God of Our Fathers -- Daniel Crane Roberts

This fellow was a patriot, and proved it in two significant ways that survive over a century later. As an Ohioan, Daniel Crane Roberts volunteered to serve in the army during the mid-19^th Century’s American Civil War, and perhaps that episode stuck with him over a decade later when he penned “God of Our Fathers” to commemorate the nation’s centennial. By 1876 Daniel was in Brandon, Vermont (see map here) and was serving in a very different way, as a man of peace and of the cloth in a Presbyterian church in the northeastern part of America. What was it he remembered as he cast his vision backward, and was it only about what had already happened? Was there something else he entreated his God to do, upon the occasion of the 4^th of July celebration in Brandon? Daniel could say his two gifts of devotion to his country – his military service to preserve the Union, and this song-poem he authored over 10 years later -- merged with his allegiance to God.

 Daniel Roberts was 34 years old in the months leading up to the July 4^th that would mark the nation’s 100^th birthday, no small feat considering the war that had threatened the Union in the previous decade. His time among the 84^th Ohio Volunteers as a young man in his 20s undoubtedly must have been on his mind as he pondered that cataclysmic event, yet he dwelt not on the past exclusively as he called out to God in this hymn. Daniel looked ahead, too. He recalls the war’s imagery (verses 2 and 3) with a recognition that God’s protection was evident then ‘…in the past’ (v.2), amid all of ‘…war’s alarms and deadly pestilence’ (v.3). There must have been times that Daniel was overwhelmed with the experience, which was a far cry from Kenyon College in Gambier in central Ohio where he had been in the few years before the war commenced. Had Daniel thought about serving God in professional ministry while at Kenyon College, or otherwise before 1861 arrived and altered his life forever? History does not record what his life objectives were as a 20-year old, someone who threw caution to the wind and put his life at risk, along with many others. But, we do know that by 1865 he had been ordained as a deacon in the church in which he chose to devote the remainder of his life. His broader perspective on mortal -- and immortal life, especially – emerges from his inner thoughts, a window that tells us he knew God would guide his and his country’s future. Is it much of a leap to suspect that this viewpoint developed in his spirit as he marched into and out of battlefields? He could see and write about ‘…shining worlds in splendor’ (v.1), and implore God to ‘Refresh thy people…lead us from night to never ending day’ (v.4), hopeful visions that Daniel Roberts could imagine and call others to dream with him on July 4^th, 1876.

Did Daniel Roberts experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the way many other warriors, even to the present day, find it difficult to escape? His ministerial life, and at least to a small extent this hymn, may have been therapy that Daniel needed to overcome the war. Did his fellow Brandon, Vermont citizens wonder about this as they sang his words for the first time on that 1876 Independence Day? Daniel probably didn’t want them to focus on that, however, but on the One who he must have felt saved him over 10 years earlier. He’s still in that saving business, by the way.   

   

See more information on the song story in these sources: The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs by William J. Petersen and Ardythe Petersen, Tyndale House Publishers, 2006; Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1990; and 101 More Hymn Stories, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1985.

Also see this link, showing all four original verses: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/g/o/d/o/godofath.htm

Also see this link for author’s biography: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/r/o/b/e/roberts_dc.htm

Also see this site for song information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_of_Our_Fathers  

My Country 'Tis of Thee -- Samuel Francis Smith

Samuel Francis Smith knew a lot of languages, not the least of which was the language of music. So when a music publisher/educator/composer (Lowell Mason) had a gap in his own knowledge while in possession of some German-language songs, he sought out Samuel. The year was 1831 or early 1832, and Samuel was at Andover Theological Seminary (see seal of the town here; the seminary later merged with and relocated to another seminary in Newton) in Massachusetts. The eyes of this young (early 20’s) student soon fell upon a patriotic song extolling the German (Saxon) nation that captured his imagination. Of course, the words did not fit what was in his heart about his own country, but the tune and the nature of the original words sparked his creativity. In just 30 minutes time, “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” was thus written.

Samuel F. Smith’s patriotism was obviously tied to his faith, and the use of ‘My Country…’ in the few months and the nearly two centuries since its inception have underscored Samuel’s musical/patriotic sense. The Independence Day after Samuel first wrote his four or five original verses was the public premier of this patriotic hymn, sung by Sunday school children at a celebration of the day’s significance in Boston. Smith, evidently with encouragement from Lowell Mason, who conducted the children’s choir that day, saw the freedom of the nation as a holy gift, worth rejoicing and emphasizing as something He gave them. ‘Freedom’ or forms of the word or its synonyms is the focal point of every verse Samuel penned. But, independence was not merely a circumstance of a past generation’s sacrifices or just a fortunate coalescence of world events, as Smith saw it. Samuel’s final verse attributes American freedom to the God above – He is the ‘author’. It’s notable that the first few verses Samuel wrote contain no reference to this ‘author of liberty’, the One ‘to Thee we sing’. That makes it therefore possible that a crowd could mouth an abbreviated version of Smith’s words and not arrive at the same conclusion he did – that God is the One at work in American liberty. Yet, examine closely what Samuel implies in those verses, and it appears that the freedom he celebrates doesn’t just exist as a concept. It inhabits the people and the land, somewhat as a Spirit might. It comes from ‘every mountainside’ (v.1), filling him (Smith) with a ‘rapture’ (v.2), as music ‘swell(s) the breeze’ (v.3/4). Smith even indicates ‘rocks (would) their silence break’ (v. 3/4), perhaps not unlike what Jesus suggested (Luke 19:40) would happen if people failed to acknowledge God’s presence. Smith calls out to Him as ‘Great God our King’ (last verse) with his concluding words.

Am I therefore missing something minus Samuel Smith’s last verse? Without intending it perhaps, Smith’s construction of the song allows a secular use of ‘My Country…’ that could ensue if the last verse is excluded, perhaps in some sense therefore making it more broadly popular. Freedom in America is great, no doubt about it; just ask those elsewhere who don’t have it. It’s really what we all want – freedom from oppression, sickness, poverty – though no physical space or governing body on this planet does it perfectly. It’s a matter of perspective and recent experience, for I might highly value the freedom I now have because it’s better than what I had somewhere else. Yet, I always run into something that’s un-free, no matter how good the place and time is. Samuel Smith has pointed to someone who knows all about freedom, and where it’ll never disappoint. Found such a person yet?  

   

See more information on the song story in these sources: The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs by William J. Petersen and Ardythe Petersen, Tyndale House Publishers, 2006; Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1990; 101 Hymn Stories, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1982; Then Sings My Soul – 150 of the World’s Greatest Hymn Stories, Robert J. Morgan, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003; and A Treasury of Hymn Stories – Brief Biographies of 120 Hymnwriters with Their Best Hymns, by Amos R. Wells, Baker Book House Company, 1945.

Also see this link, showing all five original verses: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/m/c/t/mctisoft.htm

Also see this link for author’s biography: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/s/m/i/t/h/s/smith_sf.htm

Also see this site for song information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_(My_Country,_%27Tis_of_Thee)

Eternal Father, Strong to Save -- William Whiting

Did the author know his original words would spark the thoughts of at least five other poets in the century after he penned his own? That fact alone tells us that William Whiting’s creativity would be a lasting statement, which was really a prayer that he was making when he called out “Eternal Father, Strong to Save” in 1860 in Winchester, England (see this period depiction of that place in the mid-19^th Century, as it may have appeared to William Whiting and the boys he mentored at the College Choristers’ School, in southern England). What William had to say must have lodged in the imagination of those other writers as they considered their own circumstances, or maybe those of others who were wearing a uniform of military service and encountering danger. It’s been said ‘there’s no atheist in the foxhole on a battlefield’, and the same may be said of others who engage in similarly perilous ventures.

      

William Whiting was 35 when he wrote the original verses that called out to his Eternal Father, on the occasion of a young student of his who was preparing to sail to America. This episode illustrated the close camaraderie that Whiting and the students whom he mentored at the Winchester-based school had developed, a relationship that may have repeated itself in many ways over the generation that William had been at this institution. Eighteen years had already passed since he’d taken the reins of leadership of the college’s musical program, so he had already taught many boys the art of singing, and evidently something about faith, too. As one of the boys made ready to set sail for the east coast of North America, the stories of such a journey and its hazards – still present in the mid-19^th Century – must have caused more than a little anxiety, so William offered a measure of encouragement to him and the other boys. He didn’t speak of his own experience on the seas – it’s unknown if he in fact had any to draw upon. Instead, he taught the boys to lean upon someone else – the Eternal God, the Creator of the sea that now presented itself to the uneasy one about to set sail. Whiting’s reputation among the boys evidently met with approval by the school’s authorities, for he would be there another 18 years, continuing what we see in this incident or other various forms of it for many more years. When he penned these words of reassurance in 1860, William was really just halfway through what would constitute the bulk of his life’s work.

Not much more is known of William Whiting, although a handful of musical texts and two books of poetry are attributed to him. William completed his own journey in 1878, some might say prematurely at just 53 years of age. But, he made an impact. He showed boys growing into manhood that it’s okay to admit one’s dependence on another source for protection, that I can ‘cry to Thee’ (v.1) when I’m afraid. That verbalization – crying to Thee – is in fact the most often-used phrase in Whiting’s lexicon of this song. It’s all right to cower a bit, he suggests. But, I needn’t quake irrationally, because He is also there. William must have said this to many boys across 36 years of service at Winchester. He’s still saying it today, really. This message resonated with an American president and an English prime minister aboard a ship in 1941, testifying to its potency. If wars continue, you and I may hear William’s words yet again. And, He’ll still be there to calm us.    

   

See more information on the song story in these sources: The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs by William J. Petersen and Ardythe Petersen, Tyndale House Publishers, 2006; 101 More Hymn Stories, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1985; and Then Sings My Soul – 150 of the World’s Greatest Hymn Stories, Robert J. Morgan, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003.

Also see this link, showing all four original verses, as well as six alternate verses: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/e/t/e/eternalf.htm

See this link for information about the primary author: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/w/h/i/t/i/whiting_w.htm