Author Description

Excerpt from Hymns and Their Authors: How Some of Our Best Known Hymns Came to Be Written Hymns, what they are and how they started. I suppose most of you as children, you younger ones especially, regard religion as something rather boring and uninteresting. You will look upon the Sunday School and Church as places where your parents force you to attend and naturally this does not always go down very well when the weather is fine and sunny and there are lots of more exciting things to do outside. The very word "religion" probably conjures up for you memories of long prayers and dull sermons, the only relief coming at the announcement of a hymn which is possibly the only time in the service when you begin to pay attention. At least the Hymn is usually bright and cheerful - two characteristics which please you, and I think it is true to say that at this stage in your religious life, the hymn probably makes the biggest impression of all. Most children memorize a portion of their favourite hymns, and this really is very important, because once learned they are rarely forgotten. Since each hymn is a prayer or sermon condensed into a few verses you will understand what is meant by our statement regarding importance. It is a difficult task indeed to keep a large class of children interested in religion unless the teacher or speaker is particularly gifted in the art of addressing young people and it is this fact which also makes the Hymn so useful because its appeal is universal and it embraces all ages of young people and binds them together. The actual meaning of prayer and worship haven't really found a place in the minds of most children because most things that have happened have been good ones and they haven't had to face real trouble beyond having a tooth out or possibly being punished for some act of mischief. They are not concerned about life after death only in a very confused sort of way. They are only just