kindom musings

Thoughts and musings from a pastor in the peace tradition. Perspectives come from a progressive, justice-minded, feminist position. Responses are welcome.

Name:
Location: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States

I am a Church of the Brethren pastor in my thirties. While I love what I do, I started out with plans to be a veterinarian. God has a great sense of humor, and I wound up in ministry instead. However, my sojourn into veterinary science did make me a vegetarian with a love of animals. (We have two cats and a dog at home -- only a small petting zoo!) My husband is also ordained, and we have a son (LB) and a daughter (KB). My husband keeps me up to date on baseball trivia, and my children keep me giggling. All in all, it makes for a well-rounded life. I was born in Pennsylvania, moved several times for school and work, and have recently returned to my home state. On the Myers-Briggs scale, I'm an INFP.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

found hymn and time

After pondering over it most of the evening, I finally tried a google search today and almost immediately found the reference to the hymn fragment I had in my head yesterday. Here it is:

Heart with loving heart united, met to know God's holy will.
Let his love in us ignited more and more our spirits fill.
He the head, we are his menbers, we reflect the light he is.
He the master, we disciples, he is our and we are his.
(Text: Nicolaus L. von Zinzendorf, Herz und Hurz vereint susammend, 1723
Music: Manuscript Chorale Bood, 1735)

It's in our hymnal, and we actually sang it two months ago. So now I have the dilemma of whether or not to use it again. In the mean time, I'm struck by the irony of using the internet to find a hymn written long before even computers were even a concept and even before Ben Franklin had his famous lightning experiment. It's hard to imagine life without these modern conveniences, yet I'm looking back to the 1700's to find words to meet today's needs. I think there's danger in only looking to the past, especially when it comes to music, but it does say something about the human condition that though times change, human passions, hopes, and fears remain a constant. For the same reason, ancient scriptures and other sacred and secular writings still have relevance, even though the authors could never have imagined the world in which we live today. It is our common experiences and the human condition that unites us, not time, place, background, or location. We still reflect the light of God.

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sometimes when the sermon doesn't speak to me I just read the hymnal (Episcopal in this case). There's some great poetry in it, and some truly venerable things.

Welcome to RGBP from another INFP! (alphabet soup anyone?)

8/31/2006 7:50 AM  
Blogger Questing Parson said...

The times change, but the songs of the heart are eternal.

8/31/2006 12:46 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

If it fits, I would use it again. How did people ever learn hymns except by singing them more than once a year?
Welcome to the ring!

8/31/2006 3:50 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Welcome to the revgalblogpals.
It is pretty amazing the info, literature, hymns, and all you can find on the web.

8/31/2006 10:15 PM  

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