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Welcome to the last post in our series on Hark the Herald Angels Sing. If this is the first one you've seen, you may want to begin with our Introduction. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="399"] The Garden of Eden, Jan Brueghel the Elder, 1615[/caption] Come, Desire of nations, come, Fix in us Thy humble home; Rise,…
This is the third stanza in our Hymn of the Week series. To read the whole story, start with the introduction from Sunday or the second stanza, Monday. * * * * * [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="427" caption="Rembrandt"][/caption] Hail the heav’nly Prince of Peace! Hail the Sun of Righteousness! Light and life to all He…
Usually, teaching the first stanza of familiar hymns means correcting misunderstandings about the language (like angels singing, "Hark!"). The second stanza is where you usually find the first totally new lyrics. It's where you often find new insights, too, since the words are are fresh and we haven't grown complacent from hearing them a hundred…
This is one of those hymns that we think we all know, but usually only sing the first verse. This is like nibbling on the salad and walking out on the feast. Charles Wesley packed so much Biblical truth into this carol, you not only don't want to miss it, but you ought to make…
When Annie Kate sent me a link to her review of Raising Real Men, she mentioned that I might like the Scout series by Piet Prins. Was she ever right! We just finished reading Scout: The Secret of the Swamp and absolutely loved it! Full of adventure and excitement, it's sure to be a favorite of…
One of our favorite Christmas carols is Angels from the Realms of Glory. Notice how wonderfully it tells of the reactions of the different witnesses to the Messiah's coming: the angels, the shepherds, the wise men, even Anna and Simeon in the Temple. This is Rembrandt's Simeon and Anna in the Temple. Angels from the…
As we mentioned the other day, one of our Thanksgiving traditions is to talk about the things we are thankful for during the feast. Today was kind of different. Usually there is a slow start, then an increasingly interactive conversation about all of God's blessings. Today when we asked the question, "What are you thankful for?" everyone…
Yesterday while I was writing about our Thanksgiving traditions for this blog, I looked up George Washington's Thanksgiving Day Proclamation in preparation for suggesting you share it with your family. As I read it, I felt increasingly sad. George Washington thanked God "for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed." I thought…
We just love Thanksgiving! What a wonderful holiday! Leading up to the day, we teach our children great hymns of Thanksgiving, such as "We Gather Together," "Come Ye Thankful People, Come," "Count Your Blessings," and "Now Thank We All Our God." We particularly love "We Gather Together," because it was a Dutch song of the proper…
This is probably the most popular of the Thanksgiving hymns! Come, Ye Thankful People, Come Words: Henry Alford, 1844 Music: George J. Elvey, 1858 Come, ye thankful people, come, raise the song of harvest home; All is safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin. God our Maker doth provide for our wants to be…
