, it celebrates Christ’s second coming much more than the first. This favorite Christmas hymn is the result of a collaboration of at least three people and draws its initial inspiration not from the Christmas narrative in Luke 2, but from Psalm 98.

The first collaborator was the English poet and dissenting clergyman, Isaac Watts (1674-1748). He paraphrased the entire Psalm 98 in two parts, and it first appeared in his famous collection, The Psalms of David, Imitated in the Language of the New Testament (1719).

“Joy to the world” was taken from the second part of the paraphrase (Psalm 98:4-9), entitled “The Messiah’s Coming and Kingdom.” Watts, commenting on his paraphrase of the psalm, notes: “In these two hymns I have formed out of the 98th Psalm I have fully express what I esteem to be the first and chief Sense of the Holy Scriptures . . ..” For Watts, the psalms were not to be viewed as biblical material in their own right but had value only inasmuch as they pointed toward the New Testament.

A comparison between Watts’s psalm paraphrase and the original verses in the King James translation of Psalm 98:4-9 demonstrates considerable freedom:

“Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. Sing unto the Lord with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm. With trumpets and the sound of a cornet make a joyful noise before the Lord, the King. Let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together. Before the Lord; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.” (KJV)

Curiously, stanza three is the exception. It is not based on Psalm 98 and is sometimes omitted:

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make his blessings flow
Far as the curse is found.

The “curse” is a reference to Genesis 3:17 when God says to Adam following the eating of the apple from the tree, “Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt, thou eat of it all the days of thy life.” (KJV) As a part of “five-point Calvinism,” the “total depravity of man”, the curse is a significant part of classic Reformed theology, Isaac Watts’ theological perspective.

The second collaborator was an unwitting one, George Frederic Handel (1685-1759), the popular German-born composer residing in London. Though contemporaries in England did not collaborate on this hymn. Another pieced together portions of Handel’s Messiah to make up the tune that we sing in North America. The opening bars for the chorus, “Lift up your heads,” was adapted to the incipit “Joy to the world.” An instrumental portion of the opening tenor recitative, “Comfort ye,” provides a basis for the text “heaven and nature sing.” Such borrowings were common, the aesthetic notion being that the music of great musicians had in itself an innate beauty. Even a crude pastiche of “great music” implied that the result would also be of high quality.

The third collaborator who assured that this tune and text would appear together in the United States was the Boston music educator, Lowell Mason (1792-1872). It was Mason, a musician with significant influence in his day, who published his own arrangement of Handel’s melodic fragments in Occasional Psalms and Hymn Tunes (1836) and named the tune Antioch. While this is not the only tune to which Watts’s text is sung, it is certainly the dominant one. Actually, this tune remains virtually unknown in Great Britain.

When sung to Antioch, the text is repeated in the second section, reflecting a particular early American treatment of the melody called a “fuging tune.” A fuging tune was a compositional device initiated by American-born composer William Billings (1746-1800) where voice parts enter one after the other in rapid succession, usually repeating the same words.

The result of the fuging tune section is quite effective for the first stanza—“heaven and nature sing”—and the second stanza—“repeat the sounding joy”—and the fourth stanza, “wonders of his love” For the third stanza, with the text “far as the curse is found” echoing of Genesis 3:17-18 and Romans 5:20, the fuging compositional device seems a bit rollicking.

The result is a favorite Christmas hymn based on an Old Testament psalm, set to musical fragments composed in England, and pieced together across the Atlantic in the United States!

Thomas Haweis (b. Redruth, Cornwall, England, 1734; d. Bath, England, 1820) composer of the hymn tune RICHMOND Initially apprenticed to a surgeon and pharmacist, Haweis decided to study for the ministry at Oxford and was ordained in the Church of England in 1757. He served as curate of St. Mary Magdalen Church, Oxford, but was removed by the bishop from that position because of his Methodist leanings. He also was an assistant to Martin Madan at Locke Hospital, London. In 1764 he became rector of All Saints Church in Aldwinkle, Northamptonshire, and later served as an administrator at Trevecca College, Wales, a school founded by the Countess of Huntingdon, whom Haweis served as chaplain. After completing advanced studies at Cambridge, he published a Bible commentary and a volume on church history. Haweis was strongly interested in missions and helped to found the London Mission Society. His hymn texts and tunes were published in Carmino Christo, or Hymns to the Savior (1792, expanded 1808).

Give a listen to both renderings!

Hymn of the Week: Behold the Glories of the Lamb

Text Isaac Watts ca. 1690
Music Robert Wainwright 1770

1 Behold the glories of the Lamb
amidst His Father's throne!
amidst His Father's throne!
Prepare new honors for His name,
and songs before unknown,
and songs before unknown.

2 Let elders worship at His feet,
the church adore around,
the church adore around,
with vials full of odors sweet,
and harps of sweeter sound,
and harps of sweeter sound.

3 Now to the Lamb that once was slain
be endless blessings paid;
be endless blessings paid;
salvation, glory, joy, remain
forever on Thy head,
forever on Thy head.

4 Thou hast redeemed our souls with blood,
hast set the pris'ners free,
hast set the prisoners free,
hast made us kings and priests to God,
and we shall reign with Thee,
and we shall reign with Thee.

Isaac Watts

During the summer months, we will be looking at one hymn poet per month. For the month of June, we will be focused on 4 wonderful and seldom sung texts by one of the greatest hymn writers of this and every age, Isaac Watts.

As I mentioned last week, the hymn above is Isaac Watts’ first hymn written when he was just a teenager before he left Southhampton in 1696 for his university training in London and eventual position as pastor at Mark Lane Chapel.

Eric Routley, in his book, A Panorama of Christian Hymnody discusses this hymn text as a great hymn to look at because it is indicative of all the future 700 hymns he wrote.

He uses for this text what is known as a Psalm Meter. If you’re like me, you are asking yourself, What is a psalm meter? Here is a definition I found. This metrical form is of the pattern in which each verse is converted into four lines of syllable count 8-6-8-6, with a rhyme on the last syllable of the second and fourth lines. He used this meter so all the hymn tunes could carry

this text. Secondly, notice that the text comes from Revelation 5:6, 8, 9.10, 12. It is so close to the actual text that Isaac’s rendering of the scripture was used in 1781 for the Scottish Paraphrases. Finally, the final stanza gives the hymn an almost existential quality which is really the principle of the hymn’s liberation. In that stanza, the congregation is no longer reciting the biblical words but making its own prayer, and this is what truly unlocks the secret to hymnody in a nutshell.

Unfortunately, Isaac’s final verse did not make it into the hymn you hear today and is not listed in most hymns. Here is his final verse:

The worlds of Nature and of Grace
Are put beneath thy Pow’r;
Then shorten these delaying Days
And bring the promis’d Hour.

Watt’s style is close to that of the metrical psalters, but of course, was no longer bound by the necessity of packing in the words of the Authorized Version of the Bible, he did not need to strain his sentence structure and could write more freely.

Here is a brief bio about our hymn tune composer. Robert Wainwright (1748-1782), was an English church organist and composer. He was the son of John Wainwright whom he succeeded as organist at the Manchester Collegiate Church (later Manchester Cathedral) after his father’s death.

In 1775 Wainwright moved to Liverpool to become an organist at St Peter’s. In addition to church music, Wainwright wrote the oratorio, The Fall of Egypt, first performed in Liverpool in 1780, as well as sonatas and concertos.

Robert Wainwright’s daughter Harriet Wainwright (1766-1843) also became a composer and contrapuntist of note across Europe.

Enjoy this hymn with a truly lovely tune.

Hymn of the Week: I Love the Lord, Who Heard My Cry
Glory to God: 799

Text Isaac Watts 1715
Music Richard Smallword 1975

I love the Lord, who heard my cry
and pitied ev’ry groan.
Long as I live and troubles rise,
I’ll hasten to God’s throne.

I love the Lord, who heard my cry
and chased my grief a-way.
O let my heart no more despair
while I have breath to pray.

Isaac Watts

During the summer months, we will be looking at one hymn poet per month. For the month of June, we will be focused on 4 wonderful and seldom sung texts by one of the greatest hymn writers of this and every age, Isaac Watts.

Psalm 116:1-2

1 I love the Lord because he has heard
    my voice and my supplications.
2 Because he inclined his ear to me,
    therefore I will call on him as long as I live.

Isaac Watts came along at a time when the church was singing the Psalms as they were written in the Bible. This created problems for the congregation singing as the tune and meter of the hymn were forced onto the text which created poorly written tunes and awkward rhyme scheme. Isaac Watts, being frustrated with the quality of hymn writing was complaining to his father about it and his father wisely suggested that he try and do it better. We are grateful the younger Isaac took the elder Isaac’s advice. Isaac's first hymn was, “Behold the Glories of the Lamb” which appeared in his Hymns and Spiritual Songs published in 1707.

An interesting sidebar about Isaac’s father. He and his family were a part of the nonconformist congregations which we now know as Baptists, Quakers, and Presbyterians along with other non-established congregations. His father was arrested several times for being a pastor for these congregations at the time of Isaac Watts’ birth in 1674.

Isaac left his native Southampton in 1696 to pursue study as a minister in an Independent (nonconformist) academy led by Rev. Thomas Rowe. He continued to write poetry and hymns throughout his time of the study. While there, his brother Enoch sent Isaac a letter that compares his brother’s poems/hymns to others he was hearing from other poets/hymn writers. Here is a quote from that letter remembering that congregations were still singing the Psalms: “a mighty deficiency of that life and soul, which is necessary to raise our fancies and kindle and fire our passions. I have been persuaded to a great while since that was David to speak English, he would choose to make use of your style.”

Here is Watt’s poetic version of the Psalm text from above.

I love the Lord; he heard my cries,
And pitied every groan;
Long as I live, when troubles rise,
I'll hasten to his throne.

Watts’ version of this Psalm falls under the title “Recovery from Sickness.” and proclaims that when we cry out to the Lord, God hears our cries and groans and that throughout our lives when we are troubled, our response is to pray. As long as we pray, God will take our grief and despair.

Fast forward 250 years later and we come to composer Richard Smallwood.

Composer, arranger, pianist, and music director Richard Smallwood was born November 30, 1948, in Atlanta, Georgia. He earned degrees in vocal performance and piano performance from Howard University, with additional graduate work in ethnomusicology. He earned a Masters of Divinity from Howard University in 2004.

His father was the pastor of the historic Union Temple in Washington, D.C., and his mother strongly encouraged his musical talent. After college, he taught music at the University of Maryland; then in 1977, he formed the Richard Smallwood Singers. Their first album in 1982, The Richard Smallwood Singers, spent 87 weeks at no. 1 on Billboard's Gospel chart. Smallwood has remained popular throughout his career, writing "Center of My Joy" with Bill and Gloria Gaither in 1984, and later such hits as "Total Praise," "Angels," "Healing," "Anthem of Praise," and "Bless the Lord." To date, Smallwood has recorded fifteen albums, and he produced the Grammy- and Dove-Award-winning Quincy Jones recording of Handel's Messiah: A Soulful Celebration. He was elected to the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2006.

"I Love the Lord" was sung by Whitney Houston as the closing song of the 1996 movie, The Preacher's Wife. The original soundtrack album is the best-selling gospel album of all time and remained number one on Billboard's Top Gospel Albums Chart for twenty-six weeks.

Here are two great recordings of this hymn. The first is from Richard Smallwood’s recording mentioned earlier and I needed to share Whitney Houston’s version of it from the film, The Preacher’s Wife which was a remake of the Cary Grant film, The Bishop’s Wife.

Enjoy them both!

Hymn of the Week: Come Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove
Glory to God: 279

Come Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove

Text Isaac Watts 1707
Tune John Bacchus Dykes 1866 St. Agnes

Come, Holy Spirit, Heav'nly Dove,
With all Thy quick'ning pow'rs;
Kindle a flame of sacred love
In these cold hearts of ours.

In vain we tune our formal songs,
In vain we strive to rise;
Hosannas languish on our tongues,
And our devotion dies.

Dear Lord, and shall we ever live
At this poor dying rate?
Our love so faint, so cold to thee,
And thine to us so great!

Come, Holy Spirit, Heav'nly Dove,
With all Thy quick'ning pow'rs;
Come, shed abroad a Savior’s love,
And that shall kindle ours.

Isaac Watts

During the summer months, we will be looking at one hymn poet per month. For the month of June, we will be focused on 4 wonderful and seldom sung texts by one of the greatest hymn writers of this and every age, Isaac Watts.

Watts, Isaac, D.D. The father of Dr. Watts was a respected Nonconformist, and at the birth of the child, and during its infancy, twice suffered imprisonment for his religious convictions. In his later years, he kept a flourishing boarding school at Southampton. Isaac, the eldest of his nine children, was born in that town on July 17, 1674. His taste for verse showed itself in early childhood. He was taught Greek, Latin, and Hebrew by Mr. Pinhorn, rector of All Saints, and headmaster of the Grammar School, in Southampton. The splendid promise of the boy induced a physician of the town and other friends to offer him an education at one of the Universities for eventual ordination in the Church of England: but this he refused; and entered a Nonconformist Academy at Stoke Newington in 1690, under the care of Mr. Thomas Rowe, the pastor of the Independent congregation at Girdlers' Hall. Of this congregation, he became a member in 1693.

Leaving the Academy at the age of twenty, he spent two years at home; and it was then that the bulk of the Hymns and Spiritual Songs (published 1707-9) were written, and sung from manuscripts in the Southampton Chapel. The hymn "Behold the glories of the Lamb" is said to have been the first he composed and written as an attempt to raise the standard of praise. In answer to requests, others succeeded. The hymn "There is a land of pure delight" is said to have been suggested by the view across Southampton Water. The next six years of Watts's life were again spent at Stoke Newington, in the post of tutor to the son of an eminent Puritan, Sir John Hartopp; and to the intense study of these years must be traced the accumulation of the theological and philosophical materials which he published subsequently, and also the life-long enfeeblement of his constitution.

Watts preached his first sermon when he was twenty-four years old. In the next three years he preached frequently; and in 1702 was ordained pastor of the eminent Independent congregation in Mark Lane, over which Caryl and Dr. John Owen had presided, and which numbered Mrs. Bendish, Cromwell's granddaughter, Charles Fleetwood, Charles Desborough, Sir John Hartopp, Lady Haversham, and other distinguished Independents among its members. In this year he removed to the house of Mr. Hollis in the Minories. His health began to fail in the following year, and Mr. Samuel Price was appointed as his assistant in the ministry. In 1712 a fever shattered his constitution, and Mr. Price was then appointed co-pastor of the congregation which had in the meantime removed to a new chapel in Bury Street. It was at this period that he became the guest of Sir Thomas Abney, under whose roof, and after his death (1722) that of his widow, he remained for the rest of his suffering life; residing for the longer portion of these thirty-six years principally at the beautiful country seat of Theobalds in Herts, and for the last thirteen years at Stoke Newington. His degree of D.D. was bestowed on him in 1728, unsolicited, by the University of Edinburgh. His infirmities increased on him up to the peaceful close of his sufferings, Nov. 25, 1748. He was buried in the Puritan resting place at Bunhill Fields, but a monument was erected to him in Westminster Abbey.

One stanza that is often omitted from this hymn is: “Father, and shall we ever live at this poor dying rate, our love so faint, so cold to Thee, and Thine to us so great?” It was this contrast between our love for God and God’s love for us that disturbed Watts. He knew that only the fire of the Spirit could kindle our hearts into deeper love.

Composer: John Bacchus Dykes

As a young child, John Bacchus Dykes (b. Kingston-upon-Hull' England, 1823; d. Ticehurst, Sussex, England, 1876) took violin and piano lessons. At the age of ten, he became the organist of St. John's in Hull, where his grandfather was vicar. After receiving a classics degree from St. Catherine College, Cambridge, England, he was ordained in the Church of England in 1847. In 1849 he became the precentor and choir director at Durham Cathedral, where he introduced reforms in the choir by insisting on consistent attendance, increasing rehearsals, and initiating music festivals. He served the parish of St. Oswald in Durham from 1862 until the year of his death. To the chagrin of his bishop, Dykes favored the high church practices associated with…

Enjoy this timeless hymn with a jazz twist!

Hymn of the Week: Loving Spirit
Glory to God: 293

Who Captured it Best?

Text Shirley Erena Murray 1986
Tune Corbers Cross 1631

1,
Loving Spirit, loving Spirit,
you have chosen me to be;
you have drawn me to your wonder,
you have set your sign on me.

2
Like a mother you enfold me,
hold my life within your own,
feed me with your very body,
form me of your flesh and bone.

3
Like a father you protect me,
teach me the discerning eye,
hoist me up upon your shoulder,
let me see the world from high.

4
Friend and lover, in your closeness
I am known and held and blest:
in your promise is my comfort,
in your presence I may rest.

Who Captured it Best? (Title for this week courtesy of Patty Hussey!)

As you read the great story behind this Pentecost hymn, you will notice that there are 3 musical settings referred to. I have recorded all three side by side. The Glory to God Hymnal has the text set to OMNI DEI, the recording will play OMNI DEI, then the Raga-based tune 2x, followed by the hymn tune KINGDOM 2x. Try singing along and let me know which setting you like best!

peveringham@granpres.org

“Loving Spirit” is a hymn celebrating the many ways the Holy Spirit acts in our lives. It is rich in imagery and is a perfect song to use in the Easter and post-Pentecost seasons when the church places extra emphasis on the workings of the Spirit. This is the first of four articles in the month of April that will explore hymns especially appropriate for Eastertide.

Author Shirley Murray hails from New Zealand, where she still lives. She is a Presbyterian with Methodist roots whose work is celebrated across a broad spectrum of Christian traditions, both in her native country and across the world. Her texts frequently explore new or challenging theological concepts and imagery, and they often address social justice concerns as well. In a 2009 article from the New Zealand Presbyterian magazine Spanz, Murray says of her own work that “[w]e need ‘comfort hymns’ but you can’t let that dominate. [One needs] to be taken out of [one]self and into the world.”1 Indeed, examples of her most well-known hymns bear out that conviction, such as “Touch the Earth Lightly,” “Star-child, earth-child,” and “For Everyone Born.”

“Loving Spirit” is one of Murray’s earlier texts. While it is rich in imagery, it offers more in the way of novel exploration of God’s nature rather than the outright confrontation of a theological or social justice issue. Themes of God’s immanence and intimacy pervade this text; each stanza explores a relational metaphor for God, first as a mother (stanza 2), then as a father (stanza 3), then as lover and friend (stanza 4). Though the address in stanza 1 is to the “Spirit,” Neal Plantinga wisely observes that although it “appears to be addressed to the Holy Spirit. . . [‘Loving Spirit” is] addressed instead to the triune God. . . I think so because the hymn in its second stanza says that the loving spirit ‘feed[s] me with your very body, form[s] me of your flesh and bone.’”2 Hymnary.org lists a plethora of Scripture references for this hymn. A more concise list, useful for planning worship, can be found on the website of Hope Publishing Company, which holds the copyright for this text.3

“Loving Spirit” is found in Murray’s first collection, In Every Corner Sing (Hope Publishing, 1992). It was initially printed, though, in the 1990 Presbyterian Hymnal, and has subsequently been published in many other hymnals, including—as cited in this article—the United Methodist Church’s 2000 supplement The Faith We Sing (No. 2123).

There have also been arrangements of this hymn for choir, handbells, and organ, so opportunities are abundant for introducing it in ways other than as a congregational song.

Because it is a relatively new hymn, and one written without a “proper” tune, “Loving Spirit” has been paired with several tunes since its first appearance. The Presbyterian Hymnal (1990) set it to the tune OMNI DIE by the sixteenth-century German monk, David Gregor Corner. Though the tune itself is sturdy, the structure of OMNI DIE doesn’t match well with the structure of Murray’s text. As noted before, each stanza of her text explores a different metaphor for God -- Spirit as mother, father, friend, and lover. These stanzas stand each on their own. OMNI DIE is a double-length tune; when one sings “Loving Spirit” to it, the stanzas are necessarily combined and thus not able to stand alone with their own integrity. The simile of a mother, especially, is lost since it thus becomes the second half of the combined first stanza. The father simile, by contrast, stands out because it begins the combined second stanza. One might infer that, given her concern for inclusivity in her texts, Murray would prefer the feminine imagery for God to stand equally alongside the masculine imagery.

Several more recent hymnals have paired “Loving Spirit” with a tune by Taiwanese hymnologist I-to Loh called CHHUN-BIN; that melody is reminiscent of an Indian raga. Singing “Loving Spirit” to the gently flowing unison melody and subtly asymmetrical rhythm of CHHUN-BIN provides a vastly different Affekt compared to the traditional western, four-part construction and strict duple meter of OMNI DIE. CHHUN-BIN has the advantage of being a single-length tune, so each of the stanzas of Murray’s text is able to stand on its own. It is also hauntingly beautiful and mysterious sounding to this Western musician’s ear. A congregation not accustomed to Eastern musical aesthetics, however, may find CHHUN-BIN difficult to sing. Michael Hawn, the long-time author of this column, offers advice on how to perform “Loving Spirit,” sung to CHHUN-BIN, using a simple compliment of percussion instruments alongside the keyboard and voices.

The Faith We Sing provides yet another tune for “Loving Spirit,” KINGDOM by V. Earle Copes. The pairing of KINGDOM and “Loving Spirit” is particularly strong. The triple meter of the tune flows more easily than the duple meter OMNI DIE and thus helps highlight the flow of the text. The tune also stops at a half-cadence after the second phrase; stanzas one and four of Murray’s text do likewise, coming to a full stop after the second phrase. Because of that parallel, KINGDOM seems to be a natural fit for the stanzas of “Loving Spirit.”

For good reason, Murray’s hymns have taken root in Christian communities throughout the world over the last three decades. Her deep, yet never forced, exploration of God’s nature in “Loving Spirit” exemplifies her genius as a text writer. In the season of Easter, as the church looks with expectation toward the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost, Murray’s hymn “Loving Spirit” offers a useful insight into the nature of God as Spirit. For those communities across the globe who choose to sing this hymn, “Loving Spirit” will surely prove to be a true source of inspiration.
 

1. Amanda Wells, “Hymn writer stresses the power of words,” Spanz Magazine (ISSN 1179-3473). http://www.presbyterian.org.nz/publications/spanz-magazine/2009/december-2009/hymn-writer-stresses-the-power-of-words

2. From a note found on Hymnary.org. http://www.hymnary.org/text/loving_spirit_holy_spirit

3. http://www.hopepublishing.com/html/main.isx?sitesec=40.2.1.0&hymnID=2895

Hymn of the Week: Thy Word is a Lamp Unto My Feet
Glory to God: 458

Text Amy Grant 1984
Tune Michael W. Smith 1984

Thy Word is a Lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
Thy Word is a Lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
When I feel afraid, and I think I’ve lost my way,
Still you’re there right beside me.
Nothing will I fear as long as you are near.
Please be near me to the end.

• This song was from American Christian singer-songwriter's 1984 album Straight Ahead, the first Christian set ever to chart on the Billboard pop chart.

• Grant and Christian singer-songwriter Michael W Smith wrote this song. It is a worshipful hymn based on Psalm 119 v 105. The song was recorded at Caribou Ranch recording studio high in the Rocky Mountains.

• Michael originally came up with the song's melody and some words for the chorus straight from David's Psalms about being a light unto my path. Amy fell in love with his demo, but as Michael had no idea what the verses were supposed to say, he gave it to her and told her she could finish the tune. "So later that night she starts walking back to her cabin," Michael told us. "And you have to understand Caribou Ranch is an 8,000-acre ranch and it's very dark, and you're in the middle of nowhere. And she got lost. There are bears and all that sort of thing. You've got to really know where you're going. It's obviously a compound with all these cabins and stuff." "She finally saw a lamp and started walking towards that light, didn't realize that that was her cabin," he continued. "And she walked into that little cabin and sat down with a notebook and pen and wrote the verses to 'Thy Word.'"

Enjoy Amy Grant’s signing of her own hymn!