..that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth (Philippians 2:10)
in heaven and on earth and under the earth (Philippians 2:10)
Mundane, mingling with the sublime. That might be the best way to describe in five words or less how Naida Hearn composed a song one day in 1974. It was a warm summer December day for Naida, so you might have figured out by now that she was in the southern hemisphere, where the seasons are reversed from those in the northern hemisphere. It was near Christmas time, when perhaps thoughts of Christ are more prevalent, though there was no chill or snow like I might imagine accompanying that special time of year. “Jesus, Name Above All Names” was on 43-year old Naida Hearn’s mind as she went about her daily chores.
Naida Hearn was doing her family’s laundry that December day in 1974 near Palmerston, New Zealand. Whether it was actually North Palmerston (on the northern island of this southwest Pacific island nation) or the smaller town Palmerston (on the southern island) is not clear. Since she was using a wash house, maybe it was the much smaller, and therefore more rustic, southern island town of eight or nine hundred people. Puketapu Hill (translated ‘sacred head’, or known as ‘Holy Hill’ by the locals), which is seen from most places in Palmerston, was probably within Naida’s eyesight as she washed clothes (see picture). She’d been thinking about Jesus, and wanted to keep her brain focused on Him as she did the wash…in kind of a way, like having Puketapu Hill in front of you in Palmerston – something so dominant that it’s hard to miss. That’s how Jesus is, as He becomes front and center in a believer’s thoughts, if one opens the mind’s eyes to Him. Naida used a method that’s common at Christmastime. She pondered the various names of Him, including ‘Emmanuel’ that we often hear in December, and which she repeated in her composition. Perhaps it was a King James or Wycliffe or Revised Standard Version of Matthew’s virgin birth story that she read, since most other bible translations might have spelled it ‘Immanuel’ in Matthew 1:24. She sang as she worked, and sensed He gave her the song’s first line. So, she kept going, intoning some of the other names she’d found in her bible. She grasped that she had something special after a few moments, and left the wash to plunk out its melody on a piano. Once she had the finishing touches on it, she asked for His OK, and got it. Then she went back to the laundry.
Is life ordinary, even tedious? ‘Yes’, Naida Hearn might have admitted, along with the rest of us. Maybe that’s the reason she wanted to spice up her average day, that day in 1974. She gives me a model for the way to do that. Even during the Christmas season, the hubbub of the Yuletide might distract me if I’m not careful. I could take for granted the hill that’s in front of me every day. Is there one in your world that you see daily? He’s like that, but I confess that I often overlook the details of His landscape, the nuances of His various names. I need to start picking out more details of that peak I see every day .
“The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs”, by William J. and Ardythe Perersen , published by Tyndale House in 2006, is the only source for this song story. The Petersens indicate that Hearn was born in 1931 and died in 2001.
The following is a site giving details of Naida Hearn’s home in New Zealand. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmerston,_New_Zealand
The below site suggests that she was born in 1944 and died in 2001.
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