All are welcome each Friday as folks share poems,
poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship.
Sorry for my late arrival on Saturday morning to Spiritual Journey Thursday and Poetry Friday. I have paid close attention to the events of Holy Week from the New Testament this week. Ruth invited us to write about Maundy Thursday or about the origins of one of our spiritual practices for Spiritual Journey Thursday. My first thought was to write about the weekly practice of communion or sacrament as it is commonly referred to in my faith community. Keep reading to see how I arrived at worship through music as a spiritual practice that has blessed my life.
One of my favorite movies, "Places in the Heart," is set during the the depression in central Texas. My mother lived through this difficult time as a child in southeastern Oklahoma. The scenes of cotton picking stick in my mind because my own mother used to talk about picking cotton. These scenes helped me see the reality of the arduous work of picking cotton. This depiction of hard work in the face of extreme difficulty during the depression, a time that my own mother lived through, seemed to be reason enough for me to love the movie. But it's the final scene that has stayed in my memory for almost forty years. Here's a synopsis of that scene: "The story ends, as it began, with community and in the midst of prayer. In a highly symbolic and imaginary scene, communion is passed among the assembled congregants at the church, hand to hand and mouth to mouth, between both the living and the deceased. The last line of the film is spoken by Wylie to Royce Spalding, 'Peace of God.' The film closes with all the characters gathered together in church singing in unison."
As I watched this final scene of the movie, I realized that this community partaking of the Lord's emblems together stayed in my memory because of the music. As the scene opens, we hear the song, "This is My Story." And then as the congregation passes and partakes of the emblems of the Lord, we hear another hymn: "I Come to the Garden Alone," (a hymn sung at my father's funeral). Neither of these hymns is in the hymnals that I've known and loved my entire life, but they are stitched into my being from hearing my mother sing. I was blessed by a mother who sang hymns while she cooked, while she ironed, while she cleaned, while she gardened. The words of hymns brought solace and comfort and joy and were a living presence and testimony of my mother's faith in God.
Another key person who influenced my love of the hymns was Edna Wilson, our Sunday School chorister when I was growing up. Each month during Sunday School, we had a practice hymn. Sister Wilson made us stand up to sing and encouraged us to look up from our hymnals and memorize the words of the hymn. Hymns are one of my favorite forms of poetry. I have a very large arsenal of hymns in my long term memory.
As a child, I chose a
favorite hymn, "I Stand All Amazed," as part of the program for my
baptism. If you're not familiar with it, you might enjoy this performance by Tyler Perry with many scenes from the life of Christ depicted in the video.
During Holy Week, as I have studied the events of this significant week, I have been encouraged to listen to more hymns throughout my day. What a blessing it has been to tune my heart to the hymns placed there by a mother who sang and by Sister Wilson who encouraged us to memorize the words! This Easter Sunday I'll be in the choir singing "Behold the Wounds in Jesus Hands" and "God So Loved the World." I hope one of our congregational songs will be "He Is Risen" or "Rejoice the Lord is King." When you leave a comment, tell me if you have a favorite hymn stitched in your heart.
I love church hymns and how they signify and embody different times during the religious seasons. ~ Carol (The Apples in My Orchard).
ReplyDeleteI especially love the music of the Easter season that celebrates the miracle of our risen Lord.
DeleteMusic and hymns, sung as a community, holds a large space in my religious upbringing. I was raised Catholic. And while I am at odds these days with the practicing church, my heart clings to the familiar songs we sing over the liturgical seasons. My best friend and college roommate is Jewish. She has shared with me a similar sense of the Hebrew hymns they sing. It's in our DNA, I suppose - a way into our hearts when words - and spiritual practices ring hollow? Thank you for sharing this story, Barry.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right, Patricia. The hymns we grew up with have a way of staying and lingering in our hearts. Ramona
DeleteI have a story about a favorite hymn. Fairest Lord Jesus. When I taught at an Episcopal school, a mother of one of my students arranged for her son to play my favorite hymn on the saxophone in chapel. He had started playing the sax after I gave him the book Bud, Not Buddy. This is one of the most special moments of my teaching career.
ReplyDeleteI love this story, Margaret. I taught at a girls' Catholic school in Tulsa just after I was married. I have so many happy memories of singing during chapel with the students and faculty.
DeleteHymns are prayers. They lift the soul. They lift out spirits. Many of the hymns we sang growing up have had their words changed for whatever reason. My mind always goes back to the original words. Personally, I like the Easter hymns because they are just filled with joy and the promise of what awaits us.
ReplyDeleteFilled with joy and promise - truth!
DeleteI grew up with the old hymns, too- at church back then we sang from the Baptist Hymnal. At home we had record albums of hymns we listened to often (along with country music). I can still sing so many hymns from memory and it is a comfort and joy. Some, favorites of my husband, who was a good singer and also played piano and guitar- can bring tears. Recently a newly formed children’s choir sang at church- the choir was started specifically to teach the old hymns. They also played handbells. I was so happy listening to them!
ReplyDeleteDiane, I love the idea of a children's choir to teach the old hymns. Others that my mother often sang include The Old Rugged Cross, Washed in the Blood, The Church in the Wildwood, and Softly and Tenderly. My daughter is the music director for children on Sundays and has handbells for them. Like you, I love listening to children sing!
ReplyDelete