Three months ago, we marked the anniversary of the publication of The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. And the great author's name comes up again today, this time in connection with a poem he wrote during his long imprisonment. A century ago, an Anglican priest adapted Bunyan's words. They were set to Monk's Gate, a traditional Sussex melody arranged by the great Ralph Vaughn Williams, and were included in the hugely influential imprint from Oxford University Press, The English Hymnal 1906.



That Anglican cleric, a scholar of Westminster and Christ Church, vicar of Saint Mary the Virgin, author, missionary, military chaplain, professor of ecclesiastical art, and canon of Westminster Abbey, Percy Dearmer, died in London on this date in 1936 and is buried in the Abbey. He wrote or translated others, and in fact edited The English Hymnal, but this hymn is his most widely known. It remains a standard of schools and choirs and has been extensively recorded. My memory is that it was chosen for the state funeral of Winston Churchill, and it was sung at the ordination of Rev. George William Rutler as a Roman Catholic priest.



He who would valiant be ’gainst all disaster,

Let him in constancy follow the Master.

There’s no discouragement shall make him once relent

His first avowed intent to be a pilgrim.



Who so beset him round with dismal stories

Do but themselves confound—his strength the more is.

No foes shall stay his might; though he with giants fight,

He will make good his right to be a pilgrim.



Since, Lord, Thou dost defend us with Thy Spirit,

We know we at the end, shall life inherit.

Then fancies flee away! I’ll fear not what men say,

I’ll labor night and day to be a pilgrim.

Listen my children and you shall hear

Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,

On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;

Hardly a man is now alive

Who remembers that famous day and year.





Familiarity with Longfellow's poem was required when I was a boy, to my lasting benefit. And the date and place, as well as the name and character of Paul Revere, figure prominently in a great many memories because they figure so in the history of the fight for American independence. Christ Church, the Old North Church, in whose steeple the two signal lanterns were hung that night by the sexton Robert Newman, is a consecrated building still, with an active congregation. And the windows of the church are in need of repair.



Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton announced yesterday that the rules governing grants for the preservation of historic buildings have been modified so as no longer to declare religious structures inelegible. The decision has caused some controversy, but the arguments in favor of the new policy of religious neutrality seem convincing to most observers. And other American churches and synagogues have also been mentioned as appropriate recipients of historic preservation grants.

I began the blog a year ago today, the memorial of Saint Rita, by quoting the motto of Venerable John Henry Newman. Cor ad cor loquitur. Heart speaks to heart.



I've learned in these months a great deal from a great number of people, many of them listed to the right, and, because of their gracious learning, their testimony and witness, have often felt part of a fellowship and of an almost corporate endeavor. I'm grateful to them, and to those who've visited here, surrounded, all of us, by the great cloud of witnesses of Hebrews 12. And, with them, knowing the strength of His arm, and seeking His face.





More about Jesus would I know,

More of His grace to others show;

More of His saving fullness see,

More of His love Who died for me.



More about Jesus let me learn,

More of His holy will discern;

Spirit of God, my teacher be,

Showing the things of Christ to me.

It was grim news from Manhattan this week, the announcement that ChevronTexaco will cease sponsorship of the Saturday afternoon broadcasts of The Metropolitan Opera at the close of the 2003-2004 season. The Texas Company, later Texaco, sponsored the live broadcast of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro on 7 December 1940, a production with Licia Albanese and Ezio Pinza, inaugurating the longest continuous sponsorship in broadcast history.



It's difficult to understand how the folk at Chevron can have no imaginative sense of what those Metropolitan Opera broadcasts have meant to so many people through so many years, and no sense either of the goodwill for the Texaco name that they're throwing away.



Here is a complete list, with principals, of Metropolitan Opera broadcasts since 1931. The list is maintained at the MetManiac site.

Some folk claim it as the greatest hymn in the English language. Extravagant, perhaps, but it's certainly very fine and has been a source of comfort and inspiration since it was published by Charles Wesley in 1740. There's a story that a Confederate soldier found himself unable to fire at a Union sentry because the boy was singing the hymn. They chanced to meet years later when the Southerner gave his account at a veterans gathering and the Northerner realised that he was the boy of the story. He explained that he'd been singing the words to summon courage and assurance through his lonely and fearful watch.



Although it's been set to several tunes, including Hollingside by John Bacchus Dykes, it's probably most familiar when sung to Aberystwyth by Joseph Parry, who was born in Wales on this date in 1841.



Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to Thy bosom fly,

While the nearer waters roll, while the tempest still is high.

Hide me, O my Savior, hide, till the storm of life is past;

Safe into the haven guide; O receive my soul at last.



Other refuge have I none, hangs my helpless soul on Thee;

Leave, ah! leave me not alone, still support and comfort me.

All my trust on Thee is stayed, all my help from Thee I bring;

Cover my defenseless head with the shadow of Thy wing.



Wilt Thou not regard my call? Wilt Thou not accept my prayer?

Lo! I sink, I faint, I fall—Lo! on Thee I cast my care;

Reach me out Thy gracious hand! While I of Thy strength receive,

Hoping against hope I stand, dying, and behold, I live.



Thou, O Christ, art all I want, more than all in Thee I find;

Raise the fallen, cheer the faint, heal the sick, and lead the blind.

Just and holy is Thy Name, I am all unrighteousness;

False and full of sin I am; Thou art full of truth and grace.



Plenteous grace with Thee is found, grace to cover all my sin;

Let the healing streams abound; make and keep me pure within.

Thou of life the fountain art, freely let me take of Thee;

Spring Thou up within my heart; rise to all eternity.

And every human heart that breaks,

In prison-cell or yard,

Is as that broken box that gave

Its treasure to the Lord,

And filled the unclean leper's house

With the scent of costliest nard.



Ah! happy they whose hearts can break

And peace of pardon win!

How else may man make straight his plan

And cleanse his soul from Sin?

How else but through a broken heart

May Lord Christ enter in?



from The Ballad of Reading Gaol. Oscar Wilde was released from prison on this date in 1897.

Capt. Gerard M. Mauer, Jr., United States Navy, has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral (lower half). Mauer is currently serving as assistant deputy director for operations, Information Operations, J-39, Joint Staff, Washington, D.C.



The Philadelphia Council of the Navy League of the United States honors the memory of the admiral-designate's father by identifying each sword presented to the honored NROTC midshipmen at both Villanova University and the University of Pennsylvania as the Gerard M. Mauer Memorial Sword.

Thomas Hastings, musician and teacher, who in his long life composed 1000 hymn tunes and 600 hymn texts and whose son became president of Union Theological Seminary, died in New York City on this date in 1872.



Gently Lord, O gently lead us,

Pilgrims in this vale of tears,

Through the trials yet decreed us,

Till our last great change appears.

When temptation’s darts assail us,

When in devious paths we stray,

Let Thy goodness never fail us,

Lead us in Thy perfect way.



In the hour of pain and anguish,

In the hour when death draws near,

Suffer not our hearts to languish,

Suffer not our souls to fear;

And, when mortal life is ended,

Bid us in Thine arms to rest,

Till, by angel bands attended,

We awake among the blest.

A story linked at Mark Shea's blog reminded me of a bit of dialogue in Pictures from An Institution, the poet Randall Jarrell's novel set at an advanced women's college and published almost fifty years ago. Spoken by a Central European soprano of advanced years: "You Americans do not rear children, you incite them. You give them food and shelter and applause."



A good line. And, of course, there's something worth quoting on almost every page of Jarrell's novel. Like this mordant gem: "The really damned not only like Hell, they feel loyal to it."



But don't take my word. Here's Robert Penn Warren's judgment: "I'm greatly impressed by the real fun, the incisive satire, the closeness of observation, and in the end by a kind of sympathy and human warmth. It's a remarkable book."



Here's a review essay on some of Jarrell's prose work by Dana Gioia, the distinguished poet and chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts.

I wrote a few weeks ago about a great night of musical theater presented by the Girard Academic Music Program in South Philadelphia. One of the bright young lights of the school, thirteen-year old Luis Figueroa-Roig, wasn't part of the production this year because of a scheduling conflict with his performance in the Star Search competition. He's sailed through the heats so far with vivid and accomplished renditions of a couple of Frankie Lymon classics. The live competition finals are tonight. Enjoy the show.



Update 5/15: Luis finished third in the competition in the Young Singers category. But his career continues. He'll be the headline performer at LatinoFest 2003 in Baltimore on 28-29 June.

Joel Garver, professor of philosophy at LaSalle University in Philadelphia, has returned to his blog at Sacra Doctrina. Welcome news and a very welcome presence.

The land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and national identity was formed. Here they achieved independence and created a culture of national and universal significance. Here they wrote and gave the Bible to the world.



Exiled from Palestine, the Jewish people remained faithful to it in all the countries of their dispersion, never ceasing to pray and hope for their return and the restoration of their national freedom.



Impelled by this historic association, Jews strove throughout the centuries to go back to the land of their fathers and regain their statehood. In recent decades they returned in masses. They reclaimed the wilderness, revived their language, built cities and villages and established a vigorous and ever-growing community with its own economic and cultural life. They sought peace yet were ever prepared to defend themselves. They brought the blessing of progress to all inhabitants of the country.



The opening paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel. The proclamation was issued on 14 May 1948.

The Hokie Pundit is one of several folk who've let me know of their inability to connect to this blog despite frequent attempts. Davey can't get here. Nor can TS O'Rama. Nor Maureen McHugh. Nor Xavier Basora. And blogs4God had to exercise a good bit of ingenuity to maintain a link. It's the +, of course, which I'd intended as a sign of my recognition of our utter dependence on the Cross of Christ. But I should have realized the problem of syntax that I was creating for some systems, and found another way of publicly bending the knee.



But good news today. The road from Blacksburg has been cleared and Hokie Pundit managed the trip. And at a good time too. Robert's leading a group from Virginia Tech on a mission trip to Chester, an old industrial city on the Delaware River in Pennsylvania. They'll be spending the week in ministry and welcome presence at the Frederick Douglass Christian School, where Andrew Lee is on the faculty.



I wrote about Frederick Douglass most recently a few weeks ago, with an excerpt from one of his most powerful addresses. William Luse expressed the hope then that Douglass might figure more prominently in the imagination of the young. This remarkable Chester school, in complement to its Christian ministry and academic mission, seems to have the same idea.



Please pray for rich blessings on the Virginia Tech mission trip, and in the lives of the children they'll be helping, and learning from.

James Cordrey and his wife welcomed their third son last week and the once-again father writes of the Special Delivery at Chasing Hats.