Getting to Know a Hymn: Think-Feel-Imagine-Do

Think of the many ways humans know one another — the many kinds of relationships that we share: surface, fleeting, casual, cordial, polite, civil, respectful, scornful, distrustful, contemptuous, compassionate, passionate, loving, caring, enduring, playful, joyful, mournful, destructive, spiteful, and so many other adjectives. Every day of our lives we deftly negotiate these complex relationships with every person we encounter. With new experiences, individual relationships may change over time, for better or worse. As we encounter new people, so we begin new relationships, just as we end other relationships due to death, separation, or choice. I suggest that, in a very different manner, we also have relationships with hymns, varied — and in some cases, emotional. How do you get to know a hymn? How well do you really know any particular hymn? And what are the consequences? Here's a way to think about hymns and our understanding, knowledge, and experience of them.

1. How or what do you think about a hymn? This is the getting-to-know-you stage. Just as you do when meeting a new person, you size a hymn up. You study it, analyze it. Read the words through for the meaning. What's the meter? rhyming pattern? Is it a true rhyme or a false rhyme? Examine the images and metaphors for deeper meaning. Is there continuity so that the verses offer a unified thought or theme throughout? Is the theology sound? Or is there any theology? Is the language contemporary or dated? Sing the melody. Is it in a comfortable range? Are there any unusual skips or surprises? Does it support the text well? Does it allow for a good rhythmic accommodation of the text? How fast or slow should it go? How loud or soft? Are there problems with most people singing it? Listen to the harmony. Does it fit the melody and text? Is it dissonant? Are there surprising movements? chordal resolutions? How should this hymn be accompanied?
   
   All these questions help us form first impressions of a hymn, some of which will last, some of which will change. These are the first, the surface examinations, but there are more.
   
2. How do you feel about a hymn? Does this hymn evoke any emotional response in you? Joy, sadness, lament, awe? Or is it bland? How do you feel singing this hymn, or playing it, or leading it? Does it frustrate you, make you angry? Some hymns just feel RIGHT when you have sung them; others are unsettling. Be aware of HOW you feel, and then ask WHY you feel that way. Is it the words, theology, harmony, rhythm, or melody? Is it one of your favorites? Why?
   
3. What does the hymn lead you to imagine? Does it make you recall warm, fuzzy past events and relationships? Does it provoke unpleasant memories — an unhappy year in Sunday school, a not very talented organist, an angry or abusive parent, a tragic event such as a fire, a flood, or maybe a terrorist attack? Does it bring to mind the funeral of a beloved friend? Can you associate it with something a teacher or a choir director once taught you? Does it make you think of war, peace, health, sickness, suffering, eternity? Do you imagine yourself being comforted by your mother as a child? Does it make you feel part of a support group of friends and associates in the congregation, at work, or in your neighborhood?
   
4. What does the hymn lead you to do? What action might the hymn lead you to? prayer? repentance? giving a larger offering in thanksgiving? fighting against some great social evil? restoring a broken relationship? visiting a sick or elderly person? or perhaps complaining to the pastor or musician who chose the hymn? inviting another person to church? being a better parent or spouse?

When you have deeply considered a hymn using this think-feel-imagine-do model, you probably will KNOW that hymn much better than you ever did. But remember that every person who sings that hymn may go through a similar process and come to very different conclusions — to a very different knowledge of that same hymn. This is a much more subjective method of knowing a hymn than simply analyzing melody, rhythm, harmony, and text. It might even lead to a kind of one-sided relationship with a hymn that may last, change, or cease.