tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7344677692714876092.post5139717558023410798..comments2024-02-27T09:09:58.339-06:00Comments on David's Hymn Blog: Laying (Dangerous) GroundworkDavid Russell Hamrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12410543431669138559noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7344677692714876092.post-37663373888302188082009-01-14T00:15:00.000-06:002009-01-14T00:15:00.000-06:00Thanks for your comments! I am reminded of John Co...Thanks for your comments! I am reminded of John Cotton's statement in the preface to the Bay Psalm Book: "God's altar needs not our polishing."David Russell Hamrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12410543431669138559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7344677692714876092.post-29297225821090836392009-01-04T23:57:00.000-06:002009-01-04T23:57:00.000-06:00I think you have hit the nail on the head with thi...I think you have hit the nail on the head with this one.<BR/><BR/>Aesthetic and spiritual values do not always correspond. C. S. Lewis once essayed about a farmer in a country church singing third rate hymns to fifth rate music, but with great sincerity and evident spiritual benefit.<BR/><BR/>If a value or aesthetic standard which "feels" intrinsic to us does not translate well into a less educated or less affluent culture, then it cannot be part of the universal value system of God.<BR/><BR/>None of this, however, excuses deliberate mediocrity. When we write, or sing, we are offering something to God, and that something ought to come from the best we have. <BR/><BR/>That does not, however, diminish the value of someone else's best. I strongly suspect that if God wanted a hymnwiter or a chorus, He has better at his disposal than the likes of us, no matter how highly we may think of ourselves.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com