Ivory Palaces -- Henry Barraclough

Twenty-four year old Henry Barraclough’s path to a hymn he was writing was circuitous, by several thousand miles, in fact. He might never have imagined the words to “Ivory Palaces”, except that he had agreed to be the piano player for a touring preacher who was returning to his own country in the year before the words to the hymn occupied his mind. The words are even more winding, if one considers their origin, and that they travelled through the minds of at least two others before settling in Henry’s one evening, far from his native land of Britain. It was an ancient song that spurred Henry’s more recent thoughts, representing a gap of nearly three millennia. How resilient and significant is such a song, with this kind of track record?

    

Somebody in about 10^th Century B.C. Jerusalem first crafted the words, and they eventually made their way via a 20^th Century A.D. preacher to the imagination of Henry Barraclough. An ancient Psalmist (Psalm 45) from among a group called the Korahites most likely composed the words initially (Psam 45:8), as part of a liturgy for the Jewish temple during the time of King David. Heman was their leader, so perhaps he was the original composer and author – a professional musician. From one kind of artist to another centuries later, “Ivory Palaces” describes the Divine bridegroom’s home, a place He deliberately vacated for a comparatively lowly betrothal. Henry Barraclough was reminded of this fact one summer night in 1915 in a place called Montreat, in western North Carolina. His relationship with J. Wilbur Chapman, the preacher that spoke from Psalm 45 that evening, had begun a year earlier, in Barraclough’s homeland of Britain. There, Henry was coaxed to join Chapman’s evangelism team upon its return to America, making possible the event that conjured up the imagery in Henry’s mind. Henry has related that later, while in a car that was transporting a group to a hostel, he began to ponder the conference message he’d heard. Did his accompanying friend, Charlie Alexander, or perhaps one of the others in the car, discuss together what they’d heard, prompting Henry’s own psalm? He indicates that he crafted three of the four verses in pretty quick order on a small piece of paper in that car and later back at the conference site. His fourth verse of “Ivory Palaces” was requested by the preacher Chapman, following the next day’s premier of the song Henry wrote in just a few hours the previous day.   

How did Henry feel about being Christ’s bride, as he mulled over the message from Wilbur Chapman? One could not summarize his emotions in a word, or even many words. The Korathite, some 3,000 years earlier, wrote 17 verses (in our contemporary version of the bible) to describe how he regarded the king, and it was undoubtedly used repeatedly by subsequent generations. J. Wilbur Chapman must have had some stirring words too, or Henry may not have been inspired to craft something to mark the occasion. It seems the import of Christ’s journey to wed us isn’t just a momentary highlight. It’s in fact been ongoing for centuries, as one can fathom from Ivory Palace’s historical pedigree. And, to properly express a wedding day’s emotional pitch, words are fused with music. Magical – that’s how you might hear someone describe the event. It was surreal for Henry, as he recalls the trappings of Christ’s presence. Myrrh (v.1), aloes and a cross (v.2), cassia (v.3), many of which were associated with His death and burial. Wedding or Execution? Could it be for me and you, that death is where the wedding actually culminates? Think about it.   

       

Information on the song was obtained from “The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs”, by William J. and Ardythe Petersen, 2006, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. 

See this site for biography of composer: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/b/a/r/r/barraclough_h.htm  

Also, see here for the song’s story: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/i/v/o/ivorypal.htm

The NIV Study Bible and its editorial notes, New International Version, general editor Kenneth Barker, Zondervan Bible Publishers, 1985, is the source for the information on the Psalm 45.

I'll Live in Glory -- John M. Henson

He was over halfway there, and what he said in 1936 may have been something he shared with his partner. John Melvin Henson most likely was somewhere in northern Georgia (perhaps near or in Gordon County, where he was born) when he penned the words “I’ll Live in Glory”, a belief he and his partner Homer Morris must have shared and then co-published as a song they thought would resonate with other believers. The 49-year old John had been engaged in music-writing, teaching, and publishing for many years when he wrote these words and music, one of the few hundred songs attributed to him over his 84 years on earth. His thoughts suggest he was an energetic, eager, life-loving servant, but also one who wasn’t afraid to ponder his mortality and what life’s end would mean. In fact, one might surmise that such thoughts were probably what galvanized his being, his purpose for living.   

John Henson had been an avid music professional in various forums for at least 25 years by the time he wrote “I’ll Live in Glory”. In his early 20s, he started teaching others to sing and later formed the music publishing enterprise, Morris-Henson Company, with his friend Homer. Additionally, John was routinely writing poems and sometimes the music, too, for new hymns like “I’ll Live…”. He had much over which he could reminisce in 1936, so was he pondering how things were going as he penned the first few words of his poem? He apparently enjoyed life enough to want to stick around for a while, even if it had “…uneven ways” (v.1), an intriguing reflection for someone in the midst of America’s Great Depression. How was the Morris-Henson Company faring during this economic upheaval? John makes no further asides to earthly life, except to say he wanted to be useful in God’s kingdom – “…be of service along this pilgrim way…” (v. 2). Looking forward to an unfathomably better existence would not have been unusual for anyone during the mid-1930s, so John’s enthusiasm for the ‘glory by and by’ refrain he employs is rational. (He uses this phrase at the end of each verse, as well as twice in the refrain that’s sung three times.) Who wouldn’t look forward to ‘glory’ when circumstances, for himself or others he could observe, had become depraved by comparison? This simple thought was one John must have reasoned others about him would sing with gusto. It might be more common among the elderly, whose health more likely makes life difficult or even grim, but the daily drudgery can afflict people of all ages. Henson’s upbeat tune and verses must have heartened more than a few who chose to look forward and upward as he did.

How soon’s the ‘by and by’, anyway? For John Henson, it didn’t arrive for another 35 years. His song’s first few words tell us that he probably wasn’t disappointed that ‘by and by’ didn’t arrive in 1937. At 49, one would expect he might have thought ‘I don’t want to go just yet!’ Yet, he would have gone willingly (‘…but if my savior calls me..’ v.1). One can imagine that John didn’t sit idly, waiting to see what the answer was. Although what motivated him was thinking about where he wasn’t at the moment, he didn’t waste his flesh-and-blood moments. Draw others, the more the merrier. Make the ‘by and by’ that much sweeter, with a multitude to join in a common hurrah. That’s the message of Revelation (7:9; 19:1, 6). You think John Henson might have read the same thing, before he wrote his poem?     

See site here for very brief biography of the author-composer: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/h/e/n/s/henson_jm.htm

See also here: https://hymnary.org/person/Henson_JM

Beautiful Isle of Somewhere -- Jessie B. Pounds

Jessie Hunter Brown Pounds was 36, and had been sick, perhaps not an uncommon circumstance for her. Did that morning’s unfortunate physical discomfort cause Jessie to imagine a “Beautiful Isle of Somewhere”, where she would never have to suffer the same way again? Indianapolis (its flag is shown here) was her new home, where she and her new husband were beginning their lives together, worshipping and serving at the church where he (John Pounds) was the pastor. So, it must have made Jessie especially uneasy to miss accompanying her husband to the church that day. Would the other church members be worried about her? If she couldn’t be with him physically, maybe Jessie could be with John by thinking on a topic they both appreciated – heaven. Was it in fact his sermon topic for the day?

Jessie was no stranger to either sickness or hymn-writing as she thought about her latest poem in 1897, the morning she felt ill in Indianapolis shortly after marrying. She’d reportedly been sick often as a child, prompting her family to educate her at home rather than to send her to public school. So, it must have been there under her parents’ tutelage where she began writing poetry. Jessie, a teenager living in northeastern Ohio, was soon sending her poems to a Cleveland newspaper. It was an editor who coaxed Jessie that her poems could be hymns, a suggestion that she took to heart. As someone has said, the rest is history, some 800 hymns later by some accounts. So, was it her sickly nature as a child that was the necessary familiar setting, creating the scene one Sunday morning as Jessie sat at home? She’d been married just a few weeks, so being unable to accompany her husband to worship must have been doubly painful, on top of the physical malady that afflicted her that day. Heaven was obviously on her mind, so she wrote a new poem to explore how its environment would be a blessing, somewhere. The earth’s shortcomings also must have been on her mind, as she longed to go to the somewhere else place, a beautiful isle. Separation, even briefly, from her man, and a sickly body were the dual conditions that spurred ‘Beautiful Isle…’, a result that came to fruition swiftly. Her thoughts had concluded in just the few hours that she spent alone. It must have quickened her spirit to think of that serene island and how it would overwhelm her present misery.

It’s no surprise that the things Jessie considered about the heavenly ‘somewhere’ outnumbered those earthly maladies she wanted to leave behind. Sunshine and songbirds, and especially a living God (v.1); lengthy days, completed duties, a strong heart, and a welcome reward [guerdon](v. 2); a lightened load, rippling clouds, and singing angels (v. 3) were all mental images that Jessie saw. Only a fleeting undefined sadness (v. 1) translated from her thoughts down to the pen she held. Truth and renewal (refrain) were also conditions that Jessie particularly exclaimed as she considered Somewhere, over and over again. Somewhere might be thought of like ‘Someday’ or ‘Sometime’, a hope-filled, confident expression. No maybe about it in Jessie’s verses. Somewhere is real. You got Somewhere to go?   

See here for the song’s story: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/b/e/a/beautisl.htm

See here for brief biography of the author: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/p/o/u/pounds_jb.htm

Also, see here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessie_Brown_Pounds