We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing
He chastens and hastens His will to make known
The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing
Sing praises to His name, He forgets not His own
Beside us to guide us our God with us joining
Ordaining, maintaining His kingdom divine
So from the beginning the fight we were winning
Our Lord was at our side, all glory be thine
We all do extoll thee our leader triumphant
And pray that thou still our defender will be
Let thy congregation escape tribulation
Thy name be ever praised, O Lord make us free!
Many churches resound with this well-known hymn every Thanksgiving season.
It's one of my favorites, but I first heard it not in church, but in my fifth-grade class in public school. It was in our music textbook, with these very words, and we would sing it that way. The teacher (a man that year) explained the origin of the song, as the result of Dutch Protestants gaining their freedom from Spanish Catholics around 1600. We sang it, and many other Christian-based songs in our textbook, and had a Christmas pageant. I still remember the tall girl with a Greek surname who was chosen to play Mary.
The ACLU didn't break down the door and recruit plaintiffs for a lawsuit. Parents didn't complain. Kids didn't complain. Even the principal (who was generally an ass) didn't complain.
So where was this school? In the United States? Maybe the Bible Belt, or at least the deep South?
It was in southern California, just north of San Diego. Imagine that!
The year was 1964, and the U. S. A. was very different than today. Everyone knows that the Beatles made their American debut that year, and that LBJ trounced Goldwater in a presidential landslide. But did you know:
It was still very shameful for a woman to be pregnant and unmarried. Even so, about once a year the local TV news would run a story about some local girl, usually 10 to 12 years old, who had gotten pregnant and had the baby (abortion was illegal in most of the country). Oddly enough, the story was presented as a human-interest "mom and baby are doing fine" feature, rather than a "scarlet-letter" example of moral decline;
In every state except California and New York, you could buy a handgun by mail. Despite this, Columbine-style school shootings were unheard of. The local TV news averaged two stories per day of a homeowner or businessperson who had defended themselves from criminals by using a gun. Schools didn't expel students who punched bullies in the nose, insane people were kept confined, and murderers were often executed without 15 years of appeals;
The Vietnam War was gaining momentum, but it still had the support of the American people, and the military was respected;
It was the last year that most U. S. coins contained 90% silver; Medicare was due to begin the next year, and promised to make healthcare available to all seniors;
Gays and lesbians were still "in the closet", but people of the same sex could be nude in locker rooms for showering and changing clothes without any thoughts of shame or inappropriateness. In fact, nude swimming was commonplace in the single-sex P. E. classes of many schools, as it was in YMCAs and the Boy Scouts;
The culture also had its darker side: the civil-rights struggles were far from over. That year 3 civil-rights activists were murdered in Meridian, Mississippi and buried in an earthen dam. Public schools throughout the South would remain segregated for several more years;
While the prevailing culture was predominantly Christian, it wasn't universally so. Each year's class always had a few Jewish students - we knew because they got the Jewish holidays in October off, as well as the Christian ones we all got. No one screamed about unfairness or discrimination, and no one hassled them for being Jewish. We all just went on with our lives.
Solomon said "There is nothing new under the sun", and again, he is proven right. Today, as in 1600, we have the "politically incorrect" religion (Christianity) being oppressed by the government-sanctioned religion (secular humanism). Today, as in 1964, we stand on the brink of war, economic crisis and loss of our fundamental values and freedoms. Just for a moment, before sitting down to dinner this Thanksgiving, look back to 1964, and maybe to 1600, and sing it again:
Let thy congregation escape tribulation
Thy name be ever praised, O Lord make us free!
He chastens and hastens His will to make known
The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing
Sing praises to His name, He forgets not His own
Beside us to guide us our God with us joining
Ordaining, maintaining His kingdom divine
So from the beginning the fight we were winning
Our Lord was at our side, all glory be thine
We all do extoll thee our leader triumphant
And pray that thou still our defender will be
Let thy congregation escape tribulation
Thy name be ever praised, O Lord make us free!
Many churches resound with this well-known hymn every Thanksgiving season.
It's one of my favorites, but I first heard it not in church, but in my fifth-grade class in public school. It was in our music textbook, with these very words, and we would sing it that way. The teacher (a man that year) explained the origin of the song, as the result of Dutch Protestants gaining their freedom from Spanish Catholics around 1600. We sang it, and many other Christian-based songs in our textbook, and had a Christmas pageant. I still remember the tall girl with a Greek surname who was chosen to play Mary.
The ACLU didn't break down the door and recruit plaintiffs for a lawsuit. Parents didn't complain. Kids didn't complain. Even the principal (who was generally an ass) didn't complain.
So where was this school? In the United States? Maybe the Bible Belt, or at least the deep South?
It was in southern California, just north of San Diego. Imagine that!
The year was 1964, and the U. S. A. was very different than today. Everyone knows that the Beatles made their American debut that year, and that LBJ trounced Goldwater in a presidential landslide. But did you know:
It was still very shameful for a woman to be pregnant and unmarried. Even so, about once a year the local TV news would run a story about some local girl, usually 10 to 12 years old, who had gotten pregnant and had the baby (abortion was illegal in most of the country). Oddly enough, the story was presented as a human-interest "mom and baby are doing fine" feature, rather than a "scarlet-letter" example of moral decline;
In every state except California and New York, you could buy a handgun by mail. Despite this, Columbine-style school shootings were unheard of. The local TV news averaged two stories per day of a homeowner or businessperson who had defended themselves from criminals by using a gun. Schools didn't expel students who punched bullies in the nose, insane people were kept confined, and murderers were often executed without 15 years of appeals;
The Vietnam War was gaining momentum, but it still had the support of the American people, and the military was respected;
It was the last year that most U. S. coins contained 90% silver; Medicare was due to begin the next year, and promised to make healthcare available to all seniors;
Gays and lesbians were still "in the closet", but people of the same sex could be nude in locker rooms for showering and changing clothes without any thoughts of shame or inappropriateness. In fact, nude swimming was commonplace in the single-sex P. E. classes of many schools, as it was in YMCAs and the Boy Scouts;
The culture also had its darker side: the civil-rights struggles were far from over. That year 3 civil-rights activists were murdered in Meridian, Mississippi and buried in an earthen dam. Public schools throughout the South would remain segregated for several more years;
While the prevailing culture was predominantly Christian, it wasn't universally so. Each year's class always had a few Jewish students - we knew because they got the Jewish holidays in October off, as well as the Christian ones we all got. No one screamed about unfairness or discrimination, and no one hassled them for being Jewish. We all just went on with our lives.
Solomon said "There is nothing new under the sun", and again, he is proven right. Today, as in 1600, we have the "politically incorrect" religion (Christianity) being oppressed by the government-sanctioned religion (secular humanism). Today, as in 1964, we stand on the brink of war, economic crisis and loss of our fundamental values and freedoms. Just for a moment, before sitting down to dinner this Thanksgiving, look back to 1964, and maybe to 1600, and sing it again:
Let thy congregation escape tribulation
Thy name be ever praised, O Lord make us free!
