Hymns in Human ExperienceHart, William J. (William John)
Religion
Hymns in Human Experience
Hart, William J. (William John)
Hymns -- History and criticism
An interesting sidelight on the essential loyalty of young people was
recently given when, at a summer institute attended exclusively by them,
a popular vote was taken of the best ten hymns. The following were
named: “Holy, Holy, Holy;” “Nearer, My God, to Thee;” “Rock of Ages;”
“When I Survey the Wondrous Cross;” “Abide With Me;” “Sweet Hour of
Prayer;” “Jesus, Lover of My Soul;” “O Love, That Wilt Not Let Me Go;”
“Just As I Am;” “Lead Kindly Light.”
This is certainly not the choice of erratic radicals, but of rational
conservatives who desire to retain what is best in the past while going
forward with characteristic adventuresomeness to new fields of activity
and of achievement.
The new program of religious education is an attempt more satisfactorily
to meet the needs of children and adolescents. Previous efforts had
their limitations but all who grew up under the conditions of the former
generation will appreciate this testimony from Sir Harry Lauder in
_Roamin’ in the Gloamin’_ about
The Influence of the Sunday School
“I forget many of the hymns we sang at the Band of Hope, but such
favorites as ‘Shall We Gather at the River?’, ‘Throw Out the Life Line,’
and similar haunting airs stand out in my memory. I loved every note of
them and yelled them out most lustily. The old Scottish psalm tunes we
occasionally sang at the Band of Hope, and also at the Sunday School I
attended, likewise made an extraordinary appeal to me. ‘All People That
On Earth Do Dwell,’ to the tune of the ‘Old Hundred;’ ‘O, God of Bethel
by Whose Hand’ to the tune of ‘St. Kilda,’ were among my favorites. The
last mentioned melody is in a most unusual minor key. It was written by
a young Scottish musician named Bloomfield, who died early in life and
whose body, I have been told, is lying in an ancient cemetery in
Aberdeen.”[25]
These words recall an experience of Captain John Lauder in France, which
led him to declare he was
Glad He Learned the Hymn in Sunday School
While convalescing in the hospital he went one day to the piano and
began playing very softly. One of the nurses then came up to him and
said a Captain Webster of the Gordon Highlanders who knew his father,
Sir Harry, wanted to see him. What followed had best be stated in his
own words, quoted in _A Minstrel in France_[26] by Harry Lauder:
“This man had gone through ten operations in less than a week. I thought
perhaps my playing had disturbed him, but when I went to his bedside, he
grasped my hand, pressed it with what little strength he had left, and
thanked me. He asked me if I could play a hymn. He said he would like to
hear ‘Lead, Kindly Light.’ So I went back to the piano and played it as
softly and as gently as I could. It was his last request. He died an
hour later. I was very glad I was able to soothe his last moments a
little. I am very glad that I learned the hymn at Sunday School as a
boy.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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