Closing Remarks on Ruth and Hymns with Harmony

Joyce Voysey

I have kept thinking of the ending of the book of Ruth.  All those ‘begets’.  And why do the generations go back to Pharez?  Oh my goodness!  Genesis 28 tells the story of his conception: it is along similar lines to the Ruth/Naomi/Boaz story.  Judah (son of Jacob and Leah) was Pharez’ father and Tamar (Judah’s daughter-in-law) his mother, who tricked him into a ‘begetting’ by which Pharez was conceived.  Wow!  What a chapter of doings!

And Hymnal Note 132 (“I am the way, the truth, the life”): Have you ever wondered why the hymnal has certain hymns marked “to be sung in unison”? 

Violet Hay

by Joyce Voysey

I’ve come to the beloved hymn 136, with words by Violet Hay, “I love Thy way of freedom, Lord”.  Violet Hay has given us the words of seven of our hymns; each one beloved of Christian Scientists.  But this is special. 

It is recorded that hymn 136 was known in England (I think in World War II) as “The Airman’s Song of Praise.”

When the judges ruled - workload solution?

by Julie Swannell

 

I was surprised to find Ruth so early in the Old Testament.  As a girl, I learnt quite a few of the names of the books of the Bible by heart: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, I and II Samuel, I and II Kings, I and II Chronicles...  At that point I must have stopped memorising, because I have to look them up after that.  [Memo to self: learn the rest of the books so I don’t have to spend time searching!]  It is so interesting that this tiny, somewhat homely book of Ruth is right plonk in the middle of all the swirling, big-character names of the surrounding books.  Quite a comfort really.

I had wondered what the little phrase “when the judges ruled” (Ruth 1: 1) means,

Simplicity, freshness, consistent elevation of tone

by Joyce Voysey

Hymnal Note 114 (“Holy Bible, book divine”) gives us a definition of a good hymn:

“A good hymn should have simplicity, freshness, and reality of feeling; a consistent elevation of tone, and a rhythm easy and harmonious, but not jingling or trivial.  Its language may be homely; but it should not be slovenly or mean.”

Just sharing the inspiring

Looking Forward

I have always loved the story of Ruth and have turned to it when preparing readings for Wednesday meetings on various topics like home, family, generosity, unselfishness, marriage, etc

As it’s such a short book, I thought I’d take a little time to do some extra research.  The other morning I read the story from a favourite Bible paraphrase, The Living Bible*.  How beautifully the story reads here, just as it does in the King James Version, but with some fresh renderings, e.g.

·        Ruth 1: 19 “the entire village was stirred by their arrival”

Mozart...and street music invasion?

by Joyce Voysey

Hymn 93 (Happy the man whose heart can rest) brings us again to a note about Mozart.  Hymnal Notes describes an incident thus: “…the full transcription he made from memory after a single hearing at the Sistine Chapel of a work forbidden even to be read.”

And “In expressing her desire in respect to a musical setting for one of her hymns, Mrs. Eddy wrote,

MOTHERS

BY Joyce Voysey

In the Reading Room yesterday, I found an article about the Book of Ruth called “Mothers in Israel.”  It is in the May 1930 Christian Science Journal, and was written by Margaret L Marshall. [Ed. See jsh-online via this link: http://journal.christianscience.com/issues/1930/5/48-2/mothers-in-israel] It is an excellent commentary.  

I must say I have not been very inspired

THERE ARE FOUR POSTS TODAY – CHECK THEM OUT

1.      Galatians (news of a Principia College course)

2.      Where is Moab? (a map)

3.      Singing praise to God (by Joyce Voysey)

4.      Mutual aid (link to recent Church Alive post)

 

GALATIANS – ONLINE STUDY AT PRINCIPIA MARCH 2013

Book Clubbers will be interested in Principia College’s online study courses.  Next month, Madelon Maupin will present a course on Galatians.  I’m signed up!

Here’s some more information: http://www.principialifelonglearning.org/online-non-credit/current-courses#maupin

WHERE IS MOAB?

 

CLICK ON THE MAP TO MAKE IT LARGER OR GO TO THE WEB SITE BELOW.

 

 

http://bibleatlas.org/full/moab.htm

SINGING PRAISE TO GOD

Joyce Voysey

In response to the editor’s postscript on the post “Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah” –

Yes, Julie, how singing praise to God (were there Psalms before David?), and dancing, would have cheered the women.

MUTUAL AID

Readers may have seen a recent post in the Church Alive section on christianscience.com.  It includes a helpful reference from last month’s book Miscellaneous Writings.  Here’s a snippet and the link to the whole letter from a branch church member in New York.

http://christianscience.com/member-resources/for-churches/church-alive/church-healings-experiences-videos/your-church-experiences/including-everyone

 

“Over the past two years, our membership

GUIDE ME O THOU GREAT JEHOVAH

Joyce Voysey

I have come to Hymn 90.  This hymn is famous in Christian Science circles because Mrs. Eddy recited it on her visit to the Original Mother Church.  William McKenzie, in his long article in The Christian Science Journal May, 1940, speaks of her staying in the Mother’s Room for the night, and having visited the auditorium.  To quote from his article:

A MEMORABLE DAY

SOJOURN in MOAB
Joyce Voysey

Sojourn – a temporary stay; to tarry, to visit.  This must be what Elimelech and Naomi had in mind when to set off for Moab.

So, we find that Elimelech and Naomi (with their sons Mahlon and Chilion) decided to avoid the famine and go stay temporarily in the fertile Moab.  Was the living so much easier in Moab that they decided to continue – to settle permanently – there?  This, even though as Hebrews they would not be allowed citizenship rights, or to worship Jehovah?  Was this living dangerously, to a certain extent?

Perhaps Naomi didn’t have much say in this matter of immigration.

Reading Room Discoveries

Joyce Voysey

Back to hymns.  Hymns 88 and 89, "Gracious Spirit, dwell with me", have words by Thomas Lynch, a minister for small groups in London (1818-1871).  The asterisk beside his name indicates that the words have been adapted for our hymnal, but they are so spiritually perceptive that one would suppose them to have been written by a student of Christian Science.  I would like to see the original poem.

I am in awe of all the work that must have gone into compiling our Hymnal and the Hymnal Notes.  In our Reading Room on Wednesday, I found in the December 2, 1933 copy of the Christian Science Sentinel the announcement of the publication and sale of Hymnal Notes in book form.  They had previously been printed in The Christian Science Monitor, between October 1892 and the date of publication as a book.

The Sentinel notice (http://sentinel.christianscience.com/issues/1933/12/36-14/notices) includes this statement, which beautifully expresses something of what I feel about the Notes:  “It presents incidentally a vivid story of music, as a whole, in its treatment of the great composers, Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and others.”

In the May 1933 Sentinel there is another note which rings true for us to-day, with our new Supplement to the Hymnal http://journal.christianscience.com/issues/1933/5/51-2/items-of-interest:

“Neither Christian Science Sunday schools nor Christian Science churches in their meetings and services need feel that every tune in the revised Hymnal is to be sung by them.  The thought which led to the selection of so many tunes to certain hymns was that among them would be tunes which would please the various tastes and nationalities which are now represented in the Christian Science churches.  It was not the thought that any one church need feel that it must use each of these tunes irrespective of its adaptability to the needs of its congregation.  Let the membership learn to know and love these new tunes, particularly the more difficult ones, before they are frequently selected for the services. There is spiritual food within the covers of the Hymnal sufficient for years to come, and care in selection of suitable tunes for particular congregations and Sunday schools will avoid occasions when some are disappointed because they feel unable to sing the hymns. In some churches at every service familiar tunes are chosen in addition to one new tune.”

The note includes a list of hymns suitable for Sunday school singing.

I love to find “stuff” in the Reading Room and then go home and look it up on http://jsh-

online.com.  For instance, this week I found interesting items in the April and July 1933 editions of The Christian Science Journal:

- Christian Science is recommended for mothers: “There are no problems too small in the daily round of duties that Christian Science cannot help us mothers to solve” p.50 (http://journal.christianscience.com/issues/1933/4/51-1/i-wish-to-express-my-gratitude); and

- Regarding the Benevolent Assn. Sanatorium in Boston: “One did not visit there for a physical healing, but to get better acquainted with God” p. 235 (http://journal.christianscience.com/issues/1933/7/51-4/after-many-postponements-i-feel).

I’ll now share some inspiration that came to me following my reading of the Lesson-Sermon on “Spirit” earlier this week.  I had a clear thought that God didn’t say, “I’ll get all the ingredients/components together and make man and the universe.”  He created by BEING.  The creation IS being.

Ruth, Prophecy, Science, and the angel with the flaming sword

Julie Swannell

 

We had such an interesting meeting on Wednesday night, with a bunch of callers from Brisbane and Sydney. 

All the sharing in the testimony period was helpful, and it was especially interesting for book clubbers who have recently made a study of the hymnal, to hear a comment about the hymns from one of the participants, Jack Gregory. 

FAMINE

Joyce Voysey

Even before I opened up to Ruth, I remembered that it starts up with a famine, and that famine plays a large part in Ruth’s story. This brought the idea of the Fertile Crescent to mind.  I had placed it somehow in the Lebanon/Israel area, but Wikipedia furnished me with information and a map.  It looks like Israel misses out on most of the fertility, although Israel

THE LETTER-WRITING LEADER

It’s hot and sticky in my study, but over the past two nights, I have read all the letters in Chapter Five of Miscellaneous Writings and find the over-riding sentiment to be Mrs. Eddy’s desire for unity and brotherly love among Christian Scientists. 

 

She comes across to me as a tender, firm and fearless leader, always ahead of her students

DREAMING AWAY THE HOURS

 

A startling thought occurred to me one recent morning: are we “dreaming away the hours”?

 

I opened up Concord* on my computer and typed in “dreaming”.  Up came a passage from Mrs Eddy’s article called “The Fruit of Spirit - An Allegory”.  You can find it in Chapter IX in last month’s book, Miscellaneous Writings, p. 323.