We recently bought a piano. It was an unwanted piano that had been sitting in the corner of our church hall and had been forgotten. When it arrived at our place, we discovered (to our delight!) that the piano stool still contained a little time capsule of music spanning the last three or four decades - Dave calls it our little musical genizah! It seems that no one had thought to throw out anything since sometime in the 1970s, because one of the gems we found was a songbook from the 1975 Camp Retreat for the Baptist theological college Dave works for now.As we looked through the book, we noticed that it wasn't just the typed multi-coloured pages that dated it securely in the mid-1970s - they just don't write songs like this anymore!!
I suspect there's a cautionary tale here about the perils of contextualisation...
The Man
1. There once was a man, a long time ago,
A standin' all alone against the status quo.
He worked with his hands, and grew tall and strong,
He worked with His mind a-sort-in' right from wrong.
He was sure of His mission and He spoke loud and clear,
He got ev'ry eye and He got ev'ry tear.
2. But some didn't like Him 'twas plain to see,
'Cause He put 'em down for their hypocrisy,
The Idea of lovin' was drastic and new
And buckin' the crowd was just too much to do.
Well things haven't changed from those days of old,
They still try to make Him fit into their mold.
3. There isn't a man or a woman too lowBut what He would love 'em and help 'em to know
That if they would care to prove Him on out,
He'd slam down all their fear and all of their doubt.
It's not the easiest choice you can make,
It's playin' for keeps with a whole lot at stake!
4. Now you can't go a-pointin' at what others do.
'Cause it's a personal thing, strictly 'tween Him and you.
And if you're really wantin' to give life a pull,
Alive to your finger tips, brimmin' and full,
Then give Him a try, going out on a limb,
You'll never know life till you really know him.
He's Everything to Me songbook, no 32.
Pics from stockxchng.com and Green Lantern2008 on Flickr
7 comments:
tee hee
Wow!
Is that the song book that has
"in the sky his handiwork we see"
the song that rhymes 'nativity' with 'history'?
Delight!
Wow - that sure brings back memories. And here are the lyrics to "He's Everything to Me." (I haven't thought about this song in decades and all the words come right back - amazing.)
"He's Everything to Me"
by Ralph Carmichael
In the stars His handiwork I see,
On the wind He speaks with majesty.
Though He ruleth over land and sea,
What is that to me?
I will celebrate Nativity,
For it has a place in history,
Sure, He came to set His people free,
What is that to me?
Til by faith I met Him face to face,
And I felt the wonder of His grace,
Then I knew that He was more
Than just a God who didn't care,
That lived away out there, and
Now He walks beside me day by day,
Ever watching o'er me lest I stray,
Helping me to find that narrow way,
He is everything to me.
Thanks Ray for answering Simone's question before I could!
There's more where this came from too - I might share one or two more in the coming weeks on a 'slow news day'!
Has it got "He owns the cattle on a thousand hills"? That's an oldie that sticks in my mind for some reason.
the suspense! I'm hanging for it!
I think there is a cautionary tale in this... agrees she who is currently trying to channel 'high school musical' for xn purposes. Hm.
Prue, I checked and the students of 1975 missed out on "he owns the cattle" in the particular retreat.
And Simone, I hope any future instalments don't disappoint!
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