Fr. Dwight Longeneckerhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YuIQkvvaLc
5. Good Hymns Open the Heart to God – Someone has defined music as “emotion expressed as sound”. One of the great sadnesses of our sentimentalist age is that on the one hand we are cynical and cold hearted and on the other hand our society is swamped with shallow emotionalism, vapid sentiment and eroticized feelings. We shy away from the vulnerability of emotion and do not know how to express proper emotions of love and commitment toward God and others.
A good devotional hymn like Just as I Am – sung here to the sweet English tune Saffron Walden–opens the heart to God in an accessible and acceptable way within worship. One of the reasons people don’t want to sing is precisely because they know deep down that to open the mouth to sing is also to open the heart to God. When we sing we are vulnerable. When we sing all our human defenses are down. We join with the children and the angels when we sing, and this comes hard for many people–but it is exactly what should happen.
A good hymn opens us up and takes us to that vulnerable spot in a safe way. As it does it prepares the heart for the encounter with God which is at the heart of worship. Within that vulnerability God touches us and his healing and reconciliation can take place. This does not happen in a hymn which is all about us and how we are going to change the world. Instead a hymn like “Just As I Am” is all about us being changed by a real encounter with the Lamb of God.
Here are the words written in 1835 by Charlotte Elliot. This hymn is a perfect example of a hymn written by a Protestant Christian but with words which are deeply applicable and appropriate for the Catholic liturgy. As a communion hymn, coming after the Agnus Dei, what could be more moving and appropriate? Listen to the YouTube again and see if you remain unmoved.
Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot,
To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;
Sight, riches, healing of the mind,
Yea, all I need in Thee to find,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, Thy love unknown
Hath broken every barrier down;
Now, to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, of that free love
The breadth, length, depth, and height to prove,
Here for a season, then above,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!
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