Having just set our clocks back one hour last weekend, it seems everything changes, especially in November, and Remembrance Day seems to bring about nostalgia, as it should.
Taking part in the service in Verdun last Sunday, I got to thinking about traditional music and marching bands and one particular tune, though no longer played, echoed in my head.
I come from a military family; Uncles, Aunts, and Grandparents were highly involved in all aspects of military life – both social and professional.
As kids, we were dragged (sometimes kicking and screaming) to armory functions such as kid’s parties, dances, adult bingos but, especially to parades. My dad did not attend worship of any kind, but he knew, by heart, Onward Christian Soldiers! He had a great singing voice and that hymn frequently came up in his repertoire of 30’s and 40’s “oldies”. As kids, we knew it by heart before we even started Sunday School.
The well-known hymn was written by S. Baring-Gould (1834-1924) and has been an anthem sung by generations of Christians. And Carl Price offered a little insight about the origin of this hymn in One Hundred and One Hymn Stories:
In Yorkshire, England, where Doctor Baring-Gould was stationed as curate of Horbury, it is the custom to observe Whitmonday as a day of festival for the school children. In 1865 his school was invited to march to a neighboring village, there to join the children of another school in the festival exercises.
As he could not find a suitable hymn for the children to sing while marching from one village to another, he sat up late into the night to compose a hymn; and out of those midnight hours came the lines, “Onward, Christian soldiers,” to which the children marched toward their festival and to which hundreds of thousands of Christians have marched in the decades since it was written.
“With the cross of Jesus going on before” refers to the cross, borne at the head of the procession; while the many banners, following it, are pictured in the line, “See His banners go!” It was published in the Church Times in 1865.
The hymn with its stirring tune, written later by Sir Arthur Sullivan, makes an ideal processional and has been widely used, not only in places of worship, but also upon a great variety of other occasions. Allan Sutherland, in Famous Hymns of the World, describes the wild rejoicing in Philadelphia on election night, 1905, when to signalize the victory of the Reform Movement thousands paraded the streets, singing this hymn; also its use in cheering Christian Japanese soldiers, starting for the war of 1904.
It was the battle song of Roosevelt’s Progressive campaign in 1912. In the World War it was a prime favorite, and was sung by General Feng Yu-Hsiang’s Eleventh Division of Chinese Christian soldiers as they advanced to battle before Peking in May, 1922.”
While so many of us are uncomfortable with the militaristic themes and the historical use of this hymn, it is important to note that Scripture itself contains a great deal of warfare imagery (such as the Armor of God). While combining the purposes and goals of the state with those of the church–especially in regards to war–is problematic, the hymn itself is a helpful encouragement to believers as we “fight the good fight of faith” (1 Timothy 6:12). I am often hesitant to reflect on lectionary readings containing themes of violence. If I can, I prefer to change or omit them entirely.
Most of you know that The United Church of Canada omitted Onward Christian Soldiers in the 1996 publication of Voices United. If we want to be "theologically correct", then there are a whole lot of hymns that we grew up with that should be omitted.
For me personally, November nostalgia is a real thing. It is a time of remembering and I think, for the most part, some us find Onward Christian Soldiers to be familiar and even comforting – we remember our fathers, uncles, aunts and grandfathers. It brings to mind nostalgic memories of childhood; a time before Facebook and iPhone when families actually got together for Sunday dinner, for anniversaries and birthdays, Christmas and Easter. Or, perhaps we just like the tune but we do not subscribe to or agree with the words.
Whatever your views are, time moves onward and things change. Seasons follow seasons as life’s realities unfold. But cherished childhood memories remain frozen in time. As we approach the third and fourth quarters of our own 100 years, it is still nice to remember “the good old days”, or what we have left of them.
In peace
Pastor Beryl, DLM