Dear Abby,
There are many ways of expressing the joy in our hearts. For me it is in singing. I have been singing my way through life these 59 years. I can remember so many songs that at any given moment, no matter where I am, I might break out in song. This poem says it all:
"Music plays inside of me;
And tunes are in my head
From waking time each morning
Until I go to bed.
Music makes me happy;
And things cannot go wrong
When I am filled with melody
And sing my faith in song."
Another way a person expresses joy is through playing a musical instrument. It thrills my heart to hear you play the piano! I am so thankful you enjoy it so much. Lily expresses her joy through drawing or making a card for someone. There is a friend of ours that loves to whistle and he does it quite well. Joy is the sign of a true child of God.
The hymns of the faith are very dear to me. Music is changing in churches today, and it is one of my desires that my grandchildren know and love the old hymns. I thank the Lord that at this point in your life you know many of them and so do my other grandchildren. I want to share with you and the others some of my favorites. When I am gone and you think of things you remember about my life, I want this to be on the list. So, for the record, here they are:
"HEAVEN CAME DOWN"
"BLESSED ASSURANCE"
"ALL THE WAY MY SAVIOR LEADS ME"
"REDEEMED"
"I AM THINE OH LORD"
"AND CAN IT BE"
"UNDER HIS WINGS"
"I NEED THEE EVERY HOUR"
"LEANING ON THE EVERLASTING ARMS"
"HE HIDETH MY SOUL"
"IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL"
"MY JESUS I LOVE THEE"
"GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS"
I keep a small hymn book close to my quiet time chair. When you meet with the Lord, it is nice to praise Him in song. Don't let the hymns of the faith disappear. Pass them down to your children (my great-grandchildren). "...... come before His presence with singing." PS.100
"May the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent one from the other." I love you very much,
Grammy
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
THE GREAT HYMNS OF THE FAITH
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LOVE that you wrote about this! This is something my husband and I have been talking about lately. We have started playing a "Name that Hymn" game. One of says the first line of a hymn and the other guesses which one it is and then we sing the song. We have found that we can play this game for hours! It was at that point that we realized just how many hymns we carry around with us and how sad it would be if Ezra did not get to share them with us so we have been teaching him a chorus every week or two. So far, he knows "Blessed be the Name", "Count Your Many Blessings", "A Shelter in the Time of Storm", and "Look and Live". It is such a delight to hear him break out into one of them while he's playing with his legos! By the way, I have a copy of the first hymnal I ever sang out of and it's the original burgundy hymnal my dad lead out of at Faith Baptist Church. Hope it's all right that I have it! ;-)
ReplyDeletecute poem:) love you!
ReplyDeleteNot only can hymns bring us joy, they can also be a protection. As a sophomore in college, I found myself far away from home on an internship in Europe with temptations all around. As I worked at a somewhat mundane job, I found my mind wandering to the hymns that I had learned as a child in my home and at church. What a blessing it was to be reminded of my values, those who I loved most and how much God loved me. Hymns have truly been a stabilizing force in my life. Now that I have a family of my own, I love singing the hymns together. We have the (nerdy?! :) practice of singing hymns together in our car. We keep a few small hymnbooks in the glove compartment so everybody can see the words. If nothing else, at least we are writing the words of these sacred songs on their minds and hearts. Hopefully the hymns will be a protection to them as well. Oh, and Nearer my God to Thee is one of my favorites too!
ReplyDeleteGreetings from Wordwise Hymns. Great to hear of your love for the great hymns of the faith. I share it! To this date I've written on about a thousand of them on my blog, and had 153,000 visits from all over the world. Many share the joy we find in singing these wonderful song--and also grieve that many of their churches seem to have forgotten them. God bless.
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