"What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear . . . ." This is one of my favorite hymns of the Church. "What A Friend We Have In Jesus" has gotten me through many a difficult time with that lilting melody and upbeat tempo. Yet, my best memories of this hymn are not of it being sung in church on Sunday morning but, rather, of it being sung by my Dad as he tilled the fields on an 'open' tractor.
Most folks have no idea what I am talking about when I speak of an 'open' tractor, so let me put it this way: I grew up in an age when tractors on the farm did not have cabs on them. They were 'open' to the elements. Rain, hot sunshine, cold, snow, it didn't matter: you were exposed to the elements as you did your work out in the fields. Now, granted, open tractors were a big step up from being behind a horse or a mule but, still, you endured whatever nature gave you as you did your work. Today, you will rarely see an 'open' tractor: most opt for the full comfort features of heat, AC, cup holder, computer docking station, GPS, and the like. Today's tractors are nearly a world unto themselves. But, when I was a kid, I heard my Dad singing on the tractor.
Both my Mom and Dad were singers. Everywhere they went there was singing involved somehow. Love songs of the time, songs that they danced to, hymns from church, and favorites that they learned from their parents, were all part and parcel of what they sang on the tractor, in the garden, in the barn milking cows, in the pastures, in the car, or on the front porch during a quiet summer's evening. Even as I write these words I can hear their voices singing, blending, harmonizing, laughing. What a gift.
One of Dad's favorites is "What A Friend We Have In Jesus" and, I think still, it is appropriately sung to the beat of a two-cylinder John Deere 'popping away', for that is how in my heart I continue to hear him singing it today. There is nothing like the 'pop-pop-popping' of a 'Johnny popper' to give a song rhythm.
As I hear Dad's voice in my ears this morning, it got me to wondering what my kids will remember of me: Will it be the songs I sing as I do the work I love? Or will it be my complaints of 'what is going on in the world'? Will it be the hymns of faith that I hold so dear? Or the litanies of the burdens that often seem overwhelming?
I cannot answer for them, but I know what it is I hope they will always remember, so I guess I had better start singing like there was no cab on my tractor. Sing with the rhythm of the tractor I'm on, singing with the faith that carries me in the fields to which I am called. Our children will remember what they want to remember, I just hope that when they think of me, they will also remember, "What A Friend We Have In Jesus", because He is the one who will see them through wherever it is they go.
Your servant in Christ,
Pastor Don
2 comments:
I will remember, "What a Friend I Have in My Dad" - Ray
I spent many years trying to locate the hymnal that I used in High School which held so many favorites. I searched the web but alas with no success. I prayed about it (should have done that first) and although the book has, as yet, not materialized, I have been able to recall many of the words of those that were most frequently sung. One that was not a favorite of mine, due to the melody, has become a favorite because I started paying attention to the words:
'Lead us Heavenly Father Lead us o'er the world's tempestious sea.
Guard us, guide us, keep us, feed us, for we have no help but thee.
and here's the best bit....
Yet possessing every blessing, if our God our Father be.'
What a blessing!
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