Here's a letter I wrote a few weeks before graduating seminary:

I feel like many things that mean a lot to me are drawing to a close - not only school, but also church work, chances at friendships, good moments to be had. Problem is, most of these things are still going on.

I tried to make friends with people. I smiled and scrambled for something ingeniously relatable to say, to be funny, to be the one they'd go to for advice. Concern to perfect these details has only come off as awkward. Then, I go and say the wrong things to the people who are actually being good to me - can I get it right, for once?

None of these things have truly ended yet. Instead, I'm sitting here waiting for it to happen. And I know I will feel nostalgic about it someday.

I sit in my room with my eyes closed, trying to imagine that I've graduated, left everything and gone home (the only place I can afford), all of my friends are scattered and serving their vocations across the country, and the reality that the 15 minutes I enjoyed of church music and joy is over. Then I open my eyes, and I'm still here, in the shadow of the place I went to school, where I work, and where I practice. My friends are still here, just barely, along with the people with whom I should have been friends. The recitals I've given are not forgotten, the parties I went to are still remembered, the old places I hung out are still there.

I should tell everyone what I think before it's too late. No, maybe not. No, maybe I should.

It's not that I fear change, simply change for the worse. If better things were definite, I might be less sad about it, There's no promise of that, though.

So, if you see me looking wistful at times that should make me happy, I really am doing my best to savor every minute. The main thing I need is assurance that it's part of a drawn-out, really great beginning, and that the riches of these blessings from God will only appreciate in value. I don't see how, but they might.

Anna B.D. Hoppe

Has American Lutheranism really been silent in original hymnwriting?  It doesn't appear so.  Anna B.D. Hoppe's story is of great value and importance to the history of Lutheran hymnody.  Here is the most recent (and potentially most comprehensive) detail of her life, found at Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology.

https://hymnology.hymnsam.co.uk/a/anna-hoppe?q=anna+hoppe

More about Miss Hoppe and her work will be heard in the near future.

Anna B.D.Hoppe, from Hymnary.org

Best of 2015

In 2015, I:

Didn't date anyone

Didn't get engaged

Didn't get married

Didn't have a baby

Wasn't in a wedding

Wasn't a godparent

Didn't get a new job, and

Stayed in the Central Time zone

If you accomplished any of those, you're pretty cool. And I mean that in all honesty.

BUT...I did:

Have a golden birthday

Get a new computer

Get a new phone

Completed 22 academic credits from three institutions

Complete MCM classes (3.70 GPA)

Help lead a Lutheran youth convention

Get my writing published

Train for and run my first half-marathon

Play organ at some new places

Try some new coffeeshops

Run places I've always wanted to go

Make some new friends in hymnody (the best kind of friends!)

Do some hymnological research that none of you know anything about! (But will soon...all in good time!)

In 2016, I will:

Grow stronger in faith in my Savior

Eat

Sleep

Church

Music

Brew coffee

Run every day

Graduate (at least once, God willing)

Give my senior recital

Pass comps and orals

Finish writing a book

Travel

Make new friends

Be surprised by what the Lord sends me!

Happy New Year!

In Jesus' name 
Our work must all be done
If it shall compass our true good and aim,
And not end in shame alone;
For ev'ry deed 
Which in it doth proceed,
Success and blessing gains
Till it the goal attains.
Thus we honor God on high
And ourselves are blessed thereby;
Wherein our true good remains.

- Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary No. 4, v. 1

My children's choir book

Part of the Christian life under the cross in this world deals with the endless trials of the photocopier. For the past two years I directed the 2-4 grade choir at my church's Christian day school, I spent way too much time entering hymn melodies and words into Sibelius, printing off PDFs, and then making 50-60 photocopies for every student, only to toss them after the service was done.  I also relied on week-to-week planning or rehearsals based around the next church-singing date.  Nope.

So, this summer, I had enough.  I did some research at St. James Music Press and our hymnal.  I typed and retyped a lot.  I went out and bought several reams of high-quality paper and this happy spring-green almost-tagboard.  Then, I went to work printing and resizing each page, arranging the text and music before double-siding the photocopies, and then ran 55 sets of each.

After self-collating these (you can tell I was pretty tired!), my wonderful brother helped me make three staplers in the sem library feel very special.  They were replenished on multiple occasions, and ate their fill of wholesome greens.

What's in them, you might ask?  Interspersed with the pieces are short paragraphs explaining rules of choral singing I usually over-repeat.  Because I don't have a whiteboard in the sanctuary - which would make my teaching WAY more effective! - this gives the students something visual to remind them.

The repertoire?  Well, hymns, especially doctrinally-solid hymns, are MUCH too hard for children to learn.  Those old Germans composed plenty of confusing tunes that don't appeal to young people today, and there's no way they could even try learning them.  Being connected to the past is overrated, because youth can certainly fend for themselves.  Let's see, the first song is "Shout to the Lord..."


Just kidding!!  Here are the pieces and choral teaching points covered:

Posture - Breathing
Three Kinds of Voices (chest, face, head)

A Mighty Fortress - Martin Luther, arr. William Roger Price

Kyrie:  Kyrie, God Father In Heaven Above
Gloria:  All Glory Be To God On High
Credo:  We All Believe In One True God
Sanctus:  Holy, Holy Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth - J.S. Bach
Agnus Dei:  Lamb of God, Pure And Holy

Onset (Starts of Words) - Short "I"Turns Into Long "E" - Long "E" is Kissed

As Longs the Deer - Mark Schweizer

How To Chant (i.e. Psalm 118:17, Doxology)

O Rest In The Lord - Felix Mendelssohn
I Pray Thee, Dear Lord Jesus - trad., arr. Alfred Fremder
Savior of the Nations, Come - trad., arr. Carol McClure

Consonant Pairs - Diphthongs - "R" Before A Consonant- Shh!

Grow On Long Notes - Commas and More - Performing and Leading

I'll probably continue to use this template for forthcoming school years; this has bought me so much time otherwise used toward collecting and planning.  If you have any questions about the contents of the choirbook or would like to have one, do let me know - I'd be pleased to help you with any of the resources.

Happy planning for the New Year - and remember, as the AC says, we keep art in our divine services "that the unlearned be taught"!

All My Heart Sings And Rejoices

Joy:  one of my favorite words (and my middle name).

Growing up, I loved most the hymns that sung of the joy brought to us at Christmas.  “Joy to the World,” the melody my aforementioned Advent tree played, was a favorite from the very beginning, and I decorate the house with those words.  “Now Sing We, Now Rejoice,” the amazing German-Latin carol of the 1300s, manifests the gladness found through the theology of the cross:  the Glory of Heaven lies in a manger, and comes to us because we cannot rise from the stable to Him.  Birgitte Katerine Boye’s famous hymn calls us to “Rejoice, Rejoice This Happy Morn” for God’s salvation and undeserved love. 

Why all of the rejoicing?  Hearing of the Father’s great gift of His Son, we cannot withhold song from rising to Him.  Whenever Scripture tells us “Rejoice, for…” it’s bringing us another promise which must make a faith-filled heart glad.  Through the delightful imagery of his sweet hymn, “All My Heart Sings And Rejoices,” Paul Gerhardt tells all why he is glad on Christmas, and incites others to do the same.  The full translation given here is from the Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary.[1]

All my heart sings and rejoices

As I hear

Far and near

Sweetest angel voices.

“Christ is born!” their choirs and singing

Till the air

Ev’rywhere

Now with joy is ringing.

This doesn’t appear to initiate a battle culminating in Calvary, but according to the theology of the cross, it does.  In order to deliver us, the eternal God took on our very flesh at a point in time, and will forever possess this human nature.

Forth today the Conqu’ror goeth,

Who the foe,

Sin and woe,

Death and hell, o’erthroweth.

God is Man, man to deliver;

His dear Son

Now is one

With our blood forever.

Paul Gerhardt, as the other great apostle of the same name, loves drawing up rhetorical questions.  This digs deep into the stony soil of our false assumptions, upheaving the needless doubt and worry paved there. “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:31-32).

Shall we still dread God’s displeasure,

Who, to save,

Freely gave

His most cherished Treasure?

To redeem us, He hath given

His own Son

From the throne

Of His might in heaven.

Should He who Himself imparted

Aught withhold

From the fold,

Leave us broken-hearted?

Should the Son of God not love us,

Who, to cheer

Suff’rers here,

Left His throne above us?

He has not left us, and shows His love by His birth.  What has He done that we should “thank and praise, serve and obey Him”?

He becomes the Lamb that taketh

Sin away

And for aye

Full atonement maketh.

For our life His own He tenders,

And our race,

By His grace,

Meet for glory renders.

This promise is brought to us right away, in His incarnation – not only after and on account of His death.  The blessings of Christ’s death and resurrection go backwards and forwards. 

Hark!  a voice from yonder manger,

Soft and sweet,

Doth entreat:

“Flee from woe and danger.

Brethren, from all ills that grieve you

You are freed;

All you need

I will surely give you.”

Gerhardt, as we well know, didn’t always have a white Christmas, chestnuts roasting on the open fire, snow, mistletoe, and presents ‘round the tree – so to speak.  His pastoral ministry happened during the Thirty Years’ War, he was put out from his position several times due to his beliefs, both his wife and son passed away during his lifetime, and because of disease and war he buried many parishioners. The real trouble he faced, though, was the curse of sin, life in the flesh where “nothing good dwells.”  Knowing that the Lord told him, like the leper, “Be of good cheer!  Your sins are forgiven” (Matthew 9:2), he could then go forward in joy, even singing to others -

Come, then, banish all your sadness,

One and all,

Great and small;

Come with songs of gladness.

Love Him who with love is glowing;

Hail the Star

Near and far

Light and joy bestowing.

Ye whose anguish knew no measure,

Weep no more;

See the door

To celestial pleasure.

Cling to Him, for He will guide you

Where no cross,

Pain, or loss

Can again betide you.

Hither come, ye heavy-hearted,

Who for sin,

Deep within,

Long and sore have smarted.

For the poisoned wounds you’re feeling

Help is near,

One is here

Mighty for their healing.

This hymn speaks to Christians dealing with life – all of them.  Life under the cross is burdensome, and especially so at Christmas.  Gerhardt certainly empathizes with the needy family, the lonely single Christian, the couple mourning a child, the worker awaiting a job, and the pastor wondering why the harvesting proves difficult.  Is Christmas joy for them, too?

Hither come, ye poor and wretched;

Know His will

Is to fill

Every hand outstretched.

Here are riches without measure;

Here forget

All regret,

Fill your hearts with treasure.

This replenishing of our store of wealth has nothing to do with our reaching for the gift, how clean our hands are, or how tightly we grasp it.  Christ, through His Holy Spirit, uncurls our fisted fingers and places the gift of Himself and His atonement in our hands – the same priceless value and completeness for all.

Let me in my arms receive Thee;

On Thy breast

Let me rest,

Savior, ne’er to leave Thee.

Since Thou hast Thyself presented

Now to me,

I shall be

Evermore contented.

Guilt no longer can distress me;

Son of God,

Thou my load

Bearest to release me.

Stain in me Thou findest never;

I am clean,

All my sin

Is removed forever.

Because clothed in the glistening robe of His righteousness, the believer can and should say “Yes!  Come into my heart,” but only because the Lord has already let Himself in. 

I am pure, in Thee believing,

From Thy store

Evermore

Righteous robes receiving.

In my heart I will enfold Thee,

Treasure rare,

Let me there,

Loving, ever hold Thee.

Most of all, this gift brings joy because it looks forward to eternity.

Dearest Lord, Thee I will cherish,

Though my breath

Fail in death,

Yet I shall not perish,

But with Thee abide forever

There on high,

In that joy

Which can vanish never. 

---

[1] Worship Committee of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod.  “All My Heart Sings And Rejoices.”  Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary No. 115.  St. Louis:  MorningStar Music Publishers, 1996. 

Chasing dreams

From what I hear, being a parent is really awesome and rewarding, despite the hard work it requires to raise a small human being.  That is great, and I am indeed happy for you.  I'd guess maybe over half of people say that they would like to get married and have children, and in that case, that dream is an easier one to fulfill than others.

Yet, what if that's not what you're cut out to do?  Students especially struggle with this expectancy other adults in the "real world" impose.  In the meantime, or indefinitely, you have to figure out:  in Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3, what category am I in?  If I'm not a wife, does this actually apply to me?  Am I sinning in not doing what everyone else is doing?  Is it wrong because it appears ineffective to the world on a large scale?

If you ask anyone what they wish they could do, including people who have started a family and keep up a very involved life, they tend to present many of the same dreams.

I wish I would have stayed in school and gotten another  degree.  I would love to know more about ___.

I wish I would have taken piano when I was growing up.  Maybe when I have the time, I'll go back to it.

I wonder what it's like to sing in a choir...I'd do that if I didn't have to work so early.

Oh, I used to love running!  Someday I'd like to try a race.  I just don't have the time.

If I had a day to myself, I'd totally drive up there and check it out!  I've heard a lot of great things from people who have been there.

I should have learned that language.  It would have helped me so much now!

I want to read that book someday!  That's on my to-do list.

Sometime I want to know more about (this thing in the Bible).  I just don't know where to look...you'd probably have to take a class about this somewhere.

So, let's just pretend that someone has gone after her dreams, and even done all of these things.  What if learning is in itself a reward?  What if everything she's chasing is a way to say thank-you to God for something that happened a long time ago, that hardly anyone saw?  Maybe He has provided those very things for a reason.  "To whom much is given..."

"For all which I owe it to Him to thank, praise, serve, and obey Him.  This is most certainly true!" -Small Catechism, Explanation to the First Article of the Creed.

Let's make it easier...again.

"We need more arrangements that are easier to play, so people can accompany hymns with less effort."
"Not everyone can sing these hymns."
"Today's listener doesn't understand the language, so we should update the language."
"It needs to be more accessible."
"I'm not a trained musician, but I can understand ___.  Can you make resources that way?"

Church musicians frequently hear or receive these requests from parishioners regarding musical materials.  My response is, are you sure that is really what you need?  The musicians have been trained to look out for those needs and make those kinds of executive decisions.  As these instances occur more and more, they only make the opposite point that that is what they don't need.

So your organist doesn't like isometric Bach settings, or pedal.  He wishes that three-part settings of the hymnal could be available so he could just sit down and play hymns on the fly.  Well, clearly he did have musical training to get to the point where he could sightread - what hinders him from going ahead and learning a four-part setting which supports all vocal parts in their original form?

"I don't have time to practice that.  I have a job during the week."
Hmm.  If this is continually going to take a back seat, your congregation deserves better than that.  Maybe we need more trained church musicians who have that AS their job!

"So, how do you make any money doing that?"
That's a good question...

The thing is, every hymn you think of as easy was once hard for you.  You learned to sing and pick up on a tune or read music when you were little.  Then, by repetition in whatever degree, you memorized its patterns.  What some think of as a "harder" hymn is just a less-coherent hymn, and may involve more repetition to memorize (but again, this may not be the same in all times and places).  If you in a certain musical culture are expecting that a hymn will sound a specific way, you already have started learning it.

"But this is too hard for the modern-day church member."  Why?  People must have done it for years now, and survived.  Standard changes of practice (like "you" for "thee," or musical notation) are allowed at the basic level, but if alterations are made with an outlook of accessibility, it begins to assume that people are not willing to learn.  I know there's the 8.2-second average attention span to get past, but can't pastors and musicians teach people to learn, too?

I've done some reading about tone-deafness. Very few cases out there are lack of musical ear in a biological form.  Most of a learning disability to do with music is 1. lack of musical exposure, and 2. not wanting to listen to others when they speak.  Interesting.  Being in an environment in which people make music (like a church) and learning to carry on a balanced conversation effects the difference.

Consider carefully if your congregation wants you to adjust anything for the sake of ease.  Is it really a rare, necessary update?  Or do you need to address the root of the problem instead?

Maybe so.