Roy Gamblin narrated. Ann Gamblin accompanied on the piano. Ron Smith led the Friday Focus crowd in several Irish (and not-so-Irish) songs and hymns to celebrate St. Patrick’s Season with its original Christian meaning (honoring a great Christian missionary and evangelist of the medieval period in European history.
Roy is a retired United Methodist minister in the Alabama West Florida Conference. Ann has led educational and musical ministries in several churches where her husband was appointed. Both are active members of the Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.
Transcript of program:
Listen to a thumbnail sketch of tunes and lyrics that harken from the shores of the land o’ Ire. Catch a glimpse of how our beloved St. Patrick was a reluctant missionary to Ireland. This was in the first part of the 5th Century. His success was phenomenal. He established 200 churches and baptized 100,00 converts. In the 8th Century an unknown poet wrote a prayer asking God to be his Vision & Wisdom. The words were later translated from ancient Irish into English and sung to the Irish tune, “Slane.” This hymn is one of the few contributions to modern hymnody from Ireland.
1. Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
naught be all else to me, save that thou art.
Thou my best thought, by day or by night,
waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.
2. Be thou my wisdom, and thou my true word;
I ever with thee and thou with me, Lord;
thou and thou only, first in my heart,
great God of heaven, my treasure thou art.
A lot of the Irish contributions to our culture today have come from the folk songs. One of the best known is “Danny Boy,” sung to the tune “Londonderry Air.”
Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side
The summer's gone, and all the flowers are falling
'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide
But come ye back when summer's in the meadow
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow
'Tis I'll be there in sunshine or in shadow
Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so
And when you come, and all the flowers are dying
If I am dead, as dead I may well be
Ye'll come and find a place where I am lying
And kneel and say an "Ave" there for me
And I shall hear, though soft your tread above me
And all my grave shall warmer sweeter be
For you will bend and tell me that you love me
And I shall rest in peace until you come to me
But if I live and should you die for Ireland
Let not your dying thoughts be just of me
In 1931 a minister by the name of Thomas Tiplady wrote a hymn about the Cross to this popular tune. Tiplady studied for the Wesleyan Ministry in England. After serving in World War I, he was appointed to the Lamberth Mission in London where he served for 32 years.
Above the hills of time the cross is gleaming,
Fair as the sun when night has turned to day:
And from it love’s pure light is richly streaming,
To cleanse the heart and banish sin away,
To this dear cross the eyes of men are turning,
Today as in the ages lost to sight;
And for Thhe, O Christ, men’s hearts are yearning,
As shipwrecked seamen yearn for morning light.
The cross, O Christ, They wondrous love revealing,
Awakes our hearts as with the light of morn,
And pardon o’er our sinful spirits stealing,
Tells us that we, in Thee, have been reborn.
Like echoes to sweet temple bells replying
Our hearts, O Lord, make answer to Thy love;
And we will love Thee with love undying,
Till we are gathered to The home above.
Many hymns have been written about the Cross. Some packed with meaning, and some more sentimental and personal. Among the most meaningful is a hymn is one written by Isaac Watts. Charles Wesley said that he would give up all his other hymns to have written this one.
1. When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died,
my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.
2. Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, save in the death of Christ, my God;
all the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to his blood.
3. See, from his head, his hands, his feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown?
4. Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were an offering far too small;
love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.
One of the more personal ones expresses the deep need for accepting the meaning of the Cross and the transformation that comes because of this acceptance.
Jesus, keep me near the cross, There a precious fountain,
Free to all, a healing stream Flows from Calvary’s mountain.
REFRAIN: In the cross, in the cross, Be my glory ever:
Till my raptured soul shall find Rest beyond the river.
Near the cross, a trembling sould, Love and mercy found me;
There the bright and morning star Sheds its beams around me. REFRAIN
Near the cross! O Lamb of God, Bring its scenes before me;
Help me walk from day to day, With its shadows o’er me. REFRAIN
While the word Cross is used nowhere in the song Amazing Grace, the song is about the Grace of God that prompted the Cross.
Perhaps the greatest testimony to the Grace of God was written by the most unlikely person, judging by his earlier years. John Newton went to sea when he was eleven years old. By the age of 19 he was master of his own ship engaged in slave trade. It is said that one night during a storm at sea, as he was going to take his turn at manning the pumps, he proclaimed, “if this doesn’t help, then God help us!” His own words startled him. And Ireland has a part to play in the story. The ship was spared and put in at a harbor is Ireland. This episode began a process that led him to the Lord and a new career as a minister of the Gospel. An answer to the prayers of his Godly mother.
And to cary the connection farther. He became the pastor of William Wilberforce and mentored him in his 20 year fight against slavery in the British Parliament. This story is currently being told in movie theaters by the movie, “Amazing Grace.”
There is also a Methodist connection to Wilberforce’s crusade. The last letter that John Wesley wrote before his death was to William Wilberforce. It was written in 1791, encouraging him in his battle in Parliament. This was 16 years before Parliament finally abolished the slave trade.
1. Amazing grace! How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see.
2.' Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved;
how precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed.
3. Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come;'
tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.
4. When we’ve there ten thousand years bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sings God’s praise, than when we first begun.
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