IN A GOOD HYMN, text and melody work together. This occurs because the melody exploits the rhythms of the language. Hymn writers such as Charles Wesley and Isaac Watts were schooled in classical rhetoric, and they knew their iambs from their anapests. This is why their hymns seem vibrant today.
Tinkering to render language inclusive or modern is now commonplace. Many who tinker, however, are oblivious to rhythms in the language and make their alterations in ways that are jarring, often distracting from the point they wish to make. Altering individual words in the interest of political correctness or modernization is akin to filming a story set in the 1940s with female characters wearing slacks while working at a computer. The practice is also patronizing to the average churchgoer, who is quite capable of understanding language he or she does not regularly use.
Rather than alter what are products of another time, we should encourage the writing of new hymn texts. I suspect that in every congregation there lurks at least one poet capable of writing text that would set well to music. The Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music could commission the writing of hymns as well. We should encourage the use of rich language and the evocative imagery that causes the listener to respond on a level not usually reached by ordinary speech. We would serve both ourselves and our children. With several TV-schooled generations expressing themselves with vocabulary far below the capability of the species, we should avail ourselves of every opportunity for exposure to richness in language.
It is easy to tinker. Wrestling with concepts and words to produce meaningful texts that are sing-able is a challenge. We should accept the challenge.
