“Jerusalem,” the unofficial anthem of the United Kingdom
The glorious hymn sung in the video above is William Blake’s original poem and is consequently theologically off-base. When we’ve sung it in church, we used this lyric by British composer C. Hubert Parry (1848-1918) and adapted it even further.
1 When did those feet in ancient times walk upon Israel’s mountain green? And did the Christ of Heaven come down, was God in flesh both heard and seen? And did He die to prove His love, and did He rise again more powerful still? And was His rule on earth started there upon Golgotha’s tragic hill?
2 Bring me my bow of burning gold; bring me my arrows of desire; Bring me my spear, O clouds, unfold! Bring me my chariots of fire! I will not cease to spread His light. My faith a shield, His word my sword. ‘Til Christ my Lord is crowned King, and all the earth shall own him Lord!
“What a Friend We Have in Jesus” performed by The Brandenberger Family
Irish-Canadian Joseph Medlicott Scriven (1819-1886) wrote this very popular hymn that has a bluegrass feel to me, probably because I live in the South. The tune is originally from Erie, Pennsylvania, in 1868 by composer Charles Converse(1832-1918).
1 What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer! O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer!
2 Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer! Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer!
3 Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care? Precious Savior, still our refuge– take it to the Lord in prayer! Do your friends despise, forsake you? Take it to the Lord in prayer! In his arms he’ll take and shield you; you will find a solace there.
Yesterday, the socials were torn up with complaints about the Wordle word of the day. Wordle renews at midnight, and some people rush to solve it first. I usually play it in the middle day, and yesterday I happened to see the angst from other players ahead of time.
The word was parer. It’s not Merrium-Websters or Oxford, but it is the American Heritage. This is enough to inspire fulminating effusions of grief over how hard the game is or the loss of a win streak. It’s not even a real word, they say.
I did guess this word, perhaps because it’s one in another word game I play but perhaps because the perceived difficulty of a Wordle level depends on your starting word. You could go vowel heavy (audio, ideas, adieu) or consonant heavy (smart, plumb, track). You could attempt more common letters (scope, trace, broke).
I like word light (or sight, might, fight) because of the common letters. If H is eliminated, then CH and SH are too. If I is out, then AI, OI, EI are too.
But with a word like parer, if you approach it as PA_ER, then you can see the potential for angst. Is it paper, paver, pager? When you have a word like this, it’s good to attempt a word with three possible letters, like grave, so if all three out, you can attempt a fourth option, like the P if the R hadn’t been the answer.
I’m sure, as they say in the podcasts, nobody cares. Let’s move on.
Manhood:For the Church | Episode 177: Brant Hansen on The Men We Need. Here’s an enjoyable podcast ep. on a manhood book that may be more grounded than some of those you’ve heard about. Hansen, an “Avid Indoorsman,” appears to keep his advice within the bounds of Scripture and argue for flip-flops as a sign of failed masculinity.
True Crime:“Nothing But the Night takes readers back to 1924, when two students at the University of Chicago, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, kidnapped a fourteen-year-old boy named Bobby Franks and callously killed him. When the crime came to trial, Leopold and Loeb were defended by the celebrity lawyer Clarence Darrow, whose passionate courtroom antics were read in newspapers and circulated like the latest radio drama.” (Get the book here)
Education: In the book Letters Along the Way, a young believer says he intends to go to Yale to help Christians gain academic respectability. The corresponding senior saint writes, “At the risk of sounding pedantic (though realizing I sometimes come across that way), I doubt very much that evangelicals are wise to pursue academic respectability. What we need is academic responsibility. There is a world of difference.”
Jazz: In the current issue of ByFaith (not yet online), there’s a conversation with jazz pianist William Edgar, who is also a professor at Westminster Theological Seminary. He says, “I used to be fairly pessimistic about the future of jazz, but then I listen to these guys like Jon Baptiste or the guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, and it’s the real thing. . . . it’s the theme of my book, ‘from deep misery to inextinguishable joy.’ You can’t take a shortcut to the joy, because it becomes happiness instead. You also can’t swell in the sin without becoming morbid. Jazz is that journey that goes from one place to the others.”
You can listen to Jon Baptiste with friends in this recording from 2020.
Photo: Fire Department, Columbus, Indiana. 1977. John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive (1972-2008), Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
“Newton’s practice was to write hymns to be sung following his sermons. When he preached on 1 Chronicles 17:16 –17 in January 1773, he introduced his congregation to the hymn ‘Faith’s Review and Expectation’ (which was only later retitled ‘Amazing Grace’).
Newton wrote, “If the LORD whom I serve, has been pleased to favor me with that mediocrity of talent, which may qualify me for usefulness to the weak and poor of his flock, … I have reason to be satisfied.”
This hymn might have slipped into obscure, at least for a while, had it not been taken up by American revivalists and abolition movement, specifically Harriet Beecher Stowe.
Three verses of Newton’s “Amazing Grace” performed by Andrea Bocelli and Alison Krauss
“My Soul’s Been Anchored,” performed by Moses Hogan Chorale & Singers during the Moses Hogan Reunion Concert, 2013
This folk song is rare among hymnals, and the arrangement above comes from Moses Hogan (1957-2003). Not something we would sing together as a congregation, but we could sing along with the choir and have it stick in our ears for the week.
Refrain: In the Lord, in the Lord, My soul’s been anchored in the Lord; In the Lord, in the Lord’ My soul’s been anchored in the Lord.
1 Before I’d stay in hell one day, My soul’s been anchored in the Lord; I’d sing and pray myself away, My soul’s been anchored in the Lord, O Lord! My soul’s been anchored in the Lord, O Lord! My soul’s been anchored in the Lord. [Refrain]
2 I’m born of God, I know I am, My soul’s been anchored in the Lord, I’m purchased by the dying Lamb, My soul’s been anchored in the Lord, O Lord! My soul’s been anchored in the Lord, O Lord! My soul’s been anchored in the Lord. [Refrain]
3 Going to shout and pray and never stop, My soul’s been anchored in the Lord; Until I reach the mountain top, My soul’s been anchored in the Lord, O Lord! My soul’s been anchored in the Lord, O Lord! My soul’s been anchored in the Lord. [Refrain]
“With Grateful Heart My Thanks I Bring” piano accompaniment by Andrew Remillard
This adaptation of Psalm 138 appears to have been written for a Presbyterian Psalter published in 1912. The tune is one of the two most commonly used for this hymn. Entitled “St. Petersburg,” it was written by influential Ukrainian composer Dimitri Stepanovitch Bortniansky (1751-1825).
1 With grateful heart my thanks I bring, before the great thy praise I sing: I worship in thy holy place and praise thee for thy truth and grace; for truth and grace together shine in thy most holy word divine.
2 I cried to thee and thou didst save, thy word of grace new courage gave; the kings of earth shall thank thee, Lord, for they have heard thy wondrous word; yea, they shall come with songs of praise, for great and glorious are thy ways.
3 O Lord, enthroned in glory bright, thou reignest in the heav’nly height; the proud in vain thy favor seek, but thou hast mercy for the meek; through trouble though my pathway be, thou wilt revive and strengthen me.
4 Thou wilt stretch forth thy mighty arm to save me when my foes alarm; the work thou hast for me begun shall by thy grace be fully done; Forever mercy dwells with thee; O Lord, my Maker, think on me.
“Let Children Hear the Mighty Deeds” performed by Messiah’s Congregation of Maine Choir
“Let Children Hear the Mighty Deeds” was written by the great Isaac Watts, D.D. (1674-1748). The original 1917 title was “Providence of God Recorded; or, Pious Education and Instruction of Children.” It draws from the first part of Psalm 78, which says,
“We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders which he has wrought.” (v.4 RSV)
The tune is one of twelve common hymn tunes published in a 1615 Scottish psalter, rearranged to be more upbeat by Theodore Ferris.
1 Let children hear the mighty deeds which God performed of old, which in our younger years we saw and which our fathers told. He bids us make his glories known, the works of pow’r and grace, that we convey his wonders down through ev’ry rising race.
2 Our lips shall tell them to our sons, and they again to theirs, and generations yet unborn must teach them to their heirs. Thus shall they learn, in God alone their hope securely stands, that they may ne’er forget his works, but practice his commands.
“Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart” performed by the Tapestry Chamber Singers of Ft. Loudon, Penn.
“Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart” is a moving prayer that I hope hasn’t been completely forgotten by today’s church members. It was written by Catholic minister George Croly (1780-1860) of Dublin, Ireland.
This recording skips the fourth verse given here, which is the most challenging verse of the five. It asks the Lord for the grace to put ourselves aside and trust Him even though he doesn’t respond as we want Him to.
1 Spirit of God, descend upon my heart; Wean it from earth, through all its pulses move; Stoop to my weakness, mighty as thou art, and make me love thee as I ought to love.
2 I ask no dream, no prophet ecstasies, no sudden rending of the veil of clay, no angel visitant, no op’ning skies; but take the dimness of my soul away.
3 Hast thou not bid us love thee, God and King? All, all thine own, soul, heart, and strength and mind. I see the cross– there teach my heart to cling: O let me seek thee, and O let me find.
4 Teach me to feel that thou art always nigh; Teach me the struggles of the soul to bear, to check the rising doubt, the rebel sigh; teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.
5 Teach me to love thee as thine angels love, one holy passion filling all my frame: the baptism of the heav’n-descended dove, my heart an altar, and thy love the flame.
Amazon’s Middle Earth series, The Rings of Power, will begin September 1 and run into October. I don’t know much about it, but I hope to enjoy it if we still have a Prime membership (which seems to come and go regularly of late).
Because of the series, I intend to read The Silmarillion soon. I know I read about half of it before, but I don’t remember where I stopped. One of the chapters, perhaps thirteen, dragged on about geography about as warmly as a fifth-grade social studies text. I aim to push past those parts and enjoy the stories beyond them.
I don’t know if I will attempt to blog about the series if I’m able to watch it near the release days. I probably wouldn’t have enough thoughts to share.
Notes from Underground, Poor Folk, and The Brothers Karamazov are among the must-reads. The Double and The Gambler are on the list for reading after the must-reads. Uncle’s Dream and The Permanent Husband are only for the most dedicated readers.
“I won’t be exaggerating,” she says, “when I say [The Brothers Karamazov] brought me back from abyss. It might not work the same way [for you as] it did for me, but there is an obvious need for more people to read and understand the beautiful intricacies of life and its fallacies, to love life in its entirety.”
Oh, gentlemen, do you know, perhaps I consider myself an intelligent man, only because all my life I have been able neither to begin nor to finish anything. Granted I am a babbler, a harmless vexatious babbler, like all of us. But what is to be done if the direct and sole vocation of every intelligent man is babble, that is, the intentional pouring of water through a sieve?
Social Media: “How teens use social media often drives how everyone uses social media.” YouTube is the most-used social media platform and the second most-used search engine.
For Love of a Hero: Mo Ghille Mear (My Gallant Hero), performed by The Choral Scholars of University College, Dublin.
Photo: March Mobil Gas, Mount Clemens, Michigan. 1986. John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive (1972-2008), Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
There’s much talk today of the death of Olivia Newton-John, the famous Australian singer. And that’s appropriate. She was a great talent (not to mention a heartthrob for my generation).
But I just learned of the death, last Friday, of another great Australian singer. Judith Durham of the Seekers succumbed to a long-standing lung condition. She was 79.
According to what I’ve read, Miss Durham was a Christian who hesitated at first to go into secular music because she was committed to Gospel.
The Seekers’ music was unique. I hope it lasts forever, because it sure means a lot to this old man.
