Do Not Forget the Hymns Grandmother Loved

Stack of Hymn Books at Mrs. White's House.

Children and grandchildren of today are finding a great many amusements that include technology, toy tablets, computer games, and many other recent inventions. They are often absorbed in these forms of entertainment, often using them more than any other form of recreation.  Here at the Estate, on a recent weekend, there were 8 grandchildren visiting us.  I saw them playing with the toys they brought here, and thought, "How can we compete with these toys? They will not be interested in old time skills and education." I realized it is more important than ever that we take the time, each day, to tell them about the precious Bible, to remember our prayers and thanksgivings before each meal and snack, and to teach them the hymns.

I also worry what these inventions will do to their vision. Will these bright, colorful screens with their fast computer animation make it difficult for the children to have the ability to sit and do their schoolwork or to read a regular book?  Will it deteriorate the minds and cognitive abilities of these little children who are still growing?  I quickly suggested we bring out the board games. Soon the children were just as happy with Scrabble, Checkers, and Connect - 4.  I was happy to see these "old fashioned" games being enjoyed by the entire family.

Then I thought about this generation of children and the next generation to come.  Will they remember the traditional hymns from the old hymn books? Churches today are often playing modern praise music with a screen projector. The old hymn books are being used less frequently.  The radios are playing modern praise songs. In years past the radios used to broadcast a segment such as "Old Fashioned Revival Hour" or "Bible Hour."  During these programs we would hear the choir singing such songs as "Heavenly Sunlight," "I Surrender All," and "Amazing Grace." These touched the heart, comforted the soul, and taught the essential gospel message.  Will the next generation remember these songs if the homes of today are not singing them?

In years past, many homes used to own their own hymn books.  One that was common in the 1800's was called "Watts and Select Hymns," which was written by Isaac Watts.  Our churches are full of hardcover copies of hymn books, yet some of us are struggling to attend church services because of illness and such. Many are going less frequently and are not regularly exposed to the hearing of the old hymns. Will these be forgotten?  Shouldn't every Christian home have at least one hymn book in their home, much like they have at least one television set?

Will the lessons of holiness and joy and salvation and peace from such hymns as "In the Garden" and "Oh How I Love Jesus" be lost to the next generation because the melodies have been silenced and replaced with other things?  I pray not.

I learned the hymns because my father sang them throughout our house as he went about his chores, in my childhood home. We had hymn books in the house and we had them in the church. Years later, when I had my own children, I bought each of them their very own hymn book. They grew up reading the books and singing from them.  They know them well. They have the foundation from their childhood of the beautiful songs to help guide them in life.  That is the time to teach them the hymns, when they are young in their childhood days.   Later, as they grow up into adulthood, into this constantly changing culture, with all its distractions, when they don't have time or energy to attend church and it starts to fall away, they will still remember the old hymns and they will be brought to their remembrance as is described in the beautiful old hymn, "Back to Bethel."

As I thought of all these things I wanted to buy a hymn book for each one of my grandchildren. But since that would be too expensive at this time, I came up with a workable idea.  Each day the grandchildren visit me, we do a short Bible time. We each read the Bible, sing a few hymns, and pray. We all love this time together. But I wanted to spend part of our day looking over the old hymn books and teaching all the songs I know to the little ones.  

I have a set of assorted hymn books, including a few old ones I inherited from my father.  The books have different page numbers for the different hymns because they were not all published by the same company.  This makes it more difficult to simply say to the children, "Let's sing number 245." Since I do not have a matching book for each child, I made a little booklet with a general index listing the title of all the hymns I know well. In this way, I can say to each child, "Pick one of the hymns for us to sing."  Then we can search the books to find the correct hymn. At each visit, we will sing one or two songs, over many weeks and years and the children will learn them all and love that they learned them in grandmother's parlour.  They will cherish the lessons and memories when we sang the old, precious hymns, that I love so dearly. 

 

Mrs. White's homemade booklet with a listing of select, well-known, hymns.

When we are constantly singing and hearing the old hymns, it stays in our hearts and minds. One of my granddaughters loved the hymns so much that she sat down and wrote the most precious little hymn you could imagine. One day she sang it to me and I asked her to please write it down for me. I keep it in a safe place. Now, at each of our family Bible times, she sings it for us from memory. It is a blessing! 

The old hymns and Bible times, shared with love and joy are what I want to pass onto the next generation.  The fruit of this effort is the passing on of godly values with a love of the old fashioned home. 

Blessings

Mrs. White

From the Archives -

Advice for a Happy Home - Peaceful Living by Rules.

Careful thrift in the Home - Reducing Expenses.

A Peaceful Old Fashioned Bible Time - The Prentiss Study. 

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  For Encouragement in Christian Homemaking, order Mrs. White's book, "Homemaking For Happiness: Wonderful Days at Home."

In this book, you will find essays, articles, and diary entries about life in a Christian home.

Entries are arranged by season, and include:  "Keeping a Frugal Kitchen;" "Missing the Lilacs;" "An Evening Walk in the Garden;" "At Grandmother's House;" and "Chores for Grandchildren."

You will also find a few photographs showing a little of the local landscape.

Paperback, 307 pages.