Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 266, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 November 1915 — Sacred Music in the Home [ARTICLE]

Sacred Music in the Home

By Mrs. Josedh A. Pullins

Music is the language of emotion. Great music has been written to depict hate, anger, fear and supreme tragedy; and less violent but no less great music has been written to express love, hope, contentment and joy. -

What power it has to satisfy, melt and subdue; truly there is an almost omnipotent power in music. The human soul is a mighty harp and all its strings vibrate to the gush of music. The human voice is the most perfect musical instrument ever made and well it might be for it had the most skillful maker. Some one has said that music washes away from the spul the dust of every day life. Carlyle says “All deep things are musical.” Martin Luthei* said “The devil can not bear singing.” Surely there is nothing like it to cast out the demon of discontent. It keeps the spirit fresh and elastic and better fitted to combat the trials and perplexities of the daily routine of toil.

How sweet does it make the worship of God to have the reverend emotions poured out in song. Music sweetens the cup of bitterness, lightens the burden, makes the heart courageous and the soul cheerfully devout. When we know how much the ,world needs awakening, we can think of nothing better fitted to do it than that power which dwells in the mysterious melodies of music. Sacred music is often a precious rpeans of grace. So you that have this gift think of the souls around you perishing and use it to glorify God. Charles Wesley’s songs will out-live John Wesley’s sermons. We have spoken in a general way of music, of its qualities and impressions. Josef Hos man says “The sense of rythmis given to every normal human being.” and from tin ybabes to old age har-

mony attracts us, and there has never been anything composed that surpasses hymns written by Fanny Crosby, Isaac Watts, A. M. Toplady, P. P. Bliss and Wesley. Such as “Saved by Grace," “Am I a Soldier of the Cross?” “Rock “Let the Lower bights Be Burning,” or “Jesus, Lover of My Soul.” There is an unfathomable depth to them when rendered in consecration. They are among the very best things we can bring into the home; they are’ filled with beauty and truth, two things children seek persistently. In memory I have no more vivid-pictures than those of my grandfather’s and gran grandfather’s respective homes with the /amily gathered around the altar for evening worship, and nothing has ever stirred my soul deeper than the songs sung after the reading of the Scripture with no one but God to hear; no pretense nor extra trills, but a full unreserved unaccompanied communion and praise through song. While in my own father’s home we delighted in singing and playing sacred music, we had quite a variety of instruments but we seemed to get more tranquil unison when rendering that class of pieces, no difference which we used. There is no doubt but this helped to develop in the children sent out from these homes a desire for the more staid and spiritual things and instilled in them a reverence for all good as well as enlarged their sympathies and fitted their hearts with devotion for the Creator. So, knowing these effects, I do not hesitate to insist on having this music in our own home and I trust I have said something that will induce you to note the superior quality of good sacred music and give it a place in your family’s entertainment.