Many of us treasure particular hymns because they generate special memories of past events or situations. Stories of these memories can be very interesting as they draw on a vast range of experiences from different cultures and languages. In the reflections that follow we are taken, in thought, to England, Canada and Nigeria. God’s precious Word is central to each of these reflections as people in different parts of the world sing the same hymns with joy and vivid memories of important links with their life in the Truth.
Reflection 1: Hymn 218 — “Loving Shepherd of thy sheep”
Our family has many fond memories of Hymn 218, “Loving Shepherd of thy sheep”. Whenever we sing this hymn reminisces and loving thoughts are triggered. Our memories go back many decades in time. We are now in our seventies and this hymn was the favorite hymn of my husband’s grandmother. She was a member of the Clowne Ecclesia in England and she requested that this hymn be played each Sunday. The organists obliged her and the hymn was played at each Sunday meeting. Because she enjoyed this hymn so much and never tired of hearing it, and because it reminded others of her faith in the work of her “Loving Shepherd”, it was played at her funeral when she fell asleep in the Lord in her late 80s.
In addition to recalling this hymn in relation to his grandmother, my husband also associates this hymn with his experiences working with sheep during the Second World War in England while doing alternative service. He was a conscientious objector and was assigned to work on a farm. During the course of his tenure of farming, he had many experiences with sheep and had the opportunity to closely observe their habits. He found that once sheep got to know and trust their masters, they would heedlessly and trustingly follow them anywhere. Their trust grew to such an extent that when the mother gave birth to a lamb she would bring the baby lamb to you, to proudly show off her offspring. He observed the need of all sheep for safe guidance and the constant care of a caring shepherd. The first two lines of hymn 218 — “Loving Shepherd of thy sheep, Keep thy lambs, in safety keep” — came to have particular meaning and special value for him as he observed the habits of sheep in their daily life.
Reflection 2: Hymn 218 — “Loving Shepherd of thy sheep” Part 2
Hymn 218 has fond memories for our family. This hymn was sung during a presentation at the Toronto Easter Gathering when Bro. Alan Hayward from England was the guest speaker. He gave a Saturday evening program entitled “Desert Island Hymns”. He introduced us to hymns that had special memories for him and that he would take with him to a desert island if he could only take a limited number of hymns. The reason this hymn was so special to Bro. Alan was that it was sung at his wedding.
When our daughter and son-in-law were preparing for their marriage ceremony we requested everyone sing hymn 218. They granted our request and our memories of Bro. Alan Hayward were triggered, as well as the special meaning for our dear children, when we sang hymn 218. The last verse, requesting teaching and safe keeping in God’s way for the two people who were embarking on their new life together, was very appropriate for their wedding service. “Loving Shepherd, ever near; Teach thy lambs thy voice to hear: Suffer not their steps to stray, From the strait and narrow way.” What a wonderful petition to make on behalf of a newly married couple. How important it is for them and us to remember the loving shepherd care we receive each day.
Reflection 3: Hymn 221 — “Was it for me thy flesh was wounded sore”
When I learned the Truth in 1985, I lived on the 24th floor of an apartment building in Toronto, and had a view of most of the city. I used to stand on the balcony and wonder why God would choose me to call out of all those people. A few years later Bro. Harry Tennant was giving the classes at a Bible School I went to, and he gave a vivid description of the crucifixion. He told how Christ would have had the “crown” of thorns slammed on his head, be whipped with pieces of bone embedded in the lashes, how he was impaled on the cross and the cross being lifted up and slammed into the ground. Yet Christ endured not only the pain, but the taunts as well. Then Bro. Harry Tennant said, “If you were the ONLY person in the history of the world to come to God, Christ would have done that for you.” I was shaken and cried, “not for me Lord, not that.”
A few years later I moved to Barrie and began learning to play the piano, as we had no organist. As my ability improved, I wanted to learn a hymn I’d never heard before, and came across Hymn 221. I shook as I read these profound words, “Was it for me thy flesh was wounded sore, thy body lifted high on Cross of shame? Was it for me the King of Glory bore so meek the scourge and ruthless men’s defame?” Bro. Tennant’s vivid description came flooding back to me. “Was there no way for any man to live but thou must die, no joy but through thy grief? Is sin so dark that God cannot forgive save through thy sacrifice, and our belief?” That feeling of “not for me Lord, not this” overwhelmed me again.
As I began to learn how to play the music, I realized the music and words complement each other. Shivers still come over me every time I play this hymn, thinking of what Christ went through for me. “Lord, let me learn thy sorrow, mark thy pain, that no more heedless through the world I roam, but come to take the pardon thou didst gain, and find within thy fold, eternal home.” I pray that I may be ever mindful of this, that I might never take the agony out of the sacrifice he made for me.
Reflection 4: Hymn 369 — “O For a thousand tongues to sing”
I cannot sing Hymn Number 369 — “O For a thousand tongues to sing” — without thinking of our brothers and sisters in Nigeria. In my head I hear the distinctive sound of the Nigerian style of hymn singing. I was not familiar with this hymn before Steve and I and our daughter Rachel went to Nigeria to make a videotape about our brothers and sisters there, as part of a series on Christadelphians around the world. Hymn 369 inspired the title of the video, “A Thousand Tongues to Sing”.
A hallmark of Nigerian Christadelphians is the spontaneous singing of hymns in any circumstances where believers are together. They break out in song without hesitation at every opportunity that presents itself, whether in transit in a vehicle, walking, waiting or when open-air preaching. They sing in harmony and with gusto! They have a repertoire of hymns that are sung from memory, of which the most prominent seems to be “O for a thousand tongues to sing”. We heard them sing this one repeatedly and I began to identify them with this hymn.
When I looked at the words to Hymn 369, I was struck by their appropriateness to the believers in Nigeria. It is a hymn about preaching and this is a high priority to them. They held several open-air preaching sessions while we were there, all beginning with the singing of hymns to draw a crowd. Verse three of this hymn particularly resonates with their efforts to reach out to others in their situation with the message of salvation.
“He speaks — and, listening to his voice,
New life the dead receive. New life the dead receive.
The mournful, broken hearts rejoice,
The humble poor believe.”
I found it interesting that Nigerian Christadelphians numbered about a thousand when we were there in 2001. And it appears that many of these thousand tongues are very actively singing praises to God! This hymn calls for “a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer’s praise”. And it asks, “My gracious Master and my Lord, assist me to proclaim, to spread through all the earth abroad the honors of the Name.” I see the Nigerians very much attuned to the meaning of these words when they sing them. And I cannot help but think of our Nigerian brothers and sisters, and their example to us whenever I sing this hymn.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One