Handbells · Hymns · Mathematics
I read hymns. I absorb hymns. I internalize hymns. I want to understand how good hymns invite us into the depths of human experience. Sometimes I’m surprised when familiar texts give way to new spiritual insights that are hard to put into words. William Chatterton Dix’s 1865 hymn asks the rhetorical question, What Child is … Read more
For church-goers in the United States, services on patriotic holidays may end with an “America hymn,” one of those patriotic songs that somehow made its way into the hymnal like “God Bless America.” But why do we sing these songs in worship? The Kingdom of God transcends our borders and even the world itself. Jesus … Read more
Despite our sentimental attachment to the song, the story of “Amazing Grace” is intertwined with the story of transatlantic slave trade. In fact, the hymnwriter’s life tells us not only about grace, but about justice. While his mother hoped that he would join the clergy, English hymn writer John Newton (1725-1807) renounced his Christian faith … Read more