1. Landon leaned over to me and said "This is the longest hymn ever!"
2. The young men were done preparing the sacrament by the end of the first of four verses!
3. The song felt long at first, but then ended up being great preparation for taking the sacrament because the slowness of it led us to focus on the words.
4. It inspired multiple testimonies today.
Reverently and meekly now, Let thy head most humbly bow.
Think of me, thou ransomed one; Think what I for thee have done.
With my blood that dripped like rain, Sweat in agony of pain.
With my body on the tree I have ransomed even thee.
In this bread now blest for thee, Emblem of my body see;
In this water or this wine, Emblem of my blood divine.
Oh, remember what was done That the sinner might be won.
On the cross of Calvary I have suffered death for thee.
Bid thine heart all strife to cease; With thy brethren be at peace.
Oh, forgive as thou wouldst be E'en forgiven now by me.
In the solemn faith of prayer Cast upon me all thy care,
And my Spirit's grace shall be Like a fountain unto thee.
(I love the 3rd verse especially!)
At the throne I intercede; For thee ever do I plead.
I have loved thee as thy friend, With a love that cannot end.
Be obedient, I implore, Prayerful, watchful ever more,
And be constant unto me, That thy Savior I may be.
With my body on the tree I have ransomed even thee.
In this bread now blest for thee, Emblem of my body see;
In this water or this wine, Emblem of my blood divine.
Oh, remember what was done That the sinner might be won.
On the cross of Calvary I have suffered death for thee.
Bid thine heart all strife to cease; With thy brethren be at peace.
Oh, forgive as thou wouldst be E'en forgiven now by me.
In the solemn faith of prayer Cast upon me all thy care,
And my Spirit's grace shall be Like a fountain unto thee.
(I love the 3rd verse especially!)
At the throne I intercede; For thee ever do I plead.
I have loved thee as thy friend, With a love that cannot end.
Be obedient, I implore, Prayerful, watchful ever more,
And be constant unto me, That thy Savior I may be.
The conducting Bishopric member bore his testimony of the importance of keeping Christ as the constant in our lives (as mentioned in the last line of the last verse). He pointed out that as we face the many changes that come our way, it is our faith in Christ as our constant source of strength that we are able to deal with those things.
In our ward this year so far we've had many births, a tragic death, people moving in and out, job losses (hello!), health issues, spiritual struggles, and so on. How would we deal with those things without Christ and His Atonement as our constant strength? Seriously, how do people do it?!
As the meeting went on this theme of constancy continued in other people's testimonies. It reminded me that we have no idea what's going on in other people's lives, not just in their homes but in their extended families as well. So we all need to look to Christ with His love that won't end and to give Him our burdens rather than shouldering them alone. It's such a relief when we remember to do this or finally figure out how.
**Thoughts??**
17 comments:
I wish I had been at your testimony meeting today. My family is one of those that people look at and think is so perfect, but the reality is quite different. My husband is going through the repentance process and may be excommunicated. Our son is supposed to be baptized in the fall, but someone else will have to baptize him. People will come up to me and say things like "you guys are the perfect example of the Gospel." It hurts so much, because we're not the kind of family people think we are - and I can't talk about it to anyone! I thought I was handling it pretty well, but today I just cried through the entire 3 hours of church. I really need the Savior right now, but I'm feeling really alone and I don't feel like our family is worthy of His help.
Oh anonymous, I'm so sorry you're dealing with such a heavy load. You're ALWAYS worthy of the Lord's help though, so please let go of those thoughts and cling to Him!
Oh my- what great sunday thoughts! You are so right Jill & anonymous- we just never know what is going on in others lives, even bloggers.
so many of us have issues that we don't feel we can talk or blog about. That's one reason why I love your blog jill- you are so open- you have a way of making others feel at ease & unjudged.
Anonymous- my thoughts & prayers are with you. The atonement is for everyone! Church is not for perfect people because there is no such thing. Hang in there....
I truly enjoyed reading those four verses of your sacrament hymn. I don't think I've ever noticed how poignant and meaningful they truly are and the writer had the words coming from Christ, himself. I loved the third verse best also. I just love fast and testimony meeting. The fasting is truly hard but oh so worth it when you have the right attitude about it. It's amazing how the Lord does expect a sacrifice to receive such spiritual treasure afterward. If we don't do it with a humble and contrite spirit, we never know what hidden treasure we've missed.
This is wonderful, Jill. I love that hymn. I love it when testimony meetings seem to have a theme. It's so true that we don't know what is going on in others' homes, and so sad when we feel alone in our burdens. I know I've felt like that, but that is only the adversary trying to keep us from progress and happiness. I feel like any time someone shares their trials it's like a victory for the right, since that's the first step in feeling less alone and people will always come to their aid. Having our burdens lightened is a wonderful gift!
This is one of my favorite sacrament hymns...I like it when the sacrament song takes a while, it feels like I have more time to prepare (get the kids quiet and settled so I can actually think.)
Great thoughts. I usually really enjoy testimoney meeting, the best part is that it only takes one person to touch on a note that rings true...which always seems to happen.
The comment my annoymous just breaks my heart. I remember in our last ward when the bishop was put in (he was younger and one of our friends/aquaintances) and he told us how hard it is to suddenly realise how many of the "perfect" couples/families are really struggling. It was a reminder to me to never assume or judge anyone...because you really never know what someone else is going through. How wonderful it is to know that we have the savior to turn to and he will ALWAYS be there...no matter what, he WILL be there.
The thing that jumped out at me while reading through the song was the very last part "That thy Savior I may be." He WANTS to be there for us so bad but can't unless we let Him. Just like your picture, we have to let Him in.
I look forward to your Sunday thoughts every week.
It's so true that we never know what's going on in people's lives. I read a quote today where someone said "If you think someone's family is perfect then you just don't know them well enough." We just have no idea what others are struggling with and dealing with at any given time. This is a great post; the lyrics of that hymn are so inspiring.
This is one of my favorite hymns, not only musically, but the words are amazing. Thanks for the sweet birthday cards - you're always thoughtful Jill. Thanks :)
Today has been a spiritual feast for me and coming to your blog and reading the lyrics to that wonderful hymn just seems so fitting.
And then to read the comments from the anonymous commenter really touched me. When my dad was excommunicated (and thrown in jail!) I came to such a sweet understanding of the Atonement. I grew up in one of those "perfect" families and now I am so grateful that Jeff is a bishop so that I can use my past experiences to help me reach out and extend love to those who are often overlooked because they seem to be so strong.
The Atonement is real and our Savior's love is so sweet. Jill, thanks as always for sharing your Sunday thoughts....
That is one of my favorite sacrament hymns, partly because I sing alto and this hymn has a particularly interesting alto line, but mostly for the beautifully moving words. Singing hymns is one of my favorite parts of church--it's so edifying.
It is so easy to look at others and think that they have the "perfect" life. The revelation that hit me a few years ago--after numerous job lay-offs for my husband, nearly losing our home to foreclosure, and having to basically start over financially--is that the Savior suffered not only for our sins, but also for our sorrows and disappointments. I reached a point when the burden of disappoinment and sorrow became too heavy to carry any longer and I realized then that I could place it at the feet of my Savior. I have to remind myself of that now and again, but it's something I'm so grateful to have learned.
Wow, Jill....once again you didn't disappoint me with your sunday toughts post.
Today we were all sick at our house and unfortunately we didn't go to church, so I've been empty all day and now I came to your blog and got exactly what I was missing.
Thank you!
That was so nice to read. To read and not sing for a change...and really hear the words.
Thank you.
I love your thoughts Jill. I wish that there was some way that I could speak with anonymous. I too have been in the same situation. My husband has been excommunicated, was re-baptized and then was recently dis-fellowshipped. So I have been through all that she is going through. I know what it is like to put on the happy face and have to be strong for everyone when your world is actually falling apart and you cannot control anything that goes on. It is at those times when you have to turn to the Lord. Believe me when I say He listens to every single thing that comes from you and he counts every tear that you cry.
I also have a daughter that turned 8 this year and had to have somebody else baptize her. It was a hard decision for her to make, but she was so strong and made a decision that she felt was right.
I have often looked at people and thought that they have everything, a nice house, nice cars, the perfect family. I often get discouraged because we struggle so much and we don't have a lot of money to do a lot of things that it seems like everyone else has and things that I would like also. But then I have to look at it more and realize that a lot of them will tell you that they make a certain amount of money and they really don't, more often than not they have a ton of credit card debt and I can easily say that we don't even own a credit card! More people struggle with this than I even realize.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is so wonderful. What one person struggles with may be a place where another person is strong and that is where we need to help each other and not judge! I may have a strong testimony in prayer and have a weak testimony in tithing. But as we learn to help and build up each instead of tear each other down that is where we learn the wonderful lesson of UNCONDITIONAL LOVE. Something that Jesus has for everyone of us. I am sorry I have gone on and I think I will just have to post something about this on my own blog!
Thanks Jill for your topic starter!
Honestly Jill I don't have a clue how people do it. I believe without the gospel and a sure fountain of love you would be lost. Empty. I know I would have been.
I think that's why we can never judge because we have no idea what someone else's life is like and what it would be like to fill their shoes. Definitely something to constantly remember.
I always think it's interesting how testimony meetings seem to have themes and I think it's the Lord's way of telling us what we need to hear. That is a song that I need to re-read the verses to...thank you for sharing this.
I've always like that hymn, it's slow and I think it really invites the spirit. The meeting sounds very good.
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