A Bar Song - Marnie Pohlmann

 

This evening is the Facebook launch event for Inscribe’s Easter Stories and More anthology. I am excited to have some writing and photos in this book. Will you meet me on the Inscribe Facebook page to celebrate?

I have enjoyed this month’s blogs about Easter. Like the anthology, we see a variety of writing styles, and this month has more poems, songs, and lyrical prayers than are usually posted. Somehow celebrations like Easter make us want to break out in song, don’t they? So to celebrate the launch of our anthology and the upcoming celebration of Easter, I would like to join in.

I am NOT a singer. I am, as the cliché goes, not able to carry a tune in a bucket. I come from a musical family, though, so I learned how to join in, and I continue to use this method to worship God in church. I whisper-sing, and sometimes I even just mouth the words (gasp!) but I know God is hearing the sweet sacrifice of praise even if my neighbour cannot.

I have written songs, though, or at least lyrical words that have been set to music by others. And if I have a tune stuck in my head, I will sometimes re-write the lyrics to that music.

Did you know that early hymn books didn’t have the music included, only the words? That’s because the early musicians and congregants didn’t write new music. They put new words to songs that the populace would already know the tunes for. Many of the favorite hymns were sung to the same tune, with new words, as the songs sung in the pubs by drunken sailors.

See if you know the tune these changed lyrics could be sung to, and if you can, I apologize now for putting that tune in your head for the rest of the day.

                    A Risen Saviour 

What will you do with a risen Saviour?
What will you do with a risen Saviour?
What will you do with a risen Saviour?
Early Easter morning?

He conquered death and up He rises,
Conquered death and up He rises,
Conquered death and up He rises,
Early Easter morning.

Drop the grave clothes and fold the headpiece,
Drop the grave clothes and fold the headpiece,
Drop the grave clothes and fold the headpiece,
Early Easter morning.

He conquered death and up He rises,
Conquered death and up He rises,
Conquered death and up He rises,
Early Easter morning.

The stone rolled away by muscled angels,
The stone rolled away by muscled angels,
The stone rolled away by muscled angels,

Early Easter morning.

He conquered death and up He rises,
Conquered death and up He rises,
Conquered death and up He rises,
Early Easter morning.

Some women came with tears and herbs,
Some women came with tears and herbs,
Some women came with tears and herbs,
Early Easter morning.

He conquered death and up He rises,
Conquered death and up He rises,
Conquered death and up He rises,
Early Easter morning

What have you done with my Lord, my Saviour?
What have you done with my Lord, my Saviour?
What have you done with my Lord, my Saviour?
Early Easter morning.

He conquered death and up He rises,
Conquered death and up He rises,
Conquered death and up He rises,
Early Easter morning

The angels explained that Christ is Risen,
The angels explained that Christ is Risen,
The angels explained that Christ is Risen,
Early Easter morning.

He conquered death and up He rises,
Conquered death and up He rises,
Conquered death and up He rises,
Early Easter morning

OooOoh,
What will you do with a risen Saviour?
What will you do with a risen Saviour?
What will you do with a risen Saviour?
Early this Easter morning?

 While not an Easter song anyone will sing next weekend, the message of this ditty is clear.

Christ conquered death and rose from the grave. Yes, we need to celebrate this but more importantly, what does that mean to us? The theology of believing Jesus literally died on the cross, rose from that death, and remains alive today is a stumbling block for some people. But what an amazing truth it is!

What would our own hope be for life after death if God Incarnate had not defeated death? What hope would we have if Christ had not given us His Spirit, alive and present in our lives today?

The resurrection is a crucial piece of the salvation message, so each of us must ask ourselves,

“What will I do with a risen Saviour?”

Marnie writes from Northern BC and has recently resurrected her blog, Phosphorescent. 

Lift Your Voice in Songs of Praise by Nina Faye Morey

 

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly;

teach and admonish one another in all wisdom;

and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms,

hymns, and spiritual songs to God.

~ Colossians 3:16

Have you been brave (or perhaps foolhardy) enough to be out and about shopping for gifts this Christmas season despite the current Covid-19 Pandemic? I completed all of my Christmas shopping armed with my face mask and lots of hand sanitizer. But now the Saskatchewan government has restricted us to members of our own household. So Christmas celebrations with my daughter and her family, who were planning to travel here from Alberta, will be placed on hold for the foreseeable future. Their gifts have now been stored away, and cards with a little something tucked inside have been delivered. At least, as the only person in my household, I’m allowed one guest, so I’ll still be able to celebrate with my son who lives nearby.

If you have gone out Christmas shopping this year, whether you’ve visited the huge shopping malls or just frequented the little gift shop around the corner, you’ve no doubt been either entertained or exasperated by the constant refrain of familiar Christmas carols. If, like me, you fall into the entertained category, you probably know most of the words to these carols and enjoy cheerfully singing or humming along.

No matter what troubles I might be dealing with at that moment, whenever I hear voices raised in hymns of praise to my Lord, I always experience feelings of love in my heart, joy in my spirit, and peace in my soul. These well-known and well-loved carols that Christians sing during the Christmas season are really inspirational hymns that express our love for Jesus and our thanks to God for His glorious gift.

Have you ever been curious, as I often have, about what inspired those creative songwriters to write their Christmas carols? My curiosity led me to look into the lives of some of these gifted hymn writers to find out the stories behind their expressions of praise to the Lord that I’ve listened to and sung along to for many joyous Christmas seasons: Martin Luther, father of the Reformation; Charles Wesley, co-founder of Methodism; and John Mason Neale, recognized Anglican minister and poet.

In the 1500’s, congregational hymn singing flourished under Lutheranism. Martin Luther was an Augustinian monk; his wife, Katharina Von Bora, belonged to a cloister of nuns. When these nuns sought Luther’s help to escape the confines of their convent, he recruited a nearby merchant to smuggle them out in the empty barrels from the pickled herring he delivered. Luther successfully arranged marriages for all but the young, bright, and spirited Katharina. When Luther teased that he might have to marry her, his father encouraged the match. After they wed, they moved into a former Augustinian monastery on Wittenberg’s main street.

Soon their son, Hans, arrived and Luther was an adoring father. He wrote Hans a children’s Christmas carol, “From Heaven Above to Earth I Come.” The couple sang this renowned Lutheran carol with their children every Christmas Eve. A contemporary songbook entitled Dainty Songs for Little Lads and Lasses, also contained another carol written by Luther that’s been one of my favourites since childhood, “Away in a Manger.” Its compiler, James R. Murray, referred to this carol as “Luther’s Cradle Hymn.” His citation read, “Composed by Martin Luther for his children and still sung by German mothers to their little ones.” Although its authorship has been disputed, many still credit Luther with writing this popular children’s carol.

Congregational hymn singing continued to thrive in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. During his years of itinerant ministry in England and America, Charles Wesley, co-founder of the Methodist movement, constantly composed hymns as he completed his “circuit” on horseback. Requiring no specific creative inspiration, Wesley composed approximately 6,000 hymns during his lifetime.

Wesley was always adamant that others reprint his hymns exactly as he had written them. Fortunately, his old friend and fellow preacher, George Whitefield, wisely rewrote some of the lines from Wesley’s 1739 carol, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” to create the now familiar version he reprinted in his 1753 collection. This is one of my all-time favourite Christmas carols. Its rousing verses never fail to lift my spirits.

As a recognized Cambridge scholar and poet, John Mason Neale dedicated himself to the preservation of ancient churches and medieval “songs of praise.” He translated several Medieval Latin and Greek hymns into English and recovered several segments of Latin responsorial songs that he combined to create the Christmas carol, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” His research also led him to write a translation of the fourteenth-century hymn, “Good Christian Men Rejoice.” His devotion to charitable work resulted in the poem, “Good King Wenceslas,” in honour of this medieval king’s Christian charity.

We Christians, despite our diversity, are united in fellowship every Christmas by our love for these carols. These melodious hymns provide a means to convey our heartfelt gratitude for Gods’ glorious gift of redemption and abundant life through His son, Jesus Christ. So in this spirit of unanimity, let us proclaim our love for our gracious Lord and Saviour by lifting our voices in “songs of praise” this Christmas season.

 

 

The Call of the Cross by Carol Harrison

The Call of the Cross

 I struggled to figure out what to write about for this blog post as I looked ahead to Easter. Then my mind was drawn back a few decades to a play written by a lady in our church for a group of us- junior high girls- not only to learn the lines and perform it, but to reflect on the meaning of the cross.

I remember taking part in a few performances, playing the part of the evangelist calling people with the words of Jesus from Matthew 11:28-30  "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." 

The importance of the cross, its meaning, and our need to choose what we would do with the gift of God offered to us through Jesus was intertwined with Jesus' invitation to come to him throughout the play. Each person who answered the call of the evangelist needed to decide what to do with the words of Luke 9:23-26 "Then he (Jesus) said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels."

Those not acting in the play sang old hymns  between the people who came seeking to take up their cross and follow Jesus. The music and words of hymns such as The Old Rugged Cross by George Bennard b 1873, Beneath the Cross of Jesus by Elizabeth C Clephane 1863 & Frederick C. Maker 1881, or When I Survey the Wondrous Cross by Isaac Watts 1707 and Edward Miller 1790 helped drive the message of the cross deep into my heart.

One person in the play chose a pretty  piece of cross jewelry to wear instead of a heavy, ugly wooden cross. She wanted to follow Jesus but didn't want the hardships. She wanted the cross to be beautiful, ornamental, and able to be taken off when she chose to do so.

Another one came to answer the call but feared what people might think of their decision. She chose a small cross that fit in her pocket. She could reach in and touch it, remember Jesus, but not have to lug around something for all the world to see. She was ashamed to admit she followed Christ and went away saddened by having to choose the full meaning of the cross.

Yet one more person, in this play, showed up to answer the call of Jesus to come and follow Him. They chose a smaller cross to carry because they didn't want the heavy burden of the rough, old, wooden, full-size cross. They wanted to know if this would be good enough to show others they were not ashamed of following Jesus without giving up too much.

One last person showed up to answer the call.  She chose to deny herself and obey Jesus with everything she was and had. She picked up the heavy cross, staggered under the weight and yet felt  refreshed because Jesus took all her burdens and sins as she accepted God's gift of salvation. Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ."

Decades have blurred all the details of the play, but the message remains strong in my heart and mind Incorporating music and the visual actions of the play reinforced the Bible verses and the message of Easter. The call of the cross remains the same today as it did when Jesus died on it, was buried and rose again. Jesus still calls us to come to him, deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him completely. Do we come? Do we deny ourselves or are we ashamed and want to hide the fact we follow him? Do we want life to be easy and long for a prosperity gospel, that does not require much of us? Do we adorn ourselves with the cross in the form of jewelry but never think about the cost to Jesus of hanging on the rough cross of Calvary to pay the penalty for our sins? Have we decided to follow Jesus no matter what the cost, any place he leads, and totally trust Him for everything we need?

Verse 3 of the hymn, Old Rugged Cross, reminds us of the reason for the cross. Do we find it a thing of beauty because of what it symbolizes?

In the old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine
A wondrous beauty I see; 
For' twas o that old cross
Jesus suffered and died
To pardon and sanctify me.  




Words from verse 3 of Beneath the Cross of Jesus call me to examine myself. Can I honestly say with the hymn writer that my glory is in the cross of Jesus?


Content to let the world go by, 
To know no gain or loss, 
My sinful self, my only shame, 
My glory all the cross.

As I reflected back on the impact this play had on me, looked at the meaning of the call of the cross, and contemplated Easter's approach, I pray God will help me not be ashamed of following Him. I desire His help so I can live the lines from the hymn When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

When I survey the wondrous cross, 
On which the Prince of glory died, 
My richest gains I count but loss, 
And pour contempt on all my pride. 

Were the whole realm of nature mine, 
that were a present far too small;
Love so amazing , so divine, 
Demands my soul, my life, my all. 

Carol Harrison lives, writes, and tells stories from Saskatoon, SK. She loves to share Bible Stories and real-life experiences to encourage others and help them learn to share their stories as well.