LA
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Just some thoughts:
Can you imagine?
Sitting here tonight late in my office I'm playin' a CD from two of my favorite people Rodeo and Juliet...(Chris and Jan Harris). Do yourself a favor if you like some of the older hymns get a copy of their CD "The Adventures of Rodeo and Juliet" and listen to a couple of the old songs.
"Never Grow Old"
I have heard of a land/ On the faraway stand
'Tis a beautiful home of the soul/ Built by Jesus on high
There we never shall die/ 'Tis the land where we'll never grow old
Never grow old/ Never grow old
In the land where we'll never grow old
Never grow old, never grow old
In the land where we'll never grow old
In that beautiful home/ Where we'll never more roam
We shall be in the sweet by and by
Happy praise to the King/ Through eternity sing
'Tis a land where we never shall die
When our work here is done/ And the life's crown is won
And our troubles and trials are o'er
All our sorrows will end/And our voices will blend
With the loved ones who've gone on before
Never grow old, never grow old
In the land where we'll never grow old
Never grow old, never grow old
In the land where we'll never grow old
Some time ago in Morristown, New Jersey I was invited to speak one Sunday morning at an all black church. Just prior to my stepping into the pulpit that morning the folks had sung this song. Sang every verse and even repeated a few. They sang it with feeling and emotion I had not often seen. I spoke for about thirty minutes. Following the services the minister said to me...."Young man (get that young man) you are certainly welcome to come back and speak again to us folks. And you can speak much longer if you like. You sees' our folks here have some tough days and we take a bit longer to ponder our thoughts and hurts before goins' home."
In 1914 a young seminary student studying at Mercer college in Georgia had gone home to see his parents. On that morning he was ask to speak at his home church. For year his father had lead the singing for this congregation. That morning as the young man's father lead the congregations in their singing the young man was made aware of his father's failing health. The matter of his father's aging was never more apparent to him. He was growing old. His step was slow and his voice faint. The following week the young man, James Moore, as he returned to school and with that Sunday still fresh in his memory he wrote this song. It was not published until 1930.
You might think a minute about the significance of that year, 1930. Some times when we hear a song especially a hymn it would be good for us to think about when it was written and what folks might be experiencing at that time.That was a period of hard times and great difficulties for many in our country. It was a time in what we have come to call "The great depression." You can imagine the significance of these words to a church full of people at this time.
Better times are a comin'. There is a time "when we will never grow old."
Sometimes if one pays attention one can understand why folks are singing what they are singing...
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June 21, 2017
Keep on,
Larry Adamson