You learn something new everyday!

In all honesty, I learned this new thing on Sunday but I didn't want to post twice on one day... So, a friend at church was going through some music she had at home and brought me some to look at. One item was The Manitoba School Song Book first copyright in 1940 and reprinted many times, the most recent (the date of my copy) being February 1959. Yes, I know; it's not really all that recent!

I realized once again, as I thumbed through the book, how British oriented the school system was at that time. Makes sense, historically speaking. I was not yet in school in 1959 (!) but when I think back to my elementary school years, yes, the songs we sang in music class were often British folk songs, hymns and occasionally Canadian folk songs. By now, you're wondering what it was I learned.

Well, the hymn that is variously called The Agincourt Hymn or Deo Gratias is one that I have seen with the words, "O love, how deep, how broad, how high". I recall my organ teacher, Conrad Grimes, referring to this tune as The Agincourt Hymn but I had no idea why. Here are the words I found. Unfortunately there is no information given about the lyrics, approx. date of origin, etc.

Our King went forth to Normandy,
With grace and might of chivalry;
The God for him wrought marv'lously,
Wherefore England may call and cry Deo gratias.

He set a siege, the sooth for to say,
To Harfleur town with royal array;
That town he won, and made a fray,
That France shall rue till Domesday. Deo gratias.

Then went our King, with all his host,
Through France for all the Frenchman's boast:
He spared for dread of least nor most,
Until he came to Agincourt coast. Deo gratias.

Then forsooth that Knight comely,
In Agincourt field he fought manly:
Through grace of God most mighty,
He had both the field and the victory. Deo gratias.

Their dukes and earls, lord and baron,
Were taken and slain and that well soon:
And some were led into London,
With joy and mirth and great renown. Deo gratias.

The gracious God now save our King,
His people and all his well-willing:
Give him good life and good ending,
That we with mirth may safely sing, Deo gratias.

A New Perspective

I hinted in my previous post that my perspective on some hymns has changed over time. That fact is consistent, I think, in that our perspective on many things changes as we go through life. The specific hymn that came to mind during Holy Week was "Beneath the Cross of Jesus", a hymn I have known and sung since childhood. I used to dread singing this hymn as it seemed to me to be so painfully slow and mournful, and not really enjoyable to sing. When I consider the text, the tune (ST. CHRISTOPHER) definitely suits it and I think as children, very generally speaking, we do not want to think of sad things, or hear sad tunes. Maybe the simple fact of it is that as we mature physically, we realize that sadness is inevitably part of life. Hopefully we also are maturing spiritually and realize the importance of Christ's death and why the cross is such an important part of our faith.

On Good Friday, when we sang this hymn, I found my eyes filling with tears at the profundity of the words of verse 3 - part prayer, part confession.

I take, O cross, thy shadow for my abiding place;
I ask no other sunshine than the sunshine of His (Jesus') face;
Content to let the world go by, to know no gain nor loss;
my sinful self my only shame, my glory all, the cross.

More to come...

I have been thinking lately about how my perspective on hymns has changed. Hymns I once dreaded to sing in church have now become meaningful and emotional to me. Is this simply a matter of maturity/age? Is it a matter of understanding/comprehension? I will write more on this subject when Holy Week has come to its glorious conclusion.

Not My Favourite Hymn

Not too long ago I posted about one of my favourite hymns. On Sunday the choir sang a hymn for the anthem. This is not our usual practice, but it was necessary as I had cancelled choir rehearsal due to a late spring blizzard (the driving was treacherous!) and the anthem we had been working was not far enough along to sing. When I choose a hymn for the choir to sing on days like that, I try to find one that is not well-known to the congregation and that was indeed the case. It was a hymn that I knew well and one that I'm not particularly fond of. Two things happened: 1) God spoke to me about my role as leader. 2) The whole situation made me reflect on why it is a hymn I don't enjoy.

About the first - as a leader, it would be easy to always/only choose music which I enjoy. God reminded me that, even though I don't particularly like a certain hymn/song, it may very well speak to someone else in the congregation. There are times when I must set aside personal bias in favour of the whole community. All of that led me to reflect on why I don't really like that hymn. It came down to association with a certain time and place. My dislike has nothing to do with the text itself.

My guess is that the same would hold true for others too. I've heard people say, and likely you have too, "I can't stand that song!" Do they take theological issue with the words? Or is it, as it was with me, that they associate that song with something long past which brings back memories? God gently reminded me that each of us is unique. What speaks to me may not speak to you. We have different tastes and preferences yet we can worship God together.

Lead me, Lord

For a few weeks now, Christians have been journeying through Lent. This season of reflection and penitence mirrors 2 Biblical events - the wandering of God's people through the wilderness (40 years) and Christ's 40 day fast in the wilderness. In the first example, God's leading is obvious in hindsight. The people had the cloud by day and the fire by night to show them where to go. I'm guessing I would have been among the complainers had I actually been there, wandering around for 40 years! In the second example, Christ shows us the importance of scripture in our battles with temptation. We can rely on God's word to give us the guidance we need to persevere in our Christian walk.

The anthem the choir sang last Sunday has been running through my thoughts all week, and has become a prayer for me. Part of the piece is by Samuel S. Wesley (1810-1876) and I quote it for you here:

Lead me, Lord, lead me in your righteousness;
Make your way plain before my face,
For it is you, and you, God only,
Who makes me to dwell in safety.

Words based on Psalm 4:8 and Psalm 5:8

O Love, Light, Joy, Cross...

Occasionally I am asked, "What is your favourite hymn?" My response is usually which ever one is running through my head at that moment because I have so many favourites. "O Love that wilt not let me go" is definitely one of them. I think it is an appropriate hymn for Lent; the words make me reflect on my own commitment to God, and rejoice in the nature of God's unfailing love and redemption.


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.

This hymn was written by George Matheson (1842-1906), a Scots preacher, scholar and writer. He was born with poor vision which gradually deteriorated, leaving him blind by the time he was 20. Matheson never married, but with the help of one of his sisters, completed his education at the University of Glasgow, entered the ministry, wrote books, and lectured. He wrote of how this hymn came to be: "I am quite sure that the whole work was com­plet­ed in five min­utes, and equal­ly sure that 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 day­spring from on high." George Matheson - Wikipedia

To my knowledge, these words are always sung to the tune ST. MARGARET by Albert Lister Peace. Someday, I'd like to post about the life of St. Margaret, as I always think of her story when hearing this hymn.