“Neither life nor death shall ever From the Lord his children sever; Unto them his grace he showeth, And their sorrows all he knoweth..” (Swedish Hymn) This song is a favorite of Swedish Lutherans. A friend of mine died last week, and this was a hymn that he liked. In my mind, I can hear it being sung at his funeral today. Is there a song that you like, because the words are meaningful to you? ;-) Jack
FROM CJL IN OH: Day by Day. The unofficial hymn of the Class of '54
FROM PR J.S. IN MI: "His Justice like mountains high soaring above; His clouds which are fountains of goodness and love." What a tremendous statement of the breadth of the Christian faith....dealing with BOTH the justice and the love of our Lord FROM JACK: I like that one, too. The music fits the words.
FROM GOOD DEBT JON: I don’t know this Swedish hymn. I like the lyrics. A fellow I met on Songramp.com, Ken Damkier, lives in Denmark sent me a link to a blues song: Smukke Kvinde (Danish) which I believe translates roughly to “Thank you beautiful woman.” There is a link to play it here: http://www.songramp.com/mod/mps/viewtrack.php?trackid=70890
Actually since he’s put up the translation maybe this is not a good example. Seem interesting to hear a blues song in Danish though. FROM JACK: The Danes, traditionally, have been divided into the Happy Danes (liberal and the Sad Danes (conservative). This seems to have come from the happy ones.
FROM M.L. IN ILLINOIS: those are songs in that vein of life. i have many significant songs. my life is basically a musical in progress!
oh boy! that one just makes me cry for obvious and various reasons. as a swedish lutheran, i think it is one of the first hymns i hummed as a toddler. i like "when you walk through a storm", also for obvious and various reasons. both of those songs are significant and meaningful to me.
FROM R.I. IN BOSTON: Solemn words from the hymnist as we each in our own way ponder our personal memento mori.
FROM MOLINER G.S.: Holy, Holy, Holy & Amazing Grace for the words; When the Saints Go Marchin' In & Beyond the Sea for the rythm and because I play them on the piano. Remember Canadian Sunset? MORE: My favorite artist doing Canadian Sunset was Don Cherry singing it.
FROM S.G. IN TAMPA: One of my favorites is How Great Thou Art. The subject of Ash Wednesday and Lent came up last night during my daily evening walk with a good friend who is 42. She was raised in a Lutheran family and doesn't remember either as being celebrated. I remember something different from my Swedish grandfather who was a member of the First Lutheran Church in Moline and from my many friends growing up in Moline. FROM JACK: Ash Wednesday and Lent cerytainly aren't what they used to be, but I can't believe that someone "raised" in a Lutheran Church can't remember Ash Wed and Lent. But then...being riased means different things to different people. Some families we called, C & E members...You see them on Christmas and Easter.
FROM MOLINER LIZ: I am very sorry to hear about your friend. The "church" songs that always bring tears to my eyes are "Onward Christian Soldiers" and "We Gather Together." I'm an Episcopalian-- I've not heard "We Gather Together" at other denominations' services-- it's a Thanksgiving song. FROM JACK: "We Gather" is a Dutch hymn from the 16th century, celebrating freedom from the Spanish and from the Catholic Church. That puts a different spin than the Thanksgiving one.
FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY: "How Great Thou Art" and "Battle Hymn of the Republic"
FROM MOLINER C.F.:
'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where you ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gain'd,
To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come out right.
Battle Hyme of the Republic ranks very high on my list. Goosebumps every time I hear it.
FROM P.H. IN MN: My wife is 100% Swede as you may know. in her family, this hymn is sung at every wedding, funeral, family reunion, and birthday party!! hope you are well today. i did a funeral this morning for a 55 year old man who was killed in a car crash last week. so many mysteries in life...
FROM B.S. NEAR ORLANDO: I am going to check out our hymnal to see if we too can share that lovely hymm.
FROM S.G. IN MI: Yes, I have many songs that have lyrics that "speak" to me. Music is the universal language!
FROM J.T. IN MI: Good afternoon! The song that always come to my mind is "Be Not Afraid". I first heard it more than 25 yrs ago. Two people who I loved were divorcing and I had gone to Phoenix to be of support. The morning I was to come home this song was sung at church. I left with a light heart.
FROM SNOWBIRD F.M.: Two choices for me for - Children of the Heavenly Father. . . and O God our Help in Ages Past FROM JACK: Both were sung at my friend's funeral.
FROM J.J. IN AZ: I JUST LOVE THAT SONG. IN NORWEGIAN IT STARTS LIKE THIS " INGEN ER SAA TRYGG FRA FARE SOM GUD'S LILLE BARNESKARE" DON'T REMEMBER THE REST. GETTING OLD I GUESS. REGARDS
FROM D.S. IN SAN DIEGO: I LOVE "Amazing Grace". It is so true.
FROM A FUNERAL DIRECTOR AND TEACHER IN MI: I have a sailing friend who wants "Everybody's Talkin'" by Nillson; I think he just likes the "only the echoes of my mind" part....I prefer "Lovely Cruise" by Jimmy Buffett for him instead, "this one's for you, yeah, it's been a lovely cruise". In college, my roommate was a "Grateful Dead head", she wanted the song, "Truckin' "; the refrain goes "what a long, strange trip it's been". Indeed. A lady once asked me to play "Bridge over the River Kwai"---I think the song is actually from the movie, but that's not the right name. Most songs are appropriate and sentimental to my recollection.
I think my students would try to glean something about the person from family & friends and then offer up some choices. Today's funeral, for instance, I knew the man loved sailing so I chose "Distant Shore" for the video track.
FROM THE GOOD SHEPARD IN MI: I like Abide with me.
FROM D.R. IN MI: You may be sorry you asked. This is my favorite. It's LBW 373. 'Didn't make it into the ELW. It was the Hymn of the Day for my ordination. My favorite words are at the end of the last stanza.
Eternal ruler of the ceaseless round
Of circling planets singing on their way
Guiding the nations from the night profound
Into the glory of the perfect day
Rule in our hearts that we may live anew
Guided and strengthened and upheld by you.
We are your own, the children of your love,
As dearly loved as your beloved Son;
Descend, O Holy Spirit, like a dove
And rule our hearts, that we may be as one
One in the strength that makes your children free
To follow truth, and thus in you to be.
We would be one in hatred of all wrong
One in our love of all things true and fair
One with the joy that finds a voice in song,
One with the grief that trembles into prayer
One in the strength that makes your children free
To follow truth, and thus in you to be.
Oh, clothe us with your heav'nly armour, Lord.
Your trusty shield and sword of love endure;
Our constant inspiration be your Word;
We ask no victories that are not yours.
Give or withold, let pain or pleasure fall:
To know that we are serving you is all.
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