Wednesday, November 14, 2007

My dear old friends

Okay, so they're not living, breathing friends, but nearly as dear to me are my favorite hymns. I'm probably an anomaly in this regard, but throughout my lifetime these cherished tunes and lyrics have, on countless occasions, been the vehicle that draws my soul to God. I am forever grateful for the authors and composers who've written them. Their hymns teach me the gospel, remind me of truths I've forgotten, fill me with joy and love, and make me happy. Just like a good friend would!

It always makes my day when we sing a favorite during church. The odds of us singing one of them are pretty good because there are so many to choose from!

There is nothing more beneficial to me when I'm struggling with something, than turning my mind to a favorite hymn. Because of this, I've made a point of memorizing all the verses to most of the songs that we sing on a regular basis (favorite or not). I realized years ago, when I could sing along with countless songs on the radio, that there was no excuse for me to not memorize the hymns as well. This comes in handy during a hymnbook shortage.

One of my favorite hobbies is improvising the hymns on my piano. I love to play with the melodies and arrange them. Though I mess up frequently (I don't think anyone gets what I do out of my playing), the hymns are among my favorite things to play on the piano.

A small sample
of my enduring favorites are listed below. Hearing them brings to mind various special experiences in the past, when the song lifted me up.

What do you think of the hymns?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

My favorite is "Angels We Have Heard On High." I love that song. I like some other songs there too, though I haven't had very many chances to here them. Maybe I'll get more chances as I grow older...♥

Anonymous said...

whoops, i meant "hear" on the third sentence.

Anonymous said...

*Sorry if this posts twice. I don't think it worked the first time.*

Can't believe Kolob made the list. Never been a real fan of that one. Good message but too mundane for me.

I'd have to add my favorite which is no longer in our current hymnal - Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing as well as Abide With Me 'Tis Eventide, Abide With Me! and The Lord is My Shepherd (love the alto line on that one which I still can't manage to sing).

It amazes me how many regular church-goers don't make the effort to memorize more hymns! But then again, I have a hard time memorizing scriptures & references where others excel at it.

Blue said...

Thanks for your additions. I love those 3 songs as well...but like I said, this was just a few favorites. There are SO many great ones. I am not much of a Mo-Tab fan generally speaking (more of a BYU Men's chorus fan usually), but I LOVE their version of Come Thou Fount...it's very moving. I didn't know it was in the old red and blue hymnbooks.

I do know that Kolob in the OLD book had a different tune. The first time I heard the current tune I was delighted! It's always been such a haunting melody for me, with lots of food for thought.

Anonymous said...

Yessir. Fount of Every Blessing is on p.70 in the old HYMNS book. I was always partial to the brown covered books (hymns just sounded better to me if the book was brown instead of blue or red...?) and I somehow acquired one which is sitting on top of my desk bins with an assortment of Books of Mormon in various languages. So ask away if you have any questions about the contents of the old books.

Anonymous said...

I keep having comment troubles with this post. I'm now on here twice as Anonymous and ki. Too anxious to hit that Enter key I guess.

SerenaFina said...

Wow, how did you make the smile?