I love hymns. As a child I would sit with my family at church with one finger marking the page of the next hymn and the other hand holding the bulletin, counting the number of items remaining until we could sing it. As I learned to read music, I would try to follow the alto line or read the melody of an unfamiliar hymn. When we gathered for the yearly Carol Sing at Christmas time, I would eagerly await my chance to sing the stanzas marked “women” or “pulpit side” of the sanctuary. I sang loud and clear when it was my turn.
That love of hymns led to another love - collecting and reading old hymnals. I have a rag-tag collection of over 40 books that I have picked up at thrift stores, ordered on Amazon, or salvaged from various “free” tables in church basements and fellowship halls. I love the stories these hymnals tell about the time in which they were written, and the denominations or communities of faith for which they were compiled.
Like many churches, my church has moved away from using print resources in favor of projecting the lyrics on a screen. While this technology has many benefits, I’m afraid that when the church has thrown away it’s of hymnals, we may lose the more obscure hymns completely as we pick and choose only our favorites to sing at church. I believe that there is a language and depth of worship from times past that can teach us something today and I want to do my part to get to know hymns a little better.
My goal for the blog is pretty simple. I want to dive into my hymnal collection, see what I can find in the dusty pages, then share my thoughts here. I also hope to record some of them and include them in my posts. I have read several hymnal devotion books and I always have to look the song up online or take the hymnal to the piano to find out what it sounds like. I'll just save you a step and put it all in one place. I also hope to hear from you. Hymns are not just for Sunday mornings, but can enrich our lives as we follow Jesus every day.
