A Time for Thanks?

While staying in for keeping COVID-19 out - Is now the time for giving thanks?

With me now being in a continuing sequence of days at home - away from folks - at such a serious time as this, my thoughts have been going towards the hymn "Now Thank We All Our God." This may seem odd, then again, maybe not given the backstory from the time when the words for this hymn were written in 1636.
    This is another one of those hymns, such as "Amazing Grace" or "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" (written about earlier), where the circumstances of when it was written sheds some light on why it was written, and too, why such hymns would become timeless and still with us today.
    Martin Rinkart (1586-1649) was a Lutheran minister and hymn writer who lived and served through some imaginable tragic times while in Eilenberg, Germany, during a time of war and deadly plagues. Words fail me for describing this well, though there are many sources that can be referred to that goes into much detail on how terrible of a time this was, such as:

    umcdiscipleship.org/... and wikipedia.org/... and hymnary.org/..., and many others.

    And from such a tragic and troubled time, and from a person who experienced death on a scale beyond image, we find ourselves with his written words that speak of being thankful and of being uplifted with hope.

Songsheet (PDF): Now Thank We All Our God

Brethren in Christ hymnal, (c)1963.

And with Scripture too, we find passages of hope, with thanksgiving, for when in troubling times. 

Philippians 4:6 (NIV):  

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
present your requests to God.

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Let Your Light Shine....

With thoughts of church buildings now being closed, the photo below takes on new meaning for me. On the evening of March 8, just days prior to emergencies being declared over issues of public health, I had taken a moment to sit in an empty and quiet sanctuary while there to practice a piece on the piano. The early evening sun illuminating the room was a sight to be seen. (Location: Otterbein UMC, Carlisle)
    And now, being over a week later, a song we had written years ago also comes to mind (shared below).

Shine Your Light 

by Sara & Keevin 7-2005

  

(Alternate link to audio for if player above does not work)

Shine your light on us Lord 

Light the way of our path 

Shine your light on our daily journey 

Shine your light on us Lord 

When the shadows find us

When the thunder roars

When we fall and stumble

Shine your light on us Lord

Shine your light on us Lord 

Light the way of our path 

Shine your light on our daily journey 

Shine your light on us Lord 

Shadows hide the way

Storms clouds moving in

Smoke of life surround us

Lost in doubt and sin.

Shine your light on us Lord 

Light the way of our path 

Shine your light on our daily journey 

Shine your light on us Lord 

Shine your light on us Lord

~~~

Mixing and Matching Hymns, and Duke Street

It is interesting to see how different the hymns in our hymnals can be from each other. A familiar hymn for one church may be found with a different melody for another. The lyrics may be the same though the notes, different. For example, the hymn "I Know My Redeemer Lives" can be found with different melodies. Typically these melodies are identified by name. In a Lutheran hymnal ((c)1978, p352) it is sung to the "Duke Street" melody, and in the EUB hymnal ((c)1957, p120), the song lyrics are sung to the "Truro" melody. (EUB being the Evangelical United Brethren denomination that merged in 1968 with the Methodists to become United Methodist Church (UMC) denomination.)

    For the "Duke Street" melody, I find this an interesting one to study for looking at the different ways it can be mixed and matched - and reassigned - to different lyrics. Within the current UMC hymnal ((c)1989), this melody is used for three different hymns: "For All That Dwell Below the Sky" (p101), "Jesus Shall Reign" (p157), and "Forth in Thy Name, O Lord” (p438). And from the EUB hymnal we also find "We Bid Thee Welcome" (p342), "Look from the Sphere of Endless Day" (p354), and "O God, Beneath Thy Guiding Hand" (p394). From the Presbyterian hymnal ((c)1990) we see also "Fight the Good Fight" (p307). And from the Lutheran's ((c)1978), there is "I Know that My Redeemer Lives" (p352), and "Give to Our God Immortal Praise" (p520). To keep looking, I suspect there may be even more that can be found!

     It seems the hymn "Jesus Shall Reign" may be the most common use of this melody (shown above from the Brethren in Christ hymnal, (c)1963, I had grown up with as a child). My selection though for further study would be "Forth in Thy Name, O Lord" (UMC hymnal, p438) with lyrics written by Charles Wesley.
    Aside from the lyrics, and the melody used, there is also the arrangement for the song that adds the accompanying notes which creates a progression of chordal harmonies. These SATB harmonies are attributed to John Hatton,1793. and the songsheet provided here, is one I have worked on for identifying these chords.
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CODA
    Noting the dates for the melody and lyrics, and too the age of the arrangement for added harmonies, it becomes clear that these have stood the test of time by being passed down through many generations over the course of several centuries. It would seem that what is being expressed with these different versions of sung lyrics is timeless and still relevant for today, and for generations to follow.
~~~