I’ve often heard it said, “I don’t know the right words to say.” This thought is usually expressed around an important occasion.
There is something about a hymn that few other modes of expression can match. The words of Christ-centered hymns are always ‘right.’ They drive one’s heart and mind toward TMITs–The Most Important Things. Someone, somewhere, and most often a very long time ago, took the time to condense all the important thoughts about a subject into power-packed little gems called ‘verses.’ How thankful I am, and have been throughout my life, for these TMITs.
There are a few select hymns that capture my childhood. Singing them brings back fond and often very specific memories, the likes of which always stir my heart with warmth. “In Christian Home Where Man and Wife” is one of them. As a young child, I found it odd that a hymn of promised joy would be framed in a melody that didn’t sound joyful. Frankly, the melody mourned and left in me a melancholy feeling upon singing it.
As with many familiar hymns, my adult perspective on them is completely different than my childhood perspective. Having ‘been around the block,’ both in age and experience, the melody of this hymn is now perfect in every way. It is serious and sturdy and plods along with a determined lilt, the way a Christian family sometimes has to operate in order to weather the storms that inevitably come.
M. B. Landstad, the author of the text, in the middle 1800s, knew and, I’m guessing, experienced these facts of life: Family life will be difficult. Relationships will be broken. Finances will be tight. Catastrophes will happen. But, he knew as I know, that the strength of a Christian family doesn’t dwell inside the family. The strength of a Christian family dwells on the outside, in the person of Christ, the Healer of relationships, the Giver of all good gifts, and the Source of peace in the wake of any catastrophe.
M. B. Landstad’s introduction into hymn writing began with the purchase of two leather-bound hymnals, found at an auction and secured for a bid of four whole cents. He was mesmerized by the hymns of the German hymn writer, Philip Nicolai, and spent hours copiously translating them into his mother language–Norwegian. Eventually, Landstad was instrumental in preparing a new hymnal for the Church of Norway.
Landstad also penned “When Sinners See Their Lost Condition.” I decided to include the 2nd verse of this hymn on the inside of this Wedding card, making it a THGC–Two-Hymn Greeting Card. Why? Because the melody is happy.
Which melody are humming right now?
Happy humming!
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