Day 407 | Friday, 30 April 2021
Yesterday I shared an article about faith. Hebrews 11 is a wonderful chapter from the Bible on faith. There is a hymn based on Hebrews 11 that was written in 1960 by Anders Frostenson and translated by Fred Kaan in 1972. It was introduced in the 1989 United Methodist Hymnal. Here are the words. (There are many other hymns around faith, but I thought you might appreciate a newer one.)
“Fred Kaan translated this particular hymn in 1972 for the 4th edition of Cantate Domino, hymnal of the World Council of Churches, printed in 1974. Mr. Kaan was born on July 27, 1929, in the North Holland city of Haarlem. Mr. Kaan’s mission of spreading Christian unity is exemplified here by the way he contributed to the accessibility of international hymnody as well as the ecumenical and biblical character of this hymn.” “This hymn is based on Hebrews 11, beginning with verse 1: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for.” In stanza three, he refers to Genesis 6:13 (also Hebrews 11:17) and Genesis 12:1 (also Hebrews 11:8). In stanza four, he refers to Exodus 14:15-16 (also Hebrews 11:29). In the final stanza, he paraphrases Exodus 3:14 and Isaiah 6:3.” “The repetition of the first word “Faith” in stanzas one, four and five, as well as “Long before…” in stanzas two and three, subtly expose and emphasize the consistency of God’s faith.” “All the hymn’s images set the imagination of the singer in motion, and one can almost hear the birds in the garden, the rain in Noah’s times and the wild waters of the Red Sea. In the final phrase in stanza five, Mr. Kaan concludes by proclaiming that we need to respond to God’s calling by serving in faith.” “The final line of the last stanza ends with the singer responding, “I am willing, Lord, send me.” In comparison to another recent hymn based on Isaiah 6, “Here I am Lord,” this hymn enjoys surprisingly little popularity.” “This may be attributed to the choice of less stirring tunes, like FOR THE BREAD and MERTON. Neither tune seems to work well with the text because they do not underline the beautiful language or its vibrant and colorful storytelling.” “Frostenson and Mr. Kaan collaborated on the book Songs and Hymns from Sweden in 1976. Mr. Kaan included and translated 13 of Frostenson’s hymn texts.” Today: Think about who the people were who guided you and your faith.
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