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Tag Archives: Hymns

Emails to God – Two Songs, a Wedding, and a Funeral

07 Feb

I went to a Mass of Resurrection (funeral) yesterday for a woman who was beautiful in every sense of the word, Cynthia Pedregon. The two highlights for me were two of her granddaughters singing and the eulogy given by a local pastor. The eulogy was a collection of quotes from her friends and family about her. It was a tribute unlike any I have ever heard. Every word spoken about her was consistent with the woman I knew in only a small way. It was remarkable.

There was one other thing I noticed about the program for the Mass. The last song they played before the service began was “How Beautiful” by Twila Paris (music only). The recessional was “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore You.” Both of these songs were in our wedding nearly twenty years ago. My wife’s aunt say “How Beautiful” during the service, and we picked “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee” as our recessional as well. So here are the lyrics for both songs. I wonder what each one has to sang about the birth of a marriage and the end of a life well-lived.

“How Beautiful” By Twila Paris

How beautiful the hands that served
the wine and the bread and the sons of the earth.
How beautiful the feet that walked
the long dusty roads and the hills to  the cross.
How beautiful, how beautiful,
how beautiful is the body of Christ.

How beautiful the heart that bled
that took all my sin and bore it instead.
How beautiful the tender eyes
that chose to forgiveand never despise.
How beautiful,how beautiful
how beautiful is the body of Christ.

And  as He laid down His life we offer this sacrifice
that we will live just as he died willing to pay the  price,willing to pay the  price.

How beautiful the radiant Bride
who waits for her Groom with His light in her eyes.
How beautiful when humble hearts give
the fruit of pure lives so that others may live.
How beautiful, how beautiful
how beautiful is the body of Christ.

How beautiful the feet that bring
the sound of good news and the love of  the King.
How beautiful the hands that serve
the wine and the bread and the sons of the earth.
How beautiful,how beautiful
how beautiful is the body of Christ.

When I read this song and imagine what Mrs. Paris must have been thinking as she wrote it, I think that she was just struck by the beauty of God and what He brings to life. First verse: That Jesus came and lived like us was beautiful. Second verse: Jesus’ death and sacrifice for us was a different kind of beautiful. Third verse: The life submitted to God is beautiful. Fourth verse: The life lived out in submission to God is beautiful. Well, those four verses really do speak to the life that begins with to people joining in marriage, and, in Cynthia’s case, they are descriptive of the life she lived.

“Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee” Lyrics by Henry van Dyke
Set to “Ode to Joy” from Ludwig van Beethoven’s 9th Symphony

Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day!

All Thy works with joy surround Thee, earth and heaven reflect Thy rays,
Stars and angels sing around Thee, center of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain, flowery meadow, flashing sea,
Singing bird and flowing fountain call us to rejoice in Thee.

Thou art giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blessed,
Wellspring of the joy of living, ocean depth of happy rest!
Thou our Father, Christ our Brother, all who live in love are Thine;
Teach us how to love each other, lift us to the joy divine.

Mortals, join the happy chorus, which the morning stars began;
Father love is reigning o’er us, brother love binds man to man.
Ever singing, march we onward, victors in the midst of strife,
Joyful music leads us Sunward in the triumph song of life.

Count this one as my favorite hymn. Here is a quote from Mr. van Dyke (according to Wikipedia–so it must be true) about his intentions for this song:

These verses are simple expressions of common Christian feelings and desires in this present time—hymns of today that may be sung together by people who know the thought of the age, and are not afraid that any truth of science will destroy religion, or any revolution on earth overthrow the kingdom of heaven. Therefore this is a hymn of trust and joy and hope.

While I didn’t know of this quote when I chose this (yes, I picked this one for the wedding ceremony) as our recessional, and I doubt Cynthia knew of it when she chose it as the recessional for her funeral, I think we both chose it because the song accomplishes exactly what Mr. van Dyke intended: “…this is a hymn of trust and joy and hope.” For me, the beginning of my married life in God was about trust, joy, and hope. I’m sure Cynthia felt like the end of her earthy life in God was about trust, joy, and hope. Finally, I think for her family, the beginning of their lives without her in God will be about trust, joy, and hope.

 
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Posted by on February 7, 2012 in Hymns and Songs

 

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Emails to God – “What Wondrous Love is This”

06 Jan

What wondrous love is this,

O my soul, O my soul!

What wondrous love is this,

O my soul!

What wondrous love is this

That caused the Lord of bliss

To bear the dreadful curse

For my soul, for my soul,

To bear the dreadful curse

For my soul.

When I was sinking down,

Sinking down, sinking down,

When I was sinking down,

Sinking down,

When I was sinking down

Beneath God’s righteous frown,

Christ laid aside His crown

For my soul, for my soul

Christ laid aside His crown

For my soul.

To God and to the Lamb

I will sing, I will sing,

To God and to the Lamb

I will sing,

To God and to the Lamb

Who is the great “I Am,”

While millions join the theme,

I will sing, I will sing,

While millions join the theme,

I will sing

And when from death I’m free,

I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on,

And when from death I’m free,

I’ll sing on,

And when from death I’m free,

I’ll sing and joyful be,

And thro’ eternity

I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on

And thro’ eternity

I’ll sing on.

I thought I would pick another hymn to get into tonight. I rolled through about 170 of them in the hymnal and landed on this one. I’ve always liked the somber tone of the tune. The music really makes this song work.

It’s almost as if the writer (hymnal doesn’t list a writer, but just says, “American Folk Hymn”) is getting a revelation of what their sin cost Jesus and God, but the first question focuses on Jesus and not the write: “What wondrous love is this…?” The writer apparently already realizes the depths of their sin before the song is written and starts the song with the marveling at Jesus’ love.

The second verse then goes back and picks up the writer’s knowledge of their own sin: “While I was sinking down beneath God’s righteous frown…” and then picks up Jesus’ sacrifice again: “…Christ laid aside his crown for my soul.”

Now, the third verse shows us that the write knows it’s time to worship while they are still living: “To God and to the Lamb, I will sing…While millions join the theme, I will sing.”

And the fourth verse takes us to heaven. Jesus’ sacrifice from the first verse saved us from God’s righteous frown, and now we will sing for eternity. I used to get a little freaked out about the idea of heaven and being joyful forever. My imperfect human heart doesn’t quite grasp that concept and it scares me, but I take comfort from those who have seen heaven in near-death experiences and talk about the pure joy they felt while they were there.

Let me know if you see anything in this song that you think I missed.

 
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Posted by on January 6, 2012 in Hymns and Songs

 

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Emails to God – “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”

06 Jan

“Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” (Text by Robert Robinson; adapted by Margaret Clarkson)

Come Thou Fount of every blessing

Tune my heart to sing thy grace

Streams of mercy, never ceasing

Call for songs of loudest praise

Teach me some melodious sonnet

Sung by flaming tongues above

Praise his name—I’m fixed upon it—

Name of God’s redeeming love

 

Hither to Thy love has blest me;

Thou hast brought me to this place

And I know Thy hand will bring me

Safely home by Thy good grace

Jesus sought me when a stranger,

Wandering from the fold of God;

He, to rescue me from danger,

Bought me with His precious blood.

 

O to grace how great a debtor

Daily I’m constrained to be

Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,

Bind my wandering heart to Thee

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,

Prone to leave the God I love;

Here’s my heart, O take and seal it;

Seal it for Thy courts above

Amen

I am at a retreat tonight and the rest of the weekend out at Laity Lodge. We aren’t suppose to have Internet access, but I am staying in a place that accidentally provided it (of course, I helped it along by finding a modem and getting it plugged in so that the Internet could start working). So I feel like this is a great power I have, to access the Internet, and I should use it for good and not for evil. I will do my best to stay away from ESPN3 and try to stay focused on God. To that end, I thought I might use my Emails to God blog to share some of what I experience here.

At the retreat tonight we were singing this song. It is one of my two favorite hymns. My favorite is “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee.” The place where I am staying has the old Word Hymnal that I used to sell in my days of working for Word, and would you know that my two favorite hymns are hymns numbers 1 and 2 in the hymnal—and in the right order at that. What are the odds?

But I digress. Sometimes when I am singing a song and I feel like it isn’t hitting me like it should I stop and try to put myself in the mindset of the write while they wrote the lyric. They sat there with nothing and looked for words that expressed how they felt. What then can I tell about how they felt at the time by the words they chose?

I did this with this song tonight, and it really opened it up to me even more. The last verse is too easy to relate to, so I won’t even deal with that except to say that I heard once that the writer of this song, Robert Robinson, struggled with his faith throughout his life. Here is a quote from Wikipedia (so it must be true): “An unverifiable story is widely told of Robinson that one day while riding in a stagecoach a lady asked him what he thought of the hymn she was humming, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. He responded, “Madam, I am the poor unhappy man who wrote that hymn many years ago, and I would give a thousand worlds, if I had them, to enjoy the feelings I had then.”

But I digress again. I want to think about the first verse. There is a lot here:

  • “Come Thou Fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing Thy grace” – Again, thinking about his mindset when he was writing this, I got the image of someone who so badly wanted for his worship of God to be adequate. Do I have that feeling as I worship before God?
  • “Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise” – Because God has given me so much love and mercy He deserves for me to get this right.
  • “Teach me some melodious sonnet, Sung by flaming tongues above” – I know that angels know how to sing to God. Teach me how to sing like the angels.
  • “Praise His name—I’m fixed upon it—Name of God’s redeeming love” – My worship is to focus on Him and His Name—really focus.

 

This is good stuff. If you are so inclined, do your own for the other two verses. Find something in here from God that you’ve never seen before.

 
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Posted by on January 6, 2012 in Hymns and Songs

 

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