From Jennifer:
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
O' For a Thousand Tongues to Sing...
Okay, so this post is mostly for my friend Natalie (see Ruth's Blog). Nat, I know you are a big proponent of "real church" with hymns. And though we attend an Open Bible church with worship that consists of mostly contemporary praise songs, we also sing hymns too. I have gone to both types of churches, and I connect deeply with both types of music.The reason I am posting is that on Sunday, as we were getting ready for church, I had one of the "church channels" playing on TV. It was a rather traditional service (I'm guessing Church of Christ) because there were no instruments. The kids were playing in the octagon. Whenever the choir would start singing their hymns, Alec and Emma would crawl over to the side facing the screen, stand up, and stare...totally zoned-in to the singing of the hymns.
As Aaron and I watched them, I couldn't help but think of what Natalie would say. Probably something to the effect of "Now they know good church music!" in her beautiful native-Arkansan accent.
What is it about hymns that do the heart and spirit so much good? Is it the faithfulness of the words and melodies that remind us of God's faithfulness? Is it that so many are based directly on scripture, so that we can further meditate on the truth of the Word? Just so you know, Nat and others, my grandfather was a preacher, and we always sang hymns. In fact, I can remember many a time as a little girl, belting out Blessed Assurance...they always made me sing a special. And even though I love contemporary music as well, I agree that hymns have a timelessness about them. The seasoned saints who wrote How Great Thou Art and It is Well With My Soul not only understood trial and triumph and reverence, they conveyed it.
I'm glad that my children are drawn to music of all kinds, but I especially hope that as they grow their hearts take joy in worship, and that they find freedom in praise!
1 comment:
Dude! I sooooo totally miss our charades parties. And only the hard-core charader knows how to pronounce the word correctly. Seriously, one of my favorite memories from OU.
And Nat, you were a phenomenal "stander" but I'm thinking about Serendade. You did a heck of a lot more than stand.
And for the benefit of your students, which I'm sure they've heard this exact spiel from you before: dancing in the corps de ballet is 100 times harder than dancing as a soloist. You have to be extremely tuned in to your fellow dancers. You have to use your periphery, and you must have impeccable timing. But you must also have the presence of mind to override your own sense of "what should happen when" in the event that the line leader is "off"...for the benefit of the entire group. It takes a lot more mental and physical awareness to be a flower, a snowflake, a swan, than to be some silly princess.
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