Joyful, Joyful

 

Monday, May 20, 2013

Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee

 When asked to name a hymn that filled him with joy, Frank Calkins chose this hymn as did Sherry Naylor.  Sherry says," How can you listen to that uplifting music and sing those happy words and not be full of joy?  All hymns are joyful--they praise God.  Easter service is not right without the joyful words of "Jesus Christ is Risen Today!  Alleluia!"

 When we sang it a few weeks ago during worship at St. Mark Presbyterian, I, too, had decided this was one of my favorite hymns.  As an English and German teacher, this hymn is perfect.  The lyrics are beautiful poetry and the music is Beethoven's "Hymn to Joy".  It doesn't get any better than that.  If you don't want an English teacher's analysis of the poetry, stop here and just savor the lyrics.



According to Robert J. Morgan in Then Sings My Soul, 

In 1907, Henry van Dyke was invited to preach at Williams College in Massachusetts.  At breakfast one morning, he handed the college president a piece of paper saying, "Here is a hymn for you.  Your mountains (the Berkshires) were my inspiration.  It must be sung to the music of Beethoven's 'Hymn of joy'"

Beautiful metaphors and similes create pictures that help us understand God's Grace:  Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee. . .Melt the clouds of sin and sadness. . .Fill us with the light of day.

Alliteration takes us to peaceful places:  Field and Forest, vale and mountain, Flowery meadow, flashing sea, Chanting bird and flowing fountain, Call us to rejoice in Thee.

Repetition makes us focus:  Thou art giving and forgiving, Ever blessing, ever blest.

Rhyming is also there for poetry purists:
Ever singing, march we onward, 
Victors in the midst of strife,
Joyful music leads us sunward
In the triumph song of life.

RoMANce

Dancing in Berlin NY Eve

Why are my memories of Germany so vivid?

Was it because that was my first love?

Or because it’s an older memory

recently unlocked.

Was dancing in a ballroom really 

more romantic than dancing

 in a low ceilinged rented room ?

Who am I kidding?

Waltzing in a ballroom with soft lights

is always better than a dark rented room

with bodies standing and swaying to the rhythm.

Dancing in ski lodge

Was skiing in the Alps really

more romantic than Colorado or Michigan?

Who am I kidding?

Skiing in the Alps with lunch in a mountain pub

or our evenings of drinking, dancing and laughing

in a warm wood-lined chalet

is better than a cheap hostel room with flourescent lights .

At 21, the romance was important—-the fulfillment of many teenage dreams.

At 25, the reality of a good partnership was more important 

than any fantasy.

I missed some of the German romance but,

my priorities had changed.

While I loved both men, 

one would have never passed the test of daily life together.

While the other, not colored by the fantasy of romance, 

saw success together

despite several bumps in the road.

And now, this 80 year old woman sees that 

I always needed both: practical realism

with a touch of romance and fantasy. . . .

if it’s not too late.

(P.S.  I don't recall the names of the men in the photos, 1966/7)

The Ties that Bind

 

Monday, July 8, 2013

Blessed Be the Tie that Binds

 Phil Keim said "Blessed Be the Tie that Binds"  was his mother's favorite hymn and has become one of his favorites, too.  For me, I am taken back 50 years to a play in high school:  Our Town.  I had never sung the hymn until this play. (Yes, I am in the photo above) Singing it three times nightly, it became a favorite of mine, too.

1 Blest be the tie that binds
our hearts in Christian love;
the fellowship of kindred minds
is like to that above. 

 

2 Before our Father's throne
we pour our ardent prayers;
our fears, our hopes, our aims are one,
our comforts and our cares.

Although most people think of the ties as being Christian ties that bind us together, for Thornton Wilder, the author of Our Town, to have it sung three times during the play, it meant something else to him.  The first time it was sung was when Emily and George met at church in the choir.

3 We share our mutual woes,
our mutual burdens bear,
and often for each other flows
the sympathizing tear. 

 

4 When we are called to part,
it gives us inward pain;
but we shall still be joined in heart,
and hope to meet again. 

 

5 This glorious hope revives
our courage by the way;
while each in expectation lives
and waits to see the day.

The second time it was sung was on their wedding day.  So, "the ties" here were marital ties for a couple beginning their lives together with "mutual woes" "but we shall still be joined in heart."

6 From sorrow, toil, and pain,
and sin, we shall be free;
and perfect love and friendship reign
through all eternity. 

The third time it is sung is after Emily's death.  "The ties" are this time the ones that join the living and the dead.  Emily is seen below in her wedding dress in the cemetery with other townsfolk.  She ponders her life.  With the hymn again being sung at her funeral, the emphasis is on death being a part of life---it is another stage often misunderstood by the living. "We shall be free; and perfect love and friendship reign through all eternity."

Betrayal

 

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Betrayal

The Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus

47 While Jesus was yet speaking, a crowd came. And he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss Him. 48 But Jesus said to him, “Judas, do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”

49 When those who were around Him saw what would follow, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” 50 And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear.

51 But Jesus said, “This is enough!” And He touched his ear and healed him.

52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests, and captains of the temple guard, and the elders who had come for Him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs as against a rebel? 53 Daily, while I was with you in the temple, you did not lay hands on Me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness!”

Luke 22: 55-62

Betrayal. . . . while I don't recall many incidents of being betrayed, that feeling of having betrayed someone has never gone away---the guilt and the knowledge that I had hurt someone.  I don't think I've intentionally betrayed someone. . . .usually it's a betrayal of not acting. . .of staying in the shadows and watching injustice being done to someone undeserving just like some of the disciples at Jesus's arrest.

But sometimes, the betrayal has been more like Judas-- so focused on a goal that I didn't realize the consequences of my actions: that I had trampled on someone to reach my goal.  Those times are the most gut wrenching.  When Jesus said, "Judas, do you betray the son of Man with a kiss."  I can imagine Judas's eyes getting wider, getting focused with what he had done.  Suddenly he was seeing clearly what the priests had intended to do all along once Jesus was identified. He could clearly see that he had sparked the fire which was going to set the world ablaze.

...And, then when he  saw what the outcome could be, panic set in with that punch in the stomach feeling. . . . 

But, is it any more of a betrayal than those who stood by and didn't defend  Jesus?  Those who stood in the shadows, watched and remained silent as Jesus was arrested. Betrayal is betrayal---whether it's from standing by and watching or from identifying Jesus with a kiss.  And, don't we betray Jesus every time we stand by or let our pursuit of our goals hurt another.

Dear God, open our eyes to the many times we have betrayed Jesus and his teachings with our actions and our inactions.   Open our eyes to injustice, suffering, hunger, strife before it's too late.  Open our eyes when we unintentionally hurt someone on our way to fulfilling a dream.  Open our eyes to the consequences of our actions.  Help us to step out of the shadows and into the light on His path:  being faithful to Jesus's teachings and not betraying Him.  

From Maundy Thursday Worship Service 2017 by J. Morgan

Controversial Hymn

 

Monday, August 19, 2013

Controversial Hymn

While looking for another article on line, I ran across this news item about a hymn that was supposed to be in our new hymnal.  Click here if you want to read the entire article.

Basically, the hymnal committee, according to the article wanted to change one phrase: "The original lyrics say that “on that cross, as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied.” The Presbyterian Committee on Congregational Song wanted to substitute the words, “the love of God was magnified.”

This reminded me of a time in our Level Green Presbyterian Church when we never sang any hymns that were "too bloodly" or violent.  I had never paid much attention to lyrics until then.  Actually one of my favorite hymns as a child was "Onward Christian Soldier"---I especially loved the "marching into war" because our hymn leaders let us march.

So, at first when I read about this hymn I thought it was "the wrath of God" that the committee objected to, but, no, it was the word "satisfied".  First, that word implies contentment or satisfaction which I don't associate with God very often.  Second, I just like the imagery of "the love of God" over "the wrath of God."  John 3: 16 tells us: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."  That just doesn't sound like a wrathful God being satisfied that his son died on the cross.  Third, I don't even know what that means:  Jesus died on the cross and God was happy?



In the article, Scott Sauls tried to explain what "satisfied" meant:

But the Rev. Scott Sauls, pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville, disagrees. He said the word “satisfied” means that Jesus paid the whole price for sins. 

“There’s no more work to be done,” said Sauls, whose congregation is part of the more conservative Presbyterian Church in America. “It is finished.”

Click here  for more on Rev. Scott Sauls who actually was once my daughter's pastor here in St. Louis.  Click here for the official Presbyterian statement. So, do you agree with Rev. Sauls on the meaning of "satisfied" or the Presbyterian Committee which omitted the hymn because that phrase would be mis-interpreted?