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Great Hymns: One Man's Search for Grace
Free Press
April 2006
192 pages ISBN: 0743284739 Hardcover
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Non-Fiction | Non-Fiction Religion
If there is one simple phrase that lies at the heart of this
moving tribute to the pleasures of singing hymns, it is
this: "Only joy." Bill Henderson, a tough man with a gentle
vision, found community and religious grace as a middle-aged
man while lifting his voice in church. In a book that will
inspire readers to share his passion, he writes of his love
of traditional hymns and how he sought to learn about their
origins. This is a much-needed book about the songs of our
lives and will be warmly welcomed by thoughtful people of
many faiths, especially those who reject the narrow
orthodoxies of religious fundamentalism. For Bill Henderson, the researching of his favorite hymns
became more than fact-finding. As the author went about his
research, he learned that he had cancer. Someone slipped a
note into his typewriter: "Only Joy," it read. He adopted
that phrase as a motto for writing and for life. While
Simple Gifts is partly a memoir, it is a work not about one
man's health but about his pursuit of godliness. That the
joy of congregational song aided Henderson in his recovery
he has no doubt, but he offers a wider vision, one that is
truly life-enhancing. Bill Henderson grew up attending a Presbyterian church in
Philadelphia with his quietly religious family. He left his
faith as he became a teenager and didn't rediscover it until
many decades later. What brought him back to church was the
sheer pleasure he found in singing old familiar hymns with
others. Some of these hymns moved him to tears, and so he
decided to immerse himself in the history of Christian music. With three themes under consideration -- Songs of
Simplicity, of Wonder, and of Love -- the author begins with
a look back at plain chant; the songs of Martin Luther,
Isaac Watts, Charles Wesley, and others; and the emergence
of modern church music. "Simple Gifts," the great Shaker
hymn, opens the Songs of Simplicity section, which includes
"In the Garden" as well as many Christmas carols like "O
Holy Night" and Christina Rossetti's "In the Bleak Midwinter." The amazing story behind "Amazing Grace" leads into the
Songs of Wonder chapter. Also appreciated here are "Be Thou
My Vision" and "How Great Thou Art." With the Prayer of St.
Francis as a pretext, Henderson discusses Songs of Love:
"Make Me a Channel of Your Peace," "There Is a Balm in
Gilead," and "Abide With Me." Henderson believes that many of these old hymns are in
danger of being forgotten as "modern" churches have adopted
rock-based music or watered-down, politically correct
verses. More important, he meditates on the hymns' values as
he tries to understand his own relationship with God, even
as they inspired him through his bout with a
life-threatening illness. While this book celebrates mainstream Protestant hymns, it
is by no means sectarian. It is about songs of the heart,
songs that move us, the songs of our lives. It is about joy.
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