Utilizing hymn power
"Hymns are dumb. Why do we have to sing them?"
I am a hymn lover from way back, so this comment from a student in my college-age class caught me off guard. It never occurred to me there could be anyone who didn't like hymns! (Never a dull moment in the life of a Christian Science Sunday School teacher.)
We had just stood to sing for the opening hymn, so I had time to reach out to God for an answer tailored to this young man's particular need. It came in these words: "Well, Cliff, for most of us, singing a hymn is like taxiing down the runway on an airfield—it prepares us to become airborne. It helps lift thought above the material scene that keeps us grounded."
Not only did he seem satisfied with the answer, but the analogy brought comments from other class members as well. They told of times when, especially as small children, they had found that singing hymns brought comfort and healing.
Throughout the ages, music and hymns have been used and cherished to praise God and give comfort, courage, healing. During the reign of King Saul, for example. Saul suffered from what the Bible calls "an evil spirit," and whenever he called for David to play upon his harp, "Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him." I Sam. 16:14, 23 .
The book of Psalms is filled with some of the most moving hymns of praise and comfort ever recorded. They still speak to us today with timeless messages of hope.
Several biographies mention Mrs. Eddy's love for the hymn sings with her household staff. And she had a definite purpose and place for music in the services of her Church. In one of her writings she says, "Music is the harmony of being; but the music of Soul affords the only strains that thrill the chords of feeling and awaken the heart's harpstrings." Miscellaneous Writings, p. 106 .
One morning recently I was having great difficulty settling down to my study of the Lesson-Sermon. From the Christian Science Quarterly. My thought was flooded with planning what to have for dinner that night and what to say in a letter I was going to write later in the day. I quickly recognized this interruption as suggestions of animal magnetism—anything that would seem to separate us from God. I prayerfully acknowledged God's allness and my spiritual rights as His child. The "interference" stopped—until the following morning, when the same thing occurred again.
One of the Bible citations that week spelled out my need: ". . casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." II Cor. 10:5 . Studying that lesson was one of the most important parts of my day, and I was determined that nothing was going to disrupt it. My prayer was indeed for the captivity of every thought so that I might be obedient to Christ, Truth.
As I prayed, the incident in Sunday School came to mind. If hymns prepare thought for a church service, why not for study as well? At this point I began reading a hymn before beginning the lesson. It was the right answer for me. And there have been "fringe benefits": I have gained a greater appreciation for all the music in church—not only the hymns but the organist's and soloist's contributions. And I have become familiar with some of the less-known hymns in the Christian Science Hymnal.
Depression, frustration, distress, can't stand up against the power of joy and praise expressed in hymn singing. The healing message in each and every hymn turns thought away from the challenge and opens it to the Christ. And this divine influence heals.
Maybe we're not Beverly Sills or Luciano Pavarotti. That's all right. The power is in the quality of our motive, not the quality of our sound! When the going gets rough, lift your voice and sing, inwardly or outwardly.
