My Dog and I

My Dog and I

 I and my faithful dog lived in a small house perched on a little hill just a stone’s throw from the church. Sometimes the church bell would waken me on a Sunday morning just in time for services. I learned to be very quick in showering, shaving and getting dressed in those days! My dog whose name was Shadow was great company for me out in the country. Have you ever eaten a meal while talking with your dog? It can be quite interesting. They always appear to listen intently to what you are saying. I attempted to train my Shadow to fetch my slippers. I though it would be a novel idea for me to say “slippers” and have my dog fetch them for me. I put a lead on my dog, said the magic word “slippers” walked him to where my slippers were put them in his mouth walked him back to my chair and had him drop them on the floor. We did this several times before it was time for me to go to a prayer meeting service. It was late by the time I got home. I turned on my kitchen light to be greeted by my dog who was glad to see me and glad to go outside!!! My kitchen was in a complete mess. I had made the mistake of leaving my garbage in a bag in the corner. It was no longer in the bag and it was no longer in the corner it was all over the kitchen floor. In the midst of the garbage was a trace of something material like; you guessed it, my slippers! Lesson learned.

Political Correct Hymnology

Mainline Protestant denominations are engaging in a publishing frenzy to see who can produce the most politically correct hymnal for today's church-goer. The traditional language of worship is being revised in order to be more gender-neutral, and to avoid the possibility of minorities and people with disabilities being offended by what has been deemed "antiquated" language. For example:

From the United Church of Christ Hymnal

- "O Master Let Me Walk With Thee" becomes "O Savior, Let Me Walk With You

- "Dear Lord and Father of Mankind" now appears in our hymnbook as; “Dear Father Lord of Humankind.”

- The doxology in our Book of Praise has been butchered, no longer "Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost," but now; “Praise God from whom all blessings flow, Praise God all creatures high and low, Praise God in Jesus fully known, Creator, Word and Spirit, One.”

The new version of the Gloria Patri ("Glory Be to the Father") is "Glory to the Creator."

= The phrase “right hand of God” has been changed to “mighty” or “strong” hand of God, so that no left-handed people won’t feel insulted.

= The words “darkness” or “blind” can no longer be used to symbolize spiritual ignorance.

= No longer appropriate are such terms as “Lord;” “Ruler,” “King,” and “Master,” when referring to the Almighty. A truly democratic God is now addressed as the “All-inclusive One,” “Great Spirit,” “Architect Divine,” or “Source of Being.” On a more personal level, God is ferquently referred to as “Mother” and “Partner.”

= Rarely are personal pronouns applied to Christ, and hymns such as “Crown Him With Many Crowns” now appears as “Crown With Your Richest Crowns.”

= Jesus is referred to as “God’s only Child” rather than “God’s Only Son.”

< Other changes made to old favorites include “Faith of Our Fathers,” which is now “Faith of the Martyrs.” (OUR BOOK OF PRAISE HAS SIMPLY DELETED IT)

-“Dear Lord and Father of Mankind,” now appears in our hymnbook as “Dear Lord and Father of Humankind.”

< In Isaac Watts’ beautiful hymn “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” the phrase “On which the Prince of glory died” has been replaced by “On which the Christ of glory died.”

< And in “Just As I Am,” all reference to being “poor, wretched, and blind” has been eliminated.

Stand up, stand up for Jesus,
Ye soldiers of the cross!
Lift high his royal banner,
It must not suffer loss

has become

Stand up, stand up for Jesus,
stand up before his cross,
an instrument of torture,
inflicting pain and loss.  (OUR HYMN BOOK HAS SIMPLY DELETED IT)

- the words to Hark! The Herald Angels Sing have been changed to be 'gender inclusive' by removing the words 'man', 'men' and 'sons'. (LISTEN TO HOW OUR BOOK READS; “Born that we no more may die, born to raise the lost of earth, born to give us second birth.”)

-In our hymn book as well this time in the second verse; “Pleased as Man with men to dwell Jesus our Emmanuel has been changed to, “Pleased on earth with us to dwell.”

-Glory to the newborn King from the hymn Hark the Herald Angels in another church’s hymnbook has been changed to; “Glory to the Christ child, bring,” our church might follow in its next revision.

In other hymnbooks the carol O Come All Ye Faithful has its refrain changed from O come let us adore Him to O come in adoration, the reason given is that the original text sounded sexist.

-  The following lines from Joy to the Word was judged in 2008 to have been WORST political correct Christmas carol. The lines “Joy to the world, the Lord is come, Let earth receive her King” has been replaced with “Joy to the world, for peace shall come, Let this be our refrain.”

-The altering of lines from the original to make it politically correct saw churchgoers being told not to sing the words all in white during Once in Royal David’’s City in case they appeared racist.

Hard to believe isn’t it. Our hymnbook has us sing instead of “all in white shall wait around,” to “bright like stars, with glory crowned.”

The Apostles' Creed and Nicene Creed are both included in the affirmations of faith, but alternative versions are also provided, and it is these that will be used by ideologues. In the revised Apostles' Creed, Jesus is referred to as "God's only Child" rather than "God's only Son." The first sentence of the creed is now rendered, "I believe in God the Father-Mother almighty, creator of heaven and earth." The last section of the revised Nicene Creed becomes "We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Sovereign, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father-Mother, and from the Child."

 

A Positive Note To End On!

"What a way to learn great theology! That's what comes to mind whenever I sing one of those old hymns. "And Can It Be" is like putting the doctrine of salvation to music. "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" is a melodic lesson in grace. No wonder good hymns make for strong faith!

-- Joni Eareckson Tada

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