(Where We’ll) Never Grow Old -- James Cleveland Moore

 

He liked another song so much, that he wrote another one very similar to it. James Cleveland Moore had heard this other song (That Beautiful Land) perhaps since childhood, and it stuck with him, so that he wrote his own version, “Never Grow Old”, an idea that was somehow meaningful to this fellow still in his mid-20s. He was a Georgia-native, where he would minister (as well as in nearby Florida) for his entire life, so home meant something to him, as he would poetically express. And, not just the written word, but singing was important to James, an art form that he spent his life practicing and teaching others to value. That must be because he thought singing would continue in the afterlife, a belief he would incorporate into his poem.

 

James Moore had deeply ingrained ideas about his faith and how to express it by the time he was in his mid-20s and ‘Never Grow Old’ came to fruition. This song’s predecessor (That Beautiful Land) had come to light just a year after James’ birth in 1888, so its influence on James probably grew from his childhood and up through his early adult years, culminating in his own effort to describe the eternity. The Iowa-born writer of That Beautiful Land (Mrs. F.A.F. Wood-White) focused her thoughts on heaven’s beauty and the inhabitants’ eternal youth. Her repeated line ‘And nothing shall ever grow old’ captivated James’ heart, apparently, for he made that vision the centerpiece of his own poem. But instead of describing heaven – his words tell only of a ‘beautiful home’ – and its glory, James contemplates this inheritance’s impact on us who will live there. James marvels that ‘we will never grow old’ there, that it’s a place ‘where we shall never die’ (v.1, 2), something that’s hard to fathom. Perhaps that’s the part that most intensely captures believers’ spirits, since we all live and then die, eventually. Was there something in James’ life, maybe the death of one or more people, that made this idea so especially attractive to him as a 26-year-old? His own life’s chosen pursuit, singing and teaching others this skill, likewise emerges from his poetry.  ‘Happy praise…sing’ (v.2), and ‘…our voices will blend’ (v.3) occupied James’ mind and his hope, not unlike Mrs. Wood-White who also thought about a place where ‘the ransomed will sing’. This singing he expected would be part of his heavenly pastime wasn’t just a wispy hope for James; he spent his time on earth for the following 45 years after writing ‘Never Grow Old’ engaged in making music and teaching others to do the same. He reportedly wrote some 500 songs, for two years was president of the Georgia-Florida-Alabama Tri-State Singing Convention, and was president of the Southern Singers’ Association of Georgia. Perhaps James was just getting warmed up for what was to come, huh?

 

Did James’ hope for a singing afterlife grow as he aged, and because the inevitable approached? Not only could he see death approaching, but if he was like others who age, things that he did as a young, strong, confident corporeal lost some or most of their vitality. If James was aware of himself and those around him in 1914, he could foresee what would happen as the decades advanced. We grow old, a fact that a person can resist or try to ignore, but ultimately must accept. That is, unless you decide to check out early. But, if the thoughts of age and sickness trouble you and me, James had a solution. Think about where those facts of life are overcome. You got another plan? If you come up with a blank, try James’s idea, OK?

 

 

 

 

See all three verses and the refrain, and a very brief potential explanation of the song’s origin here:  http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/n/e/v/e/nevergro.htm

 

See brief biography of the author here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/m/o/o/r/moore_jc.htm

 

See here for another song that may have helped spawn “Never Grow Old”: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/t/h/a/b/thabland.htm

 

See here for reference to the author of “That Beautiful Land”: Mrs. F. A. F. Wood-White (hymntime.com)

O Think of the Home Over There -- DeWitt C. Huntington

He must have had some leftover emotions when he decided to record what his imagination gave him insight to see. DeWitt Huntington was not that uncommon in his circumstances in 1868 in Rochester, New York. But, if he was thinking about someone or multiple people that he’d lost to eternity, was that the impetus for his four-verse poem to himself “O Think of the Home Over There”? (The song may also be known as ‘The Home Over There’.) Was it his first wife (Frances), whose death left him a 36-year-old widower with three children two years earlier, whom he was remembering? Or, were there one or more of his brothers and sisters missing from his large family that caused his heart to ache? All of us lose people we love, but DeWitt didn’t wallow aimlessly in his feelings; instead, his resilient faith spurred his creativity, with one of the few songs that he authored in his lifetime. In fact, only a couple of other song-poems are attributed to DeWitt Huntington, so what he says in this one draws our attention; see if you can hear what was going on.

 

No record of what motivated the 38-year-old DeWitt Clinton Huntington to compose his poem in 1868 exists, so this song-poem detective has to rely on intuition and a bit of speculation. How would you or I feel if we’d lost spouses in our mid-30s, with three children to raise on our own? Was DeWitt’s solution to this tragedy two-fold -- writing his poem, and re-marrying? He did both of these in 1868, the second of which resulted in a fourth child. We can imagine that DeWitt felt the consolation and support of the church and its members with whom he ministered in western New York, as he coped with his loss and found new happiness with his second wife. Coming from a large family, which included eight siblings, had DeWitt’s life also been visited with the loss of one or more of them, or his parents, by this time? He certainly sounds like someone who was visualizing others who’d already departed, in every verse that he wrote. It wasn’t just ‘…the home over there’ that DeWitt could see. He thought about ‘the saints’ (v.1) and ‘friends’ (v.2), and then became more personal with ‘kindred’ (v.3) and ‘many dear to my heart’ (v.4), almost as if his insides were burning the more he wrote and thought about who he most wanted to see again in the afterlife. He was still feeling some ‘sorrow and care’ (v.3), and as he dwelt on his last two verses, he spoke in phrases of a longing to see these special people --‘let me fly…’, ‘I’ll soon be at home’ and ‘the end of my journey…’. Perhaps a part of DeWitt was feeling that his mortal existence had already been diminished, with a part of himself missing with the loss of his first wife, Frances. Was that why the daughter that he and his second wife (Mary) had was named Mary Frances? How many others around DeWitt’s church were likewise experiencing similar life-changing events, times that upend one’s life, perhaps irreparably?  

 

Was a part of Dewitt, even after remarrying, still dissatisfied with how things were going in 1868? How many times do you think he heard someone utter the words ‘Oh, time heals’, as he tried to manage his situation? Was thinking of the new home in the Beyond part of his therapy? He must have surmised, especially with the career path he’d chosen 15 years earlier as a man of God’s word, that to focus his being on the eternal life that beckoned was not his own idea. Something – Someone -- inside himself was doing that. It appears that DeWitt was listening, and coaxing others around him who’d listen, to do what he was putting into practice. Maybe these thoughts, poetically expressed by DeWitt and later put to music (by Tulius C. O’Kane) were just the tonic to salve his spirit at a difficult time. See if you think it helps you, if you’re in a similar situation.

 

See brief biography on the author here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/h/u/n/t/huntington_dc.htm

 

See the song’s four verses here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/h/o/m/e/homeover.htm

 

See more biography here: DeWitt Clinton Huntington | Hymnary.org

Pierce My Ear -- Steve Croft

 

Not much is known of him, except that he must have been a reader of ancient law, and evidently thought so highly of it that he wrote his own personal pledge-song to mark his commitment. That much we can say about Steve Croft, and how he expressed his vow to God by saying these unusual words -- “Pierce My Ear”. By giving the song’s title only a cursory exam, someone might assume that Steve was asking for some piece of elegant embroidery, something that would make others admire his taste in jewelry (like the earring shown here). After all, if one goes to the trouble of intentionally punching a hole in a body part, make certain that what you put there really makes a statement! But, Steve was apparently more concerned about making a statement with his heart, than with his lobes. See if you agree, after reading some more.

 

Steve Croft was reading his bible and focusing on something God spoke to Moses, which he was to pass along to Hebrew refugees who had fled from Egypt long ago. This was from a story 3,400 years old, so why did Steve think this was relevant in 1980, when he wrote some words to commemorate what God told Moses? Moreover, look at the context of the story (in Exodus 21:5-6), and decide for yourself ‘Do I want to be another person’s slave for life’? What was Steve thinking?! My thoughts, and probably yours too, are skewed when thinking about slavery, with repugnant images of this cultural practice in mind. We think of slavery as a relic, best left on the ash heap of history. And yet, there were some who chose slavery, because the master was benevolent. That’s what God told Moses here. So, if I actually find my life enriched by my master, I am eager to make a lifelong commitment to him; an ear-piercing solemnizes the occasion, at a doorpost where an awl finishes the act of physically marking my choice. With this context, we can deduce that two things were true about Steve, even if we know nothing else about the circumstances of his life at the time: He thought God was benevolent, and there was something in his life that he thought was worth surrendering to this God. In verse 1, Steve repeated back to God the words spoken by God to Moses all those centuries ago – I’ll do this, even to the point of my ear lobe being pierced.  In verse 2, Steve shares the ‘why’ of his decision – that he’d been bought by this same God with divine blood, an astonishing act that he could not ignore. Can anyone adequately explain the ‘why’ of God’s ransom payment for us? Steve doesn’t try, but perhaps we can safely guess that this God had already blessed him – bestowed benevolence, even physically. Perhaps Steve had concluded that the surrender of some things only made sense, because this God is so capable of making one’s cup overflow with good things. Surrender is also a rational choice if my past includes a lot of anguish because of my own missteps. Was that true of Steve, also? ‘God, I lay these terrible mistakes at your feet in confession, and trust that you can re-make my life when I submit to you completely, as your servant’. Could those have been the words behind Steve’s prayer-poem in 1980?

 

Steve Croft was feeling submissive, perhaps in the most complete sense that he’d ever experienced. Perhaps he had also just discovered something about freedom and choice. How valuable is freedom, if I make choices in my own ignorance that ultimately bring pain? On the other hand, how does it feel to serve someone who guides all of my decisions, and who ultimately brings me joy in prodigious quantity? Does it really register when I read that He’s making a place for me up where He’s living (John 14:2)? This is a God of prodigious, not meagerly things. So, I do the calculus, and decide that I’m OK being the servant of this kind of God. Steve probably did the same. How about you?

 The only source for the story is the Exodus 21:5-6 bible passage.