I was channel surfing last evening when I ran across an interview with George Beverly Shea. Bill Gaither was conducting the interview and it apparently took place when George (Bev) was 98 years young. He was born in Canada on February 1, 1909 and turned 100 on his birthday this year. His voice was still strong and rich and he could still sing. He was the soloist for the Billy Graham crusades and he always sang just before Dr. Graham brought the message. George and Billy started working together in the early 40's. It is estimated that he has sung before a combined audience of over 220,000,000 people in his long career. As clips were played of his performances through the years, my heart melted and my eyes misted up at the sound of his rich baritone voice singing the words of those great old hymns. I listened without a word as he sang "How Great Thou Art", "I'd Rather Have Jesus", "Amazing Grace", and a host of others. I miss singing those hymns. Our current song services are a sham when compared to the melody and poetry of some of the older hymns. Bill Gaither said it very well when he commented that he didn't sing them because they were old, but because they were great and need to be sung. I wrote a couple of poems with that very message. Closed Hymnals
Hymnals hang idle
on the back of the pew
replaced by words
on a screen.
Words without music.
Chanted, repeated.
Unknown melody slurred.
Hymnals hang idle,
their music not played.
Inspirational stories unheard.
Dennis Price
The following is an excerpt from a longer poem entitled "Worship;
Racks with unused hymnals,
silent reminders of the inspired
utterances of saintly poets.
Sometimes we sing one or two,
rarely stopping for a breath between them
so we can chant some over used chorus
several times while craning our necks
to see the words displayed high above
on a drop down screen.
No music to follow. Just some bouncy tune
that we should know because we
hear it so often.
It makes me want to bunny hop down the aisle.
I squirm and hope that the song service ends soon.
Worship.
Dennis Price
