There’s Something About that Name – Bill and Gloria Gaither

It has five letters. All of them, by themselves, are unexceptional. What’s special about His name, then? Believers and non-believers alike have spoken it. Many people must think it’s a good one, because they have named countless children with this ‘Jesus’ name. Even when praying, lots of believers declare ‘in Jesus name’ to add weight to their conversations with the Father.  On the other hand, much of the world more casually throws His name around, too – an exclamation in a fit of frustration, perhaps. Why? “There’s Something About that Name”, Bill and Gloria Gaither declare, but they’ve left out the word ’special’ that’s implied in their statement. What was ‘special’ for them in 1970? Was it raindrops, of all things (see picture)?

Bill was 34 and Gloria was 28 years old in that year when ‘Jesus’ was on their minds.  ‘Healer’,’ Comforter’, ‘Peace-Giver’ are other names they could have put in their composition in 1970. The Gaithers had gone through a difficult, but yet enlightening chapter, with the loss of grandparents and the onset of their own parenthood and its responsibilities. They observed loved ones on either end of the age spectrum who felt the impact of His name. Their grandparents, though feeble and often mentally confused, still knew His name. And, as Bill’s and Gloria’s children experienced sickness, these composer-parents counted on ‘Jesus’ for wisdom and confidence to ease their anxiety. What they wrote communicates that something peaceful and refreshing came over them, something like what happens in the creation He made for them. Perhaps they felt His presence in the wake of a rainstorm one day, like an invigorating aroma that clears the mind, as their words indicate. Rain washes the pollution out of the atmosphere, and the creation senses the nourishment He provides.  If you’ve ever watched someone’s health falter in old age and the inevitable demise of the human body, you understand what it means to those people, both the dying and the surviving, as they emerge on the other side of that experience. Is it the anticipation of renewal that our grandparents’ can see, when they utter ‘Jesus’? Undoubtedly, it was the same objective these parents had for their sick children – renewal and its strength – when they said ‘Jesus’.      

Keep saying ‘Jesus’, is the message of the song the Gaithers wrote. Seven times, that’s how much they have me say that name in this brief tune. Make it saturate the entire world. And, like moisture that evaporates back into the heavens, it eventually comes back down again, effecting a meteorological cycle we call weather. It cannot be stopped. I observe its repetitious nature, but is it seven or seventy-seven times, (a la Peter’s discussion with Jesus about forgiveness  - Matthew 18:21-22)? How many times has it rained in your life? Keep counting, and keep saying ‘that name’.

“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.