Singing Songs by Heart

Memorizing sacred texts is an important part of Christian spiritual formation. Tying texts to melodies makes them easier to memorize and binds them closer to the heart. This is why when we can’t find our own words, scripture and the church’s song elevate our joy and sustain us in our sorrow.

I was eleven years old when my family came to rural Wisconsin. Bad Axe Lutheran Church, near the unincorporated village of Purdy, became our church home. My siblings and I marked the sixth generation in our family to worship there.

I slipped into the rhythm of liturgy effortlessly. Near the beginning of each service we sang:

O God, the Father in heaven, have mercy upon us.

O God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy upon us.

O God, the Holy Ghost, true comforter, have mercy upon us.

But my favorite part of the service was reciting the Apostle’s Creed. I believe in God, the Father Almighty. . .

The creed must have been printed somewhere, but very quickly I had it memorized so that when it came time for confirmation classes I enjoyed seeing the articles “fleshed out” in the catechism.

I was confirmed with three of my cousins.

I didn’t know it then, but Martin Luther would have approved of my progress. He encouraged priests to teach their congregations to say the Lord’s Prayer, the creed, and the ten commandments. He told them to pick one version and stick with it. After that, Luther encouraged the priests to teach the people the meaning of what they had already memorized, possibly through his own Small Catechism. Further instruction could then be undertaken via a larger catechism that explored each petition, each article, and each commandment in detail. 

College is a time when many people move away from the church. Parents aren’t around to compel regular attendance, there is a lot of studying to do, and students have busy social lives and employment schedules. This wasn’t an issue for me because the job that earned my spending money was as the choir director at All Saints Protestant Chapel at Jacksonville Naval Air Station. I was in church every Sunday.

At Jacksonville University I was a music major singing in three choirs. Two of those choirs explored the church’s rich liturgical music.  Through the weekly process of rehearsal, I was also memorizing some of the church’s great texts – including the propers of the mass. (Except for the Kyrie – Lord, have mercy – I hadn’t really been exposed to those.) Now I was learning the Gloria in excelsis, Credo in unum deum, and many shorter texts, often direct quotes from scripture.

Dr. Jon O. Carlson, Director of Choral Activities at J. U., made sure we understood the text as intimately as the pitches and rhythms. He taught us that music, particularly music of the church, begins with a text.

Jacksonville University Chamber Singers 1981       Dr. Jon O. Carlson, Director of Choral Activities
I'm in the back row, second from the right.

Some of the church’s great texts are forever tied to music I sang in college. Even when I learned a text in Latin, I found the words making their way into my mind and heart.  When I hear “he hath put down the mighty from their seat” I also hear Gerald Finzi’s descending tritones in his Magnificat. If I speak “to thee cherubim and seraphim continually do cry” I am singing Mozart in my mind. “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord,” becomes Stanford’s multi-voiced motet Beati quorum via integra est.

St. Mark's Festival Choir
Reformation Sunday 2017

Something mystical happens when texts are paired with music. For most of us, probably the only French we can speak is “Frére Jacque, dormez-vous?” When filing paperwork, I bet more people sing snippets of the ABC Song than would care to admit it. How many hymns do you have memorized? My guess is that the list is pretty long. Texts set to music are easier to memorize.

We find this also works in our Festival Choir. Most of the anthems that we sing at the musical offering are rehearsed for 4-5 weeks before we sing them in church. More than one choir member has told me, “I just can’t get this song out of my head!” In each rehearsal, we aren’t merely practicing the music, we are being formed by the texts.

An old gospel hymn goes:

Sing them over again to me, Wonderful words of life;

Let me more of their beauty see, Wonderful words of life.

Words of life and beauty, Teach me faith and duty:

Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life.

P. P. Bliss (1838-1876)

When my time to die comes, I won’t need someone to sit beside reading scripture. I believe I will be singing it to myself. Anyone who wants to come sing along will be very, very welcome.

What are the scriptural and liturgical texts that you remember from singing them or hearing them sung? Please name them in the comments below.