The Home of The Brave

Independence day, what a time in our nations history! A day when many men signed their names at the bottom of a document to king George the third. A document that began
   "We hold these truths to be self evident; that all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."  
 How far indeed have we fallen from such a belief as a nation!
       At first when I was trying to decide what I would post about for today, I immediately decided against the national anthem. Why? Because everyone and his Uncle will be throwing up dozens of arrangements of it on youtube and writing a thousand posts about it too! So I said to myself, 'how about something a little more obscure and yet still a beautiful song to commemorate that celebratory day that marked the beginning of our country as we know it today!'
   What did I settle on?  "My Country 'tis of Thee"

My country tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died!
Land of the Pilgrim's pride!
From every mountain side,
Let freedom ring!

My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love.
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills;
My heart with rapture fills
Like that above.

Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees
Sweet freedom's song.
Let mortal tongues awake;
Let all that breathe partake;
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong.

Our father's God to, Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing.
Long may our land be bright
With freedom's holy light;
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God, our King!

This is one of my favorite patriotic songs, the tune was originally that of England's "God save the King" (or Queen, depending on who was reigning at the time!) The lyrics are also lovely, they were written by Samuel Francis Smith. while a student at Andover Theological Seminary in Andover Massechusets in 1831, his friend Lowell Mason asked him to translate the lyrics in some German school songbooks or to write new lyrics. A melody in Muzio Clementi's Symphony No. 3 caught his attention and rather than translating the lyrics from German, Smith wrote his own American patriotic hymn to the melody, completing the lyrics in thirty minutes. I'd say that's pretty good; I don't know many people who could write something as good as the above in thirty minutes! Notice all the rhyming in each verse; the three lines which have the same rhyming word at the end, when I write poetry, I struggle to find even two words that rhyme and fit the context of the poem, but Smith did three! And it all makes perfect sense too! 

 Below I will share a video just in case you haven't heard it, though I'm sure you have, nearly everybody has, but listen to it anyway!

This isn't the only song I wanted to share with you all, however, does any one know which song came pretty near becoming the national anthem and probably would have been had Francis Scott Key not penned "The Star Spangled Banner" ?  If you do than good! Because I actually had no idea, in fact I never even heard of the song until very recently. "What is the song?" you ask eagerly(or perhaps anxiously!) 

 "Hail Columbia!"

Columbia was a poetic name for America and is still played for what you might call the "Triumphal Entry" for the vice President. And also used for slow military marches, I really like the words and the tune is extremely stirring and noble. I must rush this post if I am to get it posted today so, here are the lyrics and the tune.

                                       

Firm, united let us be,
               Rallying round our liberty,
                                 As a band of brothers joined,
                                                         Peace and safety we shall find!

 Have a joyful independence day as you celebrate our nation's birth!

I Could Have Danced All Night....

....Well, maybe not all night!
        But I think I could have gone on a lot longer if given the opportunity.
Last Saturday(June 21) I got to really dance for the first time in my life! It was one of the most exciting events I have ever attended, I think! We did mostly Country dancing; Quadrilles, Circle dances and reels! My favorite was probably the "Indian Queen"; an English country dance, or another one we did of which I don't remember the name, oh well!
  Jedidiah took a few videos and I must commend his skill with a simple point and shoot camera.
I'll share the two that came out the best!
 The first one is a modification of the Virginia Reel, I don't remember what that one is called. The second one is the "Circassian Circle" That one was a lot of fun as well!

 For better or for worse, I am the one in the black and white skirt and the blue blouse! I look at these videos and think I look goofy, but perhaps that is just my perception of things!
  Elliot didn't want to dance, Gabrielle and Arianne couldn't make it and Jedidiah on down were too young, Timothy, Mommy and Daddy and I, however had a blast! My Brother Timothy is the tall one in the pale yellow shirt, most of the camera time, I think was spent on him during this dance and my parents are in the group to the left; a lot of the camera time was spent on them too!
  The Circassian Circle is the one below. I was silly enough to wear  NEW heels and actually did stumble and slipped twice in the first dance, that was embarrassing! But by the time we got to this one I had learned to 'slide' with them but still it was hard moving fast, I felt like I was being dragged forward and back when we all went in together and I was in constant fear lest I should fall in the middle of it, and mess everyone up! Next time I shall scuff up the shoes until they don't slide at all, or wear a different pair! But, anyway, I was so thankful the Lord gave me this opportunity!

  

I can hardly wait until we do it again!

Sweet Land Of Liberty

I always considered the months of June and July to be the "Patriotic" months of the year. Memorial day is on the last Monday in May and I almost count it as part of  the two months. Then with D-day on June sixth, Flag day on the fourteenth and, of course, Independence day on the Fourth of July, it fills the months; well, almost!  Any way, why am I writing this now and not on the eve of one of those holidays I just mentioned? Simply for the reason that I want to! Besides I already missed most of them and have something else in mind for Independence day.
   There was a time when there was no America and but for the courage of a few men who saw beyond the years we may have been still to this day colony of Great Britain. And but for the Christian faith of many of these men our revolution may have turned out as horrific and disastrous as that of the French or worse! Truly, we in America have much to be thankful for and so many of us, myself included, take it all for granted.  Yet imagine the scene of a field after a battle, imagine the bodies strewn over the grass the blood, the cries of those who are not quite dead, but, will be soon. There is nothing more you can do for them. Most of them in the bloom of youth; perhaps there is a sweetheart at home or perhaps a widowed mother or a young sister or brothers. Perhaps he is the only son of his father, the pride of the family, lying here almost dead, his life cut short; and yet not wasted. Imagine if you were the young man out there breathing his last. Or maybe you are the family member waiting in vain for Johnny to come marching home!
  What ever the case, war is ugly and freedom comes at a cost, always!
     Today I want to share with you a ballad; a ballad of Washington and of one man who lost all in the cause of the Revolutionary war: The Blacksmith of Brandywine.  I love singing this song when I'm out walking and want to sing some thing rousing. I like to sing it with my brothers, I sing the verses and they all join in on the chorus! It is a fun, lively song, written in the nineteen sixties. Yes, a relatively modern song but keep in mind, I am not against all modern songs. I am simply against most of them! It doesn't matter when it's written if it is good
    And this one is certainly good! Though I certainly wouldn't sing it in church or in praise to God!
So Here are the Lyrics:

 As we went down to Brandywine
There was a sight to see
A giant of a man with a hammer in his hand
Beneath the old oak tree
And scattered all around there
In fatal disarray
A score of men who would never fight again
Nor travel on the King’s Highway.

We dug his grave, covered him o’er
And sadly wept a tear
And passed the day a ridin’ on our way
Till we met with a musketeer.
He told us of the story of
A brave and angry man
Who undertook the British enemy
With a hammer in his hand.

Chorus
Make it one for Washington and all his gallent men
And one for the girl that once was mine
Make it one for the darling boy I’ll never see again
And don’t forget the blacksmith of Brandywine!

There lived a man in Chester town
Away from the cannon’s roar
Of manner mild, his a woman and child
No man could ever love more
One day he heard a Tory plot
To waylay Washington
He left his home and family alone
And to the General he did run.

His errand done he journed home
But sorrow there he found,
By British gun his wife and son
Lay still on the cold hard ground
Well the Blacksmith took his heavy sledge
And gave a practice swing.
They say down the line at Brandywine
You could hear his hammer sing:

Chorus

And here is a video so you can hear what it sounds like:

Now after all this, the question may come up; what is a Ballad?  I was hoping you would ask! A Ballad is a story in verse.  They used to be sung in castles and great halls in order to remember things that happened in history; many would speak of a brave warrior or king who distinguished himself by unusual acts of bravery. Many were about battles fought and many were quite long. The word is derived from the French "ballare" to dance and was used in reference to dancing songs, "ballares".  This is probably a little much to remember, so just keep in mind that a ballad is simply a story, turned into a song!
      Maybe sometime you'll write a ballad about some thing that happened to you or someone you know!
                      But enjoy this lively song!
Until next time.......
                                                        

No Angel Visitant

I have not posted in some time, and now feel the need to show my few faithful followers that I have not quite abandoned my blog! I want to share with you today a song that I learned through choir and I have taken as my own. A melodious, contemplative hymn: "Spirit of God Descend Upon My Heart."   Every single one of these verses is wonderful and such a common appeal from the heart, I can relate to each verse personally. The song was written in the early eighteen hundreds by George Croly; a Pastor and author. It is the only one of his hymns that has survived! The tune writer, Fredrick Atkinson, also wrote the tune to "Abide With Me", and it is interesting to hear the similarities between the two tunes, notice how the notes go down in the first line where he asks the the Spirit to Descend upon his heart and the rising crescendo in the end as he begs; 'stoop to my weakness, Mighty As Thou Art!'   The tune, in fact fits wonderfully with the soft pleading tone of the hymn. 
  I love the second verse where he states, "I ask no dream, no prophet Ecstasies; no sudden rending of the  veil of clay. No angel visitant, no opening skies; but take the dimness of my soul away!"  Here Croly renounces a very common wish of men, we want to be visited by angels, given visions in the night and we say, "Lord, if only I could see you or have a vision of heaven, I would be content and know that you are God." And yet did not Christ Himself tell the pharisees that even if someone were to rise from the dead they would not believe and does not He call us whom He has led to believe to walk by faith not by sight? Are they not blessed who do not see and yet believe?"  The Author, recognizes this and is like Solomon asking for wisdom instead of riches; "I ask none of these great wonders and signs!" he proclaims humbly, "I ask only that you take away that veil over my heart that blinds me to the horror of sin and the the existence of Almighty God; I want to feel your presence fully though I see no great visions and dreams!"   What a wonderful prayer for all of us! Let us all follow God first; He sends the little miracles and gifts as we go along, when we are not expecting them; when we really need them. It is not our place to ask for it. Though in a few cases, as of  Gideon and some others, he granted it any way. We cannot expect the same!  I have realized how much the Lord loves to send us little surprises and blessings when we're not expecting them!
  But I fear I have run on over long!
    Because the video I like best doesn't have all the verses, I will put them down here first and then post the video, make sure you read ALL of them before you watch the video! And tell me how you liked the tune; I love getting comments, post as many as you like! :)

Spirit of God, descend upon my heart;
Wean it from earth; through all its pulses move;
Stoop to my weakness, mighty as Thou art;
And make me love Thee as I ought to love.

I ask no dream, no prophet ecstasies,
No sudden rending of the veil of clay,
No angel visitant, no opening skies;
But take the dimness of my soul away.

Hast Thou not bid me love Thee, God and King?
All, all Thine own, soul, heart and strength and mind.
I see Thy cross; there teach my heart to cling:
O let me seek Thee, and O let me find!

Teach me to feel that Thou art always nigh;
Teach me the struggles of the soul to bear.
To check the rising doubt, the rebel sigh,
Teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.

Teach me to love Thee as Thine angels love,

One holy passion filling all my frame;
The kindling of the heaven descended Dove,
My heart an altar, and Thy love the flame.

Spring, Spring, Spring

  I love spring.

        After the bleakness of winter, it is so wonderful to watch the grey and brown break out with pale pink, purple, yellow, green and white. I love hearing the birds begin to sing and to see the rabbits nibbling the tender new shoots. What a wonderful creator  we have! Truly, I look at all this and wonder how it is that men can think we came about by chance, a mere random accident.  All creation shouts with a loud voice, all we have to do is stop, keep silent and listen.

  Can order be born from confusion?

 can beauty be caused by a chance?

can God be a childish delusion?

or life be a meaningless dance?

Does purpose result from disaster?

or laughter be born of woe?

Can a piece of the smashed dish run faster

Than the great deer herd's heaviest doe?

Behold how the small sparrow travels,

with no one to point the way.

Truly God's glory this earth tells.

Mistakes cannot rule the day.

So in light of this wonderful season I want to share a song from one of my favorite musicals, "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers",  on the wonderful occurrences in this wonderful season! 

                                        

                                       

                                               May The Almighty reveal Himself to you through His creation!

The Prince of Glory Died

Good Friday, indeed! The world had never seen another like it nor would it ever see one again. What parody, what lunacy is this? That the perfect one should become sin, that Almighty God should be killed by His creation? Indeed, what God would deign to die for His little clay figurines after they had purposely disobeyed His law times without number?  What kind of God would allow worms to nail Him to a wooden tree with never a word of protest? What kind of God would forgive the scum that yelled profanities and curses at Him no matter that His agony was already great? What kind of God would be willing to become so vile in His Father's sight that He must turn His face away from Him? "Well, might the sun in darkness hide, and shut its glories in, when Christ, The mighty maker died for man, the creature's sin!"
 No God of our invention, certainly!  Our God turns things on their heads, He does the unexpected and His acts are incomprehensible to us "mere mortals"!    When we think of a God, we turn our thoughts to the physical qualities; Can He rule the entire world? Can he do anything He likes? Can He read our thoughts? 
 We forget that "He who ruleth his Spirit is greater than the mighty and he who controls his anger is greater than he who captures a city!"  We forget that "Love never fails" and "Greater love hath no man than this, that he lays his life down for his friends!"   Indeed, God is Omnipotent, Omnipresent and has ALL power and dominion and authority before all time, now and forever. But I want, right now, for us to think about how much greater those "non physical" qualities are! How many of us can hear someone snicker about our faith and not start feeling a "holier than thou" attitude rise up in our hearts? How many of us can have some one spit in our face and not feel an incredible urge to punch him in the face?  How many of us can listen to our words, twisted to make us sound bad and not speak a word in our own defense knowing that it will do no good? How many of us can say truly and with a pure heart, "I love you!" to one who has done everything in his power to show us that he hates us and you know he will probably slap you in the face if you do say it? 
 We underestimate the greatness of the Love Christ had for us! We do not fully understand the power it takes to do what he did! We talk about Him being silent before His accusers, without a thought. If you have ever gotten into a fight with a sibling and then brought before a parent and asked each to explain what happened, you may now how hard it can be to keep from interrupting the other while he twists the story to his own advantage and your detriment, now perhaps you will do the same come your turn but at least you know that you will have a chance to say something and know that justice will be administered. Imagine if you weren't before justice and you knew you would not be believed though you spoke the truth! Indeed, when with a word he could have summoned ten legions of angels, which, by the way, is a temptation none of us could have resisted, yet His love was so great, He chose to deny His own nature and bear on His back the weight of numberless transgressions for His own ungrateful rebellious creatures!
        What wondrous love is this?
  Nothing from this planet!

  I have a song I want to share with you all to day in light of this momentous day! "Alas, and did my Saviour bleed?"  
  I think we all know the traditional tune but I wanted to share this beautiful arrangement with you today. I usually don't like people tampering around with the traditional hymn tunes, but I think this tune accurately conveys the message of Watt's hymn in a truly majestic arrangement. Note the rich, contrasting harmonies and the crisp pronunciation of the words. Truly a masterpiece!

 Also, the first verse has been changed. I couldn't find a version without it but I will share the original lines below. I guess people don't like calling themselves worms, but I think we really are as worms in God's sight! To use "worm", highlights the contrast and shows how mighty was the gulf that God did span at Calvary!
 

Alas! and did my Savior bleed
And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?

Thy body slain, sweet Jesus, Thine—
And bathed in its own blood—
While the firm mark of wrath divine,
His Soul in anguish stood.

Was it for crimes that I had done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!

Well might the sun in darkness hide
And shut his glories in,
When Christ, the mighty Maker died,
For man the creature’s sin.

Thus might I hide my blushing face
While His dear cross appears,
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness,
And melt my eyes to tears.

But drops of grief can ne’er repay
The debt of love I owe:
Here, Lord, I give my self away
’Tis all that I can do.

Indeed, 'tis all that I can do! May you give yourself away to Him fully, this day as we remember that great sacrifice!

With Palms Before Thee Went

I completely forgot about Palm Sunday until today; not  that I forgot it was happening but it never occurred to me that it would be nice to post about it!
 At first I thought, "All Glory Laud and Honor", of course, I should have no problem finding a video, right? Wrong! I spent half my afternoon searching for a simple arrangement with only the three verses and nothing else. Couldn't find a thing; either the verses were all mixed up or the choristers waving their palm branches, and the priests swinging their censors and waving their crosses, were simply too distracting, or it was a medley with another song, or the words were unintelligible, or, as was most common, all of those at once!
 Finally I gave it up! I have an excellent recording of it on a CD which is next on my list of songs to post on youtube, but I haven't done it yet, being that I still have to create a slide for it and write out all the words. So I will instead share with you my previous youtube project which is also a "Palm Sunday song". 

  "Come Ye Faithful, Raise The Strain"

After I reviewed this one, I decided that I like it better right now, (granted, listening to the same song over several times will make any other song seem attractive!)
   The song, is a call to believers to come and sing of Christ and His great works. In the first verse the writer, John of Damascus(696-754), speaks of God's works in Israel when He led them from Egypt.
 He goes on to describe how our sins flew from the light of Christ's resurrection on that Easter morning. In verse three, he relates Jesus' coming to Jerusalem, and, in verse four, His triumph and power over death!
   

Come, ye faithful, raise the strain of triumphant gladness;
God hath brought forth Israel into joy from sadness;
Loosed from Pharaoh’s bitter yoke Jacob’s sons and daughters,
Led them with unmoistened foot through the Red Sea waters.

’Tis the spring of souls today; Christ has burst His prison,
And from three days’ sleep in death as a sun hath risen;
All the winter of our sins, long and dark, is flying
From His light, to Whom we give laud and praise undying.

Now the queen of seasons, bright with the day of splendor,
With the royal feast of feasts, comes its joy to render;
Comes to glad Jerusalem, who with true affection
Welcomes in unwearied strains Jesus’ resurrection.

Neither might the gates of death, nor the tomb’s dark portal,
Nor the watchers, nor the seal hold Thee as a mortal;
But today amidst the twelve Thou didst stand, bestowing
That Thy peace which evermore passeth human knowing.

The tune in the video above was the oldest tune Ave Vir­go Vir­gin­um, written in the fifteen hundreds by Johann Roh, but when Arthur S. Sullivan wrote "St. Kevin" in the eighteen hundreds, this tune became the most popular and is the one you'll find first if you search youtube! This tune is lovely as well, but I prefer the former, perhaps because that is the one I grew up with! but if you would like to hear "St. Kevin", here is a link to it, http://youtu.be/U_UvwsR84v0  .

  Once more, I beg your pardon for my tardiness and wish you a wonderful Resurrection day!  What a glorious Lord we have, "Lowly and humble, seated on a donkey, even the foal of a beast of burden!"

                                           Fear Not Oh Daughter Of Zion!  

Your King Is Coming!