Old, traditional hymns

Sunday was "Reformation Sunday," and I suspect our minister (though Disciples of Christ himself and not Lutheran) is a bit of a church-history geek, so we do something for Reformation Sunday. The order of worship was different - closer, he said, to what Lutherans do. (More liturgical/responsive readings, for example. I don't know for sure, never having been to a Lutheran service that I remember, but he said some of the source material came from them).

Oh, and speaking of Reformation Sunday, this made the rounds on Twitter. I, of course, smart-aleck that I sometimes am, retweeted it with the caption, "Better than a Diet of Worms:"

(Yes, that's 95 Reese's, nailed to a door.)

(What can I say? I spent too many years in school and I have a broad if perhaps somewhat-shallow education in a lot of things)

But anyway. We sang three of the old, old hymns (in addition to having the Gloria Patri and Doxology that we always have).

"A Mighty Fortress is Our God" (because of course, Luther). And "O God, Our Help in Ages Past." And "Now Thank We All Our God," which may have been chosen because it's also German ("Nun Danket Alles Gott"). If I remember correctly, "O God..." is an Isaac Watts hymn, but it still has the feel of being older. I like all of these - as I often like the older hymns - because they have a stateliness and a gravitas some more-modern ones lack.

Another thing I like: note that it's "A Mighty Fortress is OUR God." and "Now thank WE all OUR God." One thing I dislike about some modern praise songs is that some of them tend to be, for lack of a better term, small and exclusive: it's about the individual's relationship with God, rather than the corporate relationship of the congregation. And....I think maybe there's a bit of a reflection of one of the problems of the modern world there. I know it's a trap I fall into: "The rest of the world can go to Hell (literally, perhaps, even), but I am good where I am right now" And yes, the world is an overwhelming place and it can be an awful place some times. But I also think we are (mostly*) called to go out and engage with it and to try to do what we can to make things better.

(*I don't deny that maybe there's a place for some kind of modern version of the Desert Fathers or Desert Mothers out there, and I know there are still a few abbeys that are truly cloistered, as in, the nuns never leave or never really interact with outsiders other than maybe limited and restricted visits with family. But I think most of us are....condemned, perhaps?....to have to be out in this world and try to figure out a way to live in it)

And really, by extension, I think we're called to believe (whether the other person does or not) that everyone is a child of God. So the "OUR" and the "WE" is important.

But I also like these hymns because the lyrics are more complex, and they seem to have more thought in them.

Though I will say, "A Mighty Fortress...." always makes me emotional; the words are pretty strong.

This part, from Verse Two, hit me on Sunday:

" Did we in our own strength confide,
our striving would be losing,
were not the right Man on our side,
the Man of God's own choosing."

Yeah. I've been walking around for a while going "I can't fix the broken world" and I guess the point really is, I can't, at least not on my own, and maybe what I need to do is stop focussing on the big brokenness and attend to the little things I can do. ("We can do no great things; we can only do little things with great love")

But also this part from Verse Three, which has struck me before:

"And though this world, with devils filled,
should threaten to undo us,"

And for me, I don't necessarily see that "undoing" as "being tempted to bad actions" (the "glamour of evil" has never held any charm for me) but rather a giving-up, a feeling "I can't do anything to help, so why bother, I'm going to go and....become a hermit." or me looking up at the sky and asking God why He doesn't wipe out humanity (and yes, that includes me, and in my darker moods I'd actually be willing to face that trade-off) and start over with some other species...but yes, the world has seemed filled with "devils" of late, though I tend to see them more as the "human being gives in to their basest impulses" sort rather than the literal "the Devil made me do it*" sort


(*I am JUST old enough to remember - especially having seen re-runs of it and having my parents talk about it - the old Flip Wilson show, and how the character Geraldine used to claim "The Devil made me do it!")

And "O God, Our Help in Ages Past" is of course based on Psalms (I hear some of Psalm 90 in there, and there might also be others) and there's something just comforting about it: the idea of rock-solidness and unchangingness in a world that too often seems like that nightmare level in a video game where the ground starts crumbling under you and you have to move fast in order to keep getting to uncorrupted ground....

And I've always liked "Now Thank We All Our God" - both the graceful flow of the words ("with hearts and hands and voices") and also the whole second stanza, which is just excellent, but especially the line "...and guide us when perplexed." I made a comment to one of the other elders (who was asking about "how do you know if you're on bread or cup?") that I was able to be flexible in case the other person came prepared specifically with a prayer for one or the other, because, and I quote "I seem to always make it up as I go along" and that's really kind of what my life IS, though I have to admit (in my better moments) that I do receive some sort of guidance - I've talked time and again about having to fill in at the table, and always, somehow, the words come.

I also just like the idea of being thankful and remembering that (a) we have good things in this life and (b) those things do not come solely through our own efforts. The little write up of it on Hymnary.org notes that Martin Rinkart (the original author, who wrote it in German - but nearly all churches use the Wentworth translation) wrote it originally to be used as a grace before meals, and yes, I can see that....they note "Blessings as seemingly small as a dinner meal, or as large as the end of a brutal war and unnecessary bloodshed are all reasons to lift up our thanks to God, with our hearts, our hands, and our voices." (Rinkart wrote this at the end of the Thirty Years' War).

But maybe, yes, when I spend too much time looking at the world and reflecting on how things seem to be going wrong, I fail to see some of the little things, like a good dinner meal....and maybe I need to try to focus on that more for now.