Since I Have Been Redeemed -- Edwin O. Excell

 

He sure lived up to his name! That might be said without too much exaggeration about Edwin Othello Excell, a hymnwriter, publisher, and songleader, particularly after he began his musical career in earnest in the late 1870s-early 1880s and moved to Chicago in 1883. It was just a year hence that he reflected on the blessings he had received in a five-verse poem “Since I Have Been Redeemed”, one of the first he wrote in his Chicago–based career. Could Edwin have been excused if he did exert himself a bit more than most, in order to reflect his surname? Thousands of written songs, dozens of hymnbooks, and countless people that he touched personally through his song-leading are in Edwin’s credit column, a resume that not many others of his generation could match. But, most likely without hesitation, Edwin would probably say that the source of his energy was another’s name, and not his own.

 

Edwin Excell did not start out to be a musical dynamo, though that’s what he would achieve by age 69 when he died. His father’s role as a minister (German Reformed) and author must have played an embryonic role in Edwin’s early development, and after he turned 20 and was married, he left the brick-laying and plastering vocation in order to pursue the music that he loved. He’d already been engaged in this as a singing instructor and songleader in church services and at revivals, but more formal education and a relocation to Chicago to begin his life as a music publisher firmed-up Excell’s career path by 1883. No specific circumstance is known for what moved Edwin to express his thoughts in 1884. Yet, as a 33-year-old launching out on this path in 1884, one can imagine that Edwin must have been enthusiastic about what he was doing. There’s no gloom or hesitation within his musical voice in the verses he penned – it’s about why he ‘love(d) to sing’ (v.1). Everything evidently flowed from Edwin’s sense of ebullience ‘since (he) had been redeemed’. Besides the music he loved to sing, Edwin had purpose – ‘to do His will’ (v.2) – and to do it without reservation (v.3), bringing a ‘joy’ that Edwin said he could not adequately express (v.5), and an assurance that a home beyond also awaited (v.4).  Five verses could not contain all that Edwin wanted to say -- that would take nearly another 40 years and authorship of or contribution to nearly 90 songbooks. It is estimated that Excell’s songbook production had reached nearly the 10 million mark by 1914, the largest among publishers at that time. Many of these publications undoubtedly contained Excell’s two or three thousand songs that he wrote as well, another expression of Excell’s passion for the life he must have felt was summed up in ‘Since I …Redeemed’. Is other evidence necessary to expose what was coming out of Edwin Excell’s spirit in 1884, and why he wrote?

 

Edwin Excell’s life challenges the rest of us with a question. How much am I doing to say ‘thank you’ for my Creator’s inspiration? I cannot buy my way into His presence, that is true. But, there must have been times when Edwin was in front of a crowd, trying to stir their passion in song for God, when he knew that if he didn’t exude a certain gusto, the crowd would not either. The zip of one person can provide the initial momentum, pushing others to exercise their own gifts to lift His name and reputation. A certain phrase, perhaps a unique story, or a combination of factors speak to the variety of ways that He works in his created ones. He certainly did, in a big way, in one named Excell. See if you can find how He’s working for you, and become a kind of ‘excell’ for him.

 

See this site for all 5 verses: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/s/i/n/c/sinceihb.htm

 

See here for more extensive biography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._O._Excell

 

See here for biographic information on the author: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/e/x/c/e/excell_eo.htm  

Safe in the Arms of Jesus -- Fanny J. Crosby

 

Might this one be one of the most personal of her thousands of hymns? Someone might think so, if the story of why Fanny (Frances Jane, often called ‘Aunt Fanny’) Crosby wrote “Safe in the Arms of Jesus” could be presumed as true, straight from the sorrowing heart of this poetess/hymnwriter, who was living in New York (see its seal here) with her husband at the time. It was a loss that no parent should ever have to endure; and, Fanny was as human as anyone else, yet with a light inside her that would not allow her to be despondent. Had this 39-year old suffered through something that continued to gestate for another decade, finally to be ‘born’ as a three-verse empathetic expression that was just waiting for one of her collaborators to spark into existence? ‘Safe …’ was reportedly one of Fanny’s favorites. See if you agree with her, after hearing the story.

 

Among the qualities of Fanny Crosby that are most remembered are the physical challenges of blindness that somehow did not seem to hinder her life of poetry, hymn-writing, and urban missionary work in Manhattan. And yet, an incident that befell Fanny and her husband (Alexander van Alstyne), before Fanny really began writing the bulk of the thousands of hymns attributed to her, may have spurred what she felt deep within herself about the death of children. She and Alexander lost a daughter soon after birth in 1859, a loss about which neither parent spoke much. She talked of this time only decades later, in the last years of her life, and in an offhand way to tell others that she knew what it meant to be a parent, if only for a short time. Those friends closest to her suggested that Fanny’s quick recitation of a poem, when prompted by William Howard Doane in 1868, indicated that she had carried the pain of this child’s sudden demise all this time. It’s said that Doane popped in on Fanny in her Manhattan apartment with just 40 minutes to spare before catching a train, and asked if her ear could discern what words would match the tune he had to give her. True to her reputation, the words almost immediately emerged, apparently after she crouched on her bedroom floor in prayer for a short time. Fanny was reportedly heard at times comforting a grieving mother with the words of the hymn. And why not, for when the words she penned to offer some solace were spoken, who wouldn’t feel consoled? Fanny knew intrinsically that Jesus-God is, above all, compassionate. Most of her words are not ones of sadness, but of hope and succor. ‘Safe’, ‘gentle’, ‘sweetly’, ‘rest’ (v.1), are just some of the words that leapt from the soul of Fanny; bespeaking of the intimate reassurance she felt from His embrace. She did not ignore pain, however, with words like ‘corroding’, ‘temptations’, ‘sin’, ‘blight’, ‘sorrow’, ‘doubts’, ‘fears’ ‘trials, and ‘tears’ (v.2) on her mind; but, these were nevertheless all things that the departed child would need not experience here on earth. Her last thoughts of Jesus in verse 3 note His ‘refuge’ and the ‘trust’ one has in His presence.              

 

What Fanny says hardly needs any other expressions or explanation. She knew what it meant to be a child of God, and must have felt at ease, even in the midst of a personal tragedy, when she pondered being as a child in His arms. I may grow old, but I’m still His child, awaiting His warmth and never-ending security. We’re never too old to find Him, as a child runs toward some outstretched arms. His home can be yours today. Do you feel safe yet?

 

See more information on the song story in these sources:

Then Sings My Soul, by Robert J. Morgan, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003  

This link, showing all three verses: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/s/a/f/e/safearms.htm  

Also see this link for author’s biography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Crosby

And here also: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/c/r/o/s/crosby_fj.htm

Hide Me Away, O Lord -- Keith Lancaster

 

Part of him may feel like he’s in a protected space, but another part must feel that what he wants more than anything is to reveal the most crucial part of himself to others who would listen. Those two polar perspectives both seem to characterize Keith Lancaster’s musical personality when he says “Hide Me Away, O Lord”. It’s a song that Keith wrote in the mid-1990s, probably at least in part when he was at home in Cullman, Alabama (see map-picture), a place from where he launches multiple efforts to spread the musical message of God. So, just how hidden does Lancaster really want to be? He founded something called Acappella Ministries that has spawned the various facets of Keith’s vision as a ‘musicianary’, so he’s far from an obscure figure. And yet, the words he wrote and the ways in which he carries out the life’s calling in which he finds himself suggest that Keith has focused himself into a specific space that he feels his Creator has carved out for him.

 

And so, Keith Lancaster has been part of a mission for Godly music since his mid-20s and the year 1982, when Acappella Ministries was launched. Someone might say that Keith has sought his Creator’s protection – a hidden space – from that point forward. Can you hear Keith responding that he has been more blessed there as compared to any other place he could have been? One can imagine that Keith must have taken to heart ancient songwriting about finding safety ‘in the shadow of your wings’ (v.1), a key theme in ‘Hide Me Away…’. Was he, in fact, reading several Psalms at the moment he penned those song-title and verse one words (like Psalm 17:8; 36:7; 57:1; and 63:7)? If Keith took note of that songwriter’s feelings, he would have noted that David experienced a special place in God’s eyesight, and found His love and ‘refuge’ there. Did Keith find a special kinship with his songwriting ancestor as he echoed David’s exultation that he could ‘…sing in the shadow of your wings’ (Ps. 63:7)? Keith’s poetry indicates he also asked for his Lord’s peace (v.2) in his endeavors, certain that there would probably be ‘the day of trouble’ on occasion (v.2). There’s no hint of anxiety in Keith Lancaster by verse three of his ode, in which he declares he’s ‘safe in your (the Lord’s) dwelling place’. It’s almost as if Keith is saying something about the shelter he’s found for himself in the verses he wrote; and yet, by writing the words for others to sing, he’s inviting countless others to join him in that place. ‘Many mansions’ (John 14:2) may be what Keith and the rest of us believers wait for with such great expectation, right? It’s great to find security in His home, but the sense of gratitude is magnified when multitudes can come along.

 

From what you can see on one of Acappella’s sites, Keith’s family is likewise deeply involved in the musical place where he has been active for the last several decades. At least one daughter and one son are involved in worship ministry alongside their dad. His wife, Sharon, is also part of the venture – something that makes this couple refer to both of themselves as musicianaries, particularly when they’ve traveled to conduct workshops or other singing ventures for Praise and Harmony, one of the offshoots of the Acappella Ministries. Keith’s family is a living example of those who’ve been ‘hidden away’ – they’re ‘beneath His wings’, but not because of faint-heartedness. It’s just a place where they’ve found a certain strength that cannot be found elsewhere. Have you found a better hiding place today?               

 

See this site for information on the author: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Lancaster

See some information on the author’s musical ventures here: https://acappella.org/worship-leader-institute/