As part of our recent holidays we splashed out on a two-night cruise aboard the Milford Wanderer through Doubtful Sound. It is a highly recommended experience. On one of the nights some of the other guests on board the ship took the two guitars that were available and began to strum some songs, with a few people singing along to them. There were songs like “What do you do with a drunken sailor”, “Greensleeves”, “Sweet Caroline”, and “Hine e hine”. You may note that most of the people there were not that young and the music a bit old-fashioned. Even a spiritual—“Swing low, sweet chariot”—was song, but when one person suggested “Amazing Grace” it must have been too religious. At some point the songs dried out. Younger passengers suggested the sea shanty “Wellerman”, which has become known worldwide in recent years and describes whaling in 19th century New Zealand, but the older musicians did not know it well. Soon the music ended.
I noted that throughout the evening music session Christian hymns and songs were carefully avoided, even though they probably would have been more well-known and even fitted the musical style. But in our secular society there is a certain reticence about that music. That is understandable: after all these hymns and songs are full of quite radical claims of a great God, who loves us humans. They are full of the praise of God and touch our most inmost experiences. How can they be sung by someone who doesn’t really mean them? How can they be sung in a culture that is no longer infused with Biblical stories and faith? And yet, without Biblical topics, lyrics often only are about our own feelings, about love lost or begun, or even tragic life stories. While in some shape and form these affect us all, in their details they are even less widely shared. In comparison to the old hymns, the songs seem somewhat empty. Hymns give voice to our emotions, our deepest feelings, our sincerest convictions, our hopes and longings. That’s why when they are focused on God, they carry so much meaning.