11/28/2007

Please Pass the Hymnal

The church we went to out West only sang hymns. At first, I didn't welcome this at all. I missed the more contemporary singing we did in past churches. The Lord worked on me giving contentment in this small area. I really began to love hymns and learned many new ones. I found a lot to appreciate about their deep poetic lyrics and their music can be fun. Really, if you don't sing them in monotone with a long face, they are not that boring! It also helps to have a good piano accompaniment.

Part of Leyla's home school curriculum is "Language and Thinking for Young Children". They suggest doing a "whole" method of memorizing passages whether it be hymns, songs, poems, Bible chapters, etc. We are doing this with hymns by singing (and I try to play the piano) one through each day for a month. Then, the hymn has hopefully been memorized.

Over Thanksgiving Leyla INSISTED that all the relatives sit and listen to her sing "My Redeemer". All four verses, 2 times through. (The 2nd time because Auntie Rachel missed out.) The twins were too shy, but they light up and sing their best when one of their songs are picked at church.

As a side note: there is contemporary music that glorifies the Lord and is a part of our lives also.

I hope to give my children an appreciation for hymns. Not for the sake of being staunch or old fashion. Not to make them narrowminded, but rather broaden their musical taste. To cause them to learn from beautiful language and deep truths. Truths that they may not understand now, but will be in their memory to think upon as they grow. To shape their view of Jesus and what He's done for them.

The lives of many hymn writers are profound stories of Christ's work. I hope to look into those more. I wonder how many blind authors there were and why?

We have a few tiny hymnals with no music, just lyrics. They are great to keep with your Bible for encouragement and meditation.

Recently my inbox received a devotion containing this very subject by Elisabeth Elliot. When I was a child my father and mother gathered the six of us in the living room after breakfast every morning for family prayers. First we sang a hymn, omitting none of the stanzas, accompanied on the piano by one of our parents. It was in this way that we learned a good bit of solid theology without any conscious effort.

I don't claim to be an expert on this. I'm just thankful for the gift of hymns.

8 comments:

Shawna said...

I am so thankful for the hymns too. I really appreciate that my parents took my to church faithfully and I was able to learn so many so well! What a gift to your children. I never stopped to appreciate it until I had my own kids, and now no matter what I am doing at church, I can sing along, because the words are just there, forever a part of me. I love the idea of going over one each day for a month too! Sonlight is great!

Kim & Dave said...

Yes!!

I so agree!

I learn so much through these great writers!

That way of working on them is great, too.

& Shawna...you're right....learning them as a child places them in your heart forever!!

Rachel said...

We were talking about this very thing recently, what a blessing it was to have learned so many hymns when we were kids. I really like your idea of singing one a day for a month...might have to try that sometime soon. Ethan is learning Christmas hymns right now, and it is fun to see how much he loves to know the words and sing along. And recently at the chapel he's been watching our mouths, trying to sing along. How fun for him to be able to know some hymns, even at this young age, so that he could sing with us.

Thanks for this!

Kelly said...

Thanks for your thoughts on hymns! I just LOVE hymns...and I'm so thankful for the ones I have memorized. So often as I go about my day at work, I find myself humming or whistling a hymn and as I think on the words and the truths in that song, my heart is encouraged and stirred to service and worship of my Savior. What a neat way to instill these truths in the hearts of your young ones!

Mrs.A said...

I am glad you are re-discovering the hymns. They are one of my passions. I am often saddened when my Christian school students are clueless when I make an allusion in class to a phrase from a hymn. It is like they have missed out on a huge part of their Christian heritage. It's sort of like getting a major in English and American literature by only ever having studied 20th century authors.

Remember how often in class something that one of you kids would say triggered me to start singing? More often than not it was a phrase from one of the hundreds of hymns I had learned as a child.

You mention blind hymn writers. I am always blown away by Bear's knowledge of the hymns, and even his familiarity with hymnals. He can tell you on what page most any hymn is found in several books, as well as how many verses or stanzas it contains, and even what key it is written in. I remember one Sunday at Countryside when he was visiting and sang a solo for us. I don't recall the song he sang, but it was a shorter one without a chorus. I was accompanying him on the piano. At the end of the final verse, I added a little arpeggio and started to put my hands in my lap. To my surprise, he started in on another verse that I was familiar with but which was not included in our hymnal. Again I added a bit of an "ending", only to have him sing yet another verse, one I had never heard before. All together, he must have sung about 4 verses in addition to the 5 that were written. To this day I tease him (with obvious exaggeration) about singing "all 26 verses of Amazing Grace"! :)

Em said...

I think that's great! Psalms (set to music) have been very important to us, and Anabelle has memorized lots of Psalms by singing them over and over again. About theology, I've been very blessed by studying the deep lyrics of some of our Christmas hymns/carols lately. If only I could play the piano . . . Keep up the good work!

Caleb and Anna said...

Thanks for the thoughts. I too enjoy hymns and miss that we don't sing more of them at our church. What a great idea on how to teach your kids (and yourself!) how to memorize! -Anna

HopiQ said...

Yay for hymns! I agree wholeheartedly that hymns are rich and wonderful. We love singing them and learning about them.

and...HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!