Another holiday, more symbols

While digging through book reviews from 1883 for dissertation research, I discovered that one book published that year (which was apparently fairly popular, since I saw several different reviews) was all about the symbolism of various flowers you might give and receive. This was a popular pastime in the Victorian era, with many books and pamphlets produced to be sure that you could say or interpret exactly what you wanted with your floral gifts.

Low and behold, while home this morning because of the ice storm, Lisa Benenson of Hallmark Magazine appeared on the Today show to discuss just this subject. Here is her list of the meanings of flowers. I was a little surprised at the definiteness she gave the subject—such as the absolutely horrible nature of yellow flowers, implying jealousy, disdain, etc.

It seems that unless someone is privy to this system, all these meanings would not be clear. They aren't universal symbols, or else all the books that were published would have been unnecessary. But, it made me think about other issues—namely, as to why, like at Christmas, someone was on television dictating symbolic language to America. What is it about holidays that brings a symbolic urge to companies?

Ronald Grimes, the ritual theorist, maintains that an underlying symbolic language begins at birth, with the rituals established between mother and baby as the baby cries for food and the mother picks it up, day after day. Again I wonder about symbols that are dictated to people, as opposed to those arising naturally. Can they have any effect? Or, in this case, is just the commonly understood symbol of love from flowers enough? And, Hallmark should remember that symbols are always multivalent—different people interpret them differently. Things less fundamental than water, food and drink seemingly would be more difficult to include in an underlying symbol system.

The emotions inherent in Valentine's Day (you can read its history at this quality internet website) and Christmas would definitely give strong associations with the symbols surrounding them. Is it the emotional nature of the holidays that brings out easy symbol appropriation? And, what does that say about other symbols? Does emotional content help their effect? Or, conversely, does it cloud their effect?

The Gospel, difficult to understand, but plain enough to do so

Amy is writing a paper for her Romans class. Namely, a paper on Romans 3, which, as I keep reminding her, is the first stop on the Romans Road. As she often does, she asked me for a hymn to start her paper, but with these specifications—that it describe telling about the gospel as plain and simple to understand, but that it also discusses the complexity of the same. My instant thought was of "Tell Me the Story of Jesus," but that wasn't it. Then I thought of "Tell Me the Old, Old Story," but that also doesn't do it. In fact, I've completely drawn a blank, even after searching around for a while. I've found a ton of hymns that talk about the simplicity of the gospel, and a ton that talk about its complexity, but 'never the twain shall meet.' What have I forgotten? Is there such a hymn? And if not, would anyone be interested in writing some words I could set to music?

That aside, my favorite option was Charles Wesley's "And Can It Be," although it was vetoed by Amy—not that she doesn't like it, just that it wasn't what she was looking for. I had forgotten that it has 6 verses, but several of my older hymnals had them all. We really miss a lot by leaving some of them out, even though it is a longer hymn. It's such a rousing tune, though, singing 6 verses wouldn't bother me. Granted, it's probably in my top 5 of all hymns. And, apparently I'm not alone.

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

’Tis mystery all: th’Immortal dies:
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore;
Let angel minds inquire no more.

He left His Father’s throne above
So free, so infinite His grace—
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race:
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray—
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

Still the small inward voice I hear,
That whispers all my sins forgiven;
Still the atoning blood is near,
That quenched the wrath of hostile Heaven.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Savior in my heart.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Savior in my heart.

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

Although some of my more reformed friends have said to me, "The Wesleys—bad theology, good hymns," I'd have to disagree. You can't have one without the other, and this hymn is a good case for their symbiosis. It draws on so much biblical imagery, it's almost difficult to name it all. There's a discussion of the hymn's doctrine here.

And more...

For even more on the church millinerd featured for us, see these comments from the prior Sunday School post. The pastor of Central Westside has chimed in with some more history of the church and its architecture. Many thanks to Pastor David!

More on the Akron Plan

You might remember this post, in which I discussed churches built on the Akron plan. For more on it, there's some good diagrams of Akron-style churches on this page, as well as some more discussion of the plan itself.

Millinerd, wonderful person that he is, took it upon himself to follow my prior request, and took some pictures over the holidays of the Central Westside United Church of Canada in Owen Sound, Ontario. He's posted a Flickr set of them, which shows the beauty of the building. My favorite is this one (as it relates to the Akron plan), showing the sliding doors that can be lowered to separate the classrooms from the sanctuary.

Many thanks to millinerd for these great photos!

The American West

The week of New Year's Day, I went with my brother's family and Amy's family to Colorado to spend the week skiing in Winter Park. Unfortunately, we were detoured through New Mexico due to a second major blizzard that hit Colorado and Kansas, closing I-70. When we left Oklahoma City I-40 was open, but we arrived in Amarillo to discover it had been closed in the interim. We detoured onto US60 and US285, taking us through cattle towns and the high plains of New Mexico. Eventually we were turned away by the New Mexico highway patrol, but we spent several hours of driving as usually the only 2 cars in sight, surrounded by plains of snow.

I love this area of the country, simply for its solitude. There are few places on earth where the only sign of human activity is a road, but that is one of them. As the sun set (which was easily visible in the immense flatness) and the whole sky turned purple and red, I was really astounded at the beauty. I do love the sky, and I miss it while living in New Jersey, where trees, buildings and smog obscure it. Then, as the sun disappeared, the brightness of the stars and the Milky Way gave me an even greater feeling of smallness than driving in the deserted landscape had done. As is often the case, I thought about one of my favorite hymns.

"For the Beauty of the Earth" is usually sung to the tune DIX, written by Conrad Kocher, a German church musician who founded the School of Sacred Music in Stuttgart. The text, by Folliot Pierpoint, comes in this form from the 1864 second edition of Lyra Eucharistica.

For the beauty of the earth
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies.

Refrain

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the beauty of each hour,
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon, and stars of light.

For the joy of ear and eye,
For the heart and mind’s delight,
For the mystic harmony
Linking sense to sound and sight.

For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth and friends above,
For all gentle thoughts and mild.

For Thy Church, that evermore
Lifteth holy hands above,
Offering up on every shore
Her pure sacrifice of love.

For the martyrs’ crown of light,
For Thy prophets’ eagle eye,
For Thy bold confessors’ might,
For the lips of infancy.

For Thy virgins’ robes of snow,
For Thy maiden mother mild,
For Thyself, with hearts aglow,
Jesu, Victim undefiled.

For each perfect gift of Thine,
To our race so freely given,
Graces human and divine,
Flowers of earth and buds of Heaven.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise!

This has somehow come to be associated with Thanksgiving, I suppose because of the "grateful praise" of the refrain. I like it at any time, though! It encompasses not only the beauty of creation, but it covers the Church (living and dead) as well as the incarnation. Enjoy it in the new year, both fiscal and liturgical.