Hymnody Part II, and Ruth Duck

Yup, I'm still on this jag, and I find I have more to say.

You've already been warned. Go to any mainstream Protestant church these days, and if you love traditional hymns as I do, be very afraid. The United Methodist Church is due for a hymnal update; their most recent hymnal was published in 1989. They have a supplementary hymnal which includes Eternal Father, Strong to Save, because many members/churchgoers got their panties in a twist at the 1989 omission of of the Navy Hymn--myself included. And I do love their inclusion of My Song Is Love Unknown, sung to the wonderful tune Rhosymedre. Although I applaud that along with Navy Hymn, with words intact, we are also treated with such gems as Lead On, O Cloud of Presence instead of Lead on, O King Eternal. How does a cloud lead? The only clouds in my life these days, other than the ones in the sky, are Amazon Music, where I store my music, and Dropbox, where I send the photos I take with my phone--and maybe Joni Mitchell's album from the 70s.  

Then we have The Fragrance of Christ. I'm not even going there. Here's another hymn to ponder: Someone Asked the Question' (Why We Sing.) Why indeed?

And then, when I'm about to give up, I discover the wonderful Let All Things Now Living, which I radiantly sang in my childhood to the tune of The Ash Grove. Thank God I play by ear, because they chose not to include the harmony on that one. But it's there!

So why must we go from the sublime to the Pampers ode: A Mother Lined Her Basket, To Keep Her Baby Dry?" 

Caveat for people like me: There will be a supplementary hymnal in the pew rack of most churches you visit.

The United Church of Christ has Renew! Songs and Hymns for Blended Worship. I shamelessly admit I don't mind this one, because they didn't do as much damage to the lyrics as others have. My favorite hymn tune, Hyfrydol, has been rewritten as Praise the Lord! O heavens adore him. I guess they don't mind the gender-specific pronouns, but they don't like the ye and thee and thou language. But that isn't terrible. They also have the fabulous Let All Things Now Living, also sung to The Ash Grove, with the harmony included. Actually, there is nothing in the UCC supplementary hymnal to offend me, except for the fact that our UCC (at least the one in my neighborhood) has an electronic appliance instead of a pipe organ, and they never use it - the drum kits are all set up with the electric guitars at the ready for services. As I wrote in an earlier entry, the congregational hymn for Stewardship Sunday was the Beatles' Help! I Need Somebody! That ain't not in no hymnal nohow. I admit that after that, I never went back.

HELP!

I took this up with my best friend, Marie, who is Catholic and familiar with contemporary hymns. (For the record, I love many of them; the ones John Michael Talbot wrote in the sixties are wonderful). Marie's father was Methodist, and she gaily scanned the index of my red 1989 UMC hymnal for Out of the Ivory Palaces, Into a World of Woe. I can report, with a gladsome mind, that it is not there. She pulled it up on YouTube for my delectation, and it sounded like someone breaking into song in a corny 1950's musical. She reminded me that the Methodists used to sing it. Yikes. What goes around might come around.

Ruth Duck
Finally, Marie introduced me to the wonders of Ruth Duck. (You wondered when I'd get to her, didn't you?)  A professor of worship at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, which happens to be a institution that I highly respect, she is one of the top leaders in the movement to make hymn lyrics gender-neutral and "relevant." This terrifies me, because that seminary has turned out some fine United Methodist clergy. The alarm bell has gone off: how I dread the next UMC hymnal revision. Here is an example of Ruth Duck's many hymn texts for contemporary worship; this one made me spew my coffee. You all know this traditional tune if you listen to Enya; she sings it with grace on her Shepherd Moons album. I give you Ms. Duck's first two verses: I can't bear to go on. Lord help us, this is what she did to How Can I Keep from Singing?

Source: http://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/september-11-hymns-by-ruth-duck

We Humans Build to Frame a Life, by Ruth Duck
Recommended Tune: How Can I Keep from Singing -The Faith We Sing, UMH 2212

We humans build to frame a life
with meaning, love, and feeling,
but time or hate can bring collapse
and loss can leave us reeling.
Let faithful souls from rubble rise
to find new ways from sorrow
and slowly, slowly form a shape
to welcome God's tomorrow. 

For everything our hands construct
will one day fall and crumble'
The God who is a carpenter
creates from scrap and jumble.
And we can join the work of God
to raise a new creation
that what we do will long endure
upon a firm foundation.

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I used to write stuff like that when I was still drinking. The shapes that formed in my twisted head would have welcomed no one. Indeed, all that I touched crumbled into scrap and jumble. It wasn't until Aug, 24, 2013, after my final collapse that left me reeling, that I rose from the rubble and decided to get sober. From the sound of this ditty, I guess I'd better go buy a Wonderbra to provide a firm foundation should I find myself having to actually sing this. 

There is only one means of relief: my sick sense of humor. I went to my favorite parody site, where some of my own song parodies are actually published, and looked up hymn parodies. i found this delight and sent it to Paul, my boyfriend, who is a good Swede like me and is willing to commiserate about the indignities of aging. I leave you with this amazing piece of work.

http://www.amiright.com/parody/misc/traditionalhymn15.shtml

I’m aging great; young Swedes, I’ve found, go ape for-a lech like me
I once was soft, but lost the pounds, was wide, but now I’m lean

The ‘grays’ I thought I’d have to shear alas did not recede
Not plenteous are the grays I’d feared, and I am so relieved!

Some men are vain, and spoiled and scared of what they might become;
Our grays and guts we guys bemoan -- our parts define the sum.

I still can make the wood to please the babes my looks secure;
When it goes soft, my Porsche will be my only needed cure

Yes, once my rod has lost its kick, and babes no more can please;
I’ll still have skill to drive my ‘stick’, for I’ll still have the keys

That’s all for now, I have to go – the Por-sche needs a shine;
So when my good looks fin’lly go, the babes can still be mine.
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See y'all on Sunday. As I said, the Methodist church has a pipe organ. I will survive.