Wednesday, July 05, 2017

His day is marching on

Recently, on the eve of Independence Day, I was thinking about patriotic songs. My favorite is the Battle Hymn of the Republic. And I was casting about for good performances, I remembered a fine performance at the national prayer service right after 9/11. I originally saw the live broadcast. That took place just three days after the 9/11 attacks. So it was striking to see it again 16 years later with the benefit of hindsight.

Politics is so ephemeral. So many dignitaries at that event are dead or retired. Faces I happen to recognize in the crowd include Betty Ford, Bush 41, Barbara Bush, Bush 43, Laura Bush, Rumsfeld, Powell, Scowcroft, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Tom DeLay, Hastert, Gephardt, Daschle, Paul O'Neill, Ted Olson, John Edwards, (Jesse Helms?), Dick Armey, Jimmy Carter, Trent Lott, Bob Dole, Charlie Rangel, Kweisi Mfume, and Anthony Williams. 

Unfortunately, Chuck Schumer and Terry McAuliffe are still active in politics. But there's such a turnover in our system. So many power players from a few years ago are now out of power.

On a different note, I wonder what become of the Marine flag-bearer with the stoic expression and close-cropped hair. Presumably, he ended up doing several tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq. Is he still live? Was he killed or maimed in action? Is he still a member of the Marine Corps, or did he retire? Did he make a successful transition to civilian life, or commit suicide like some vets? It's a pity the news media doesn't do follow-up stories. 

Years ago I read David Lipsky's Absolutely American: Four Years At West Point (Houghton Mifflin 2003). I'm curious about what became of the cadets he wrote about. 

The service began with "O God, Our Help in Ages Past". That's a very suitable hymn for the occasion. A paraphrase of Ps 90 by Isaac Watts, set to a tune by organist William Croft. Ps 90 deals with human frailty. Our fleeting existence and utter dependence on divine providence.

The service had a stirring rendition of the Lord's Prayer by Denyce Graves, looking very glamorous. Her expansive high notes at the end were especially effective in the resonant acoustic. 

But the musical highpoint of the service was the Battle Hymn of the Republic. The reverberant sanctuary magnifies the sound of the congregation and choir.

It's more meaningful when sung by members of the armed services, since they're the ones who put everything on the line. 

In addition to the rousing melody (from an old Methodist tune), the song derives its power from the lyrics. Considering the fact that Julia Ward Howe was politically and theologically radical, the lyrics are surprisingly orthodox. The power of the lyrics derive from the vivid biblical imagery. Evidently, Howe was steeped in the language of the King James Bible. 

The hymn was originally an anti-Confederate war song. But the language and imagery are too generic to single out or side with any particular conflict. Therein lies the enduring appeal of the song. Despite her intentions, anyone can sing it regardless of their politician sympathies–unless you're a pacifist!  

1. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

The "grapes of wrath" symbolize bloodshed. The primary text is Isa 63:1-6. It has other OT parallels (Joel 3:13). And that motif is picked up in Revelation (Rev 14:9-10,18-20; 19:15).

God's judicial sword draws from passages like Deut 32:41, Isa 66:16, and Ezk 21:3-4, while the "fearful lightning" has its background in storm theophanies (e.g. Pss 18:14; 144:6

2. I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps,
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:
His day is marching on.
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

The first stanza is based on civil war encampments. The second stanza is reminiscent of OT stone memorials. And God's "righteous sentence"is a stock biblical motif. 

3. I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:
“As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal;
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,
Since God is marching on.”
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

An explicit allusion to the Protevangelium (Gen 3:15).

4. He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat:
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

The apocalyptic trumpet of eschatological judgment is a stock Biblical motif (e.g. Zeph 1:14-16; Mt 24:30; 1 Cor 15:52; 1 Thes 4:16).

5. In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

There is a venerable theological tradition that construes Jesus as the "Lily of the Vally" (Cant 2:1). From an American reference frame, "born across the sea" may mean oceans separate the United States from Palestine. Passages like 2 Cor 3:18 and 1 Jn 3:2-3 speak to the transfigural power of Christ. 

I wonder if C. S. Lewis was influenced by the first stanza. In Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Aslan's Country lies beyond the "Lily Lake" or "Silver Sea".

4 comments:

  1. Steve,
    I have seen a few different negative responses to the song. Here is one example:https://erfm.wordpress.com/2010/06/22/why-i-dont-sing-the-battle-hymn-of-the-republic/

    What do you think of this perspective?

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    1. The basic flaw with that critique is that it confuses the motivations of the hymnodist with the motivations of the singer. Yes, the hymn has its background in the Civil War. Yes, Howe was an ardent abolitionist. Yes, her theology was duke's mixture of Unitarian Transcendentalism.

      However, her political agenda isn't binding on the singer. It's not like the Bible, where original intent is authoritative. Moreover, the hymn reuses stock imagery from the Bible. There's precious little in the actual language of the hymn that's timebound or culturebound.

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    2. As you know, the Bible itself uses lots of martial imagery. Stock examples include Eph 6 as well as Revelation.

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    3. To take a comparison, there's lots of political allegory in Bunyan's fiction, yet his fiction transcends 17C English church history and political history. His fiction has universal value.

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