Hymn of the Day 7-4-15
Today, you get a two for one deal. But first, a story.
As many of you know, I’ve been attending a UU church for almost a year. The biggest gift I have received there is the opportunity to look at concepts with new eyes and to hear truth with new ears. On one Sunday, our closing hymn was, “America, the Beautiful”. After the thought-provoking sermon, I thought about the words differently, and I heard different things from the congregation than I’ve heard on this song before. The pianist played expressively as always, but made choices I hadn’t considered before. And in that setting, I sang the song in a way I never had before and learned something new about it, and me, in the process.
So before you listen to any recordings today, I’m asking you to read the texts. Really read them. What do they mean to you at this moment in time? Do you sing those words without thinking, or is every word filled with meaning and intent?
America, the Beautiful
https://www.lds.org/music/library/hymns/america-the-beautiful?lang=eng
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_the_Beautiful
https://youtu.be/KrOeGWMQAfQ
And today, I had another new experience with this hymn. As I listened and heard the words “undimmed by human tears” all I could think of was recent violence and destruction, the lives lost in Charleston and all the black churches that have been burned in the last two weeks. Our cities have been dimmed by tears. A lot of tears. I had to go back and read the words again. Surely, we could not be saying that we’ve got it all figured out and everything is great is the USA. Because it is not. It is so not OK.
Upon reviewing the words again, I was pleased to find that this wasn't a hymn about patting ourselves on the back. Every verse of this song ends with a plea for God to help us create the nation that we can be. The first three verses are about our past. The last verse is about our responsibility to the future.
This recording is just one verse, but gorgeous and definitely one of those that makes you listen in a new way.
https://youtu.be/25tGvL4Xy2M
Most Americans know the first verse of The Star-Spangled Banner, the one that gets sung at events. But sadly, I don’t think that many people realize that that verse ends with a question mark. I’m a mean and cruel voice teacher, and I won’t let my students sing the national anthem without understanding all the words and being familiar enough with the other verses to really understand the context.
https://www.lds.org/music/library/hymns/the-star-spangled-banner?lang=eng
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Star-Spangled_Banner
This version skips the Francis Scott Key’s third verse and substitutes the verse written by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. in response to the Civil War.
https://youtu.be/YqvNYfeaYuI
Feel free to share your favorite patriotic song today, and be sure to include some new insight you found as you read the text or listened again.
https://youtu.be/H8FPOjgX07c
