THIS MERRY MONTH OF MAY....

Right on schedule, the Yellow Ones have returned. From a grass-level “tutu” of broad leaves, a short stem lifts up its yellow crown. Dandelions. Yard weeds, but merry and lovely in their own way. Yes, I have a few yellow daffodils blooming, too, but the hearty dandelions have also awakened. I'm not into harvesting the leaves for a back-to-nature salad, so off to the garbage they go.

My brain makes some unlikely connections when I'm out doing yard-work (like plucking weeds). That day I found myself silently rehearsing an old hymn that starts with “May”--not the month-meaning, but the “permissive” meaning.

May the mind of Christ, my Savior,/Live in me from day to day,/By His love and pow'r controlling/All I do and say.

I knew this hymn, based on Philippians 2:5-8,  was an “oldie-but-goody,” but was surprised to know it was written sometime before 1912. The English author, Kate Barclay Wilkinson (1859-1928), wasn't a well-known hymnist, but an unheralded member of the Church of England. Influenced by the evangelical Keswick Convention Movement, she'd gotten involved in a mission that reached out to needy girls and young women living at St. Leonard's-on-Sea (about 65 miles from London). 

The verse that influenced her hymn was likely Philippians 2:5: “Have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus....” This scripture section highlights the spiritual walk of knowing Christ as Savior, dwelling richly in God's Word, claiming the Father's peace, expressing Jesus' love, faithfully running the “spiritual race,” and seeking to express the beauty of Christ in such a way that people are drawn to Him. In short, being rooted in Christ, in order to bring others to Him. As such—especially the hymn's verse about “running the race” for the Lord--it echoed Philippians 2:12-13 about working out one's salvation as God working in us.

A side note: the man who added the tune to her poem, A. Cyril Barham-Gould, was a Church of England clergyman whose first curate (position) was at All Souls Church in Langham Place. That parish became famous in our times as a church pastored by well-known evangelical leader and author John Stott (1921-2011), whom I once had the privilege of hearing in person.

I'm grateful for hymns like this one, and the preaching/writing ministry of godly men like Stott, as I seek (quoting her hymn) to “run the race before me, strong and brave to face the foe, looking only unto Jesus as I onward go.” The hymn may not “pop up” (like my springtime dandelions) in the “worship choices” of contemporary-culture churches. But maybe it should....

This link will help you recall its words and tune: May The Mind Of Christ My Saviour

CONTROLLING ALL I DO AND SAY....

A devotional partnership: Bible text and hymn

A monthly feature on a hymn of the faith.
 I suspect that many readers, after glancing at the above phrase, would cringe and click to another web page. Yet it's thoroughly Biblical—the theme that runs throughout Paul's letter to the Philippian Church. It's also a key phrase in a hymn by a little-known Englishwoman who spent her life helping disadvantaged women and children in London. Its title comes from the opening words: “May the mind of Christ my Savior.”

Born in middle England in 1859, Kate Barclay was raised in the Church of England. After her 1891 marriage at age 32 to Frederick Wilkinson (various resources list him as a cashier, clerk and engineer), she spent the remainder of her life in Kensington (part of London) where she was active in her parish's outreach to girls and young women. She also was part of the “deeper spiritual life” emphasis of the Keswick Convention ministry. Her only-remembered hymn, published in 1925 (three years before her death), was “May the Mind of Christ My Savior.”

The poem's music was composed by A. Cyril Barham-Gould, a priest with the Church of England who served most of his life (1936 until his death in 1953) as a vicar at the historic (and still functioning) St. Paul's Church in Onslow Square, Kensington, London. Appropriately—probably because of Mrs. Wilkinson's passion for helping at-risk women and children near the parish—the tune was titled “St. Leonard's,” for the British town named for 5^th century Leonard of Limosin, considered the patron saint of pregnant women and prisoners of war.

When I first ran across her hymn, it touched me deeply. Later I realized how much it was inspired by Philippians, my favorite book of the New Testament, especially Philippians 2:5 (“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus,” NIV) and subsequent verses (vv. 6-11) which commentators believe was a hymn sung in the early church.

Overall, her hymn lyrics describe how to pray for the mind and love of Jesus and God's peace for our earthly journey. The pre-eminence of Christ is expressed through phrases like “Him exalting, self-abasing, this is victory.”

I can't put my finger on why I love this hymn so much. Maybe because it draws from truths of my favorite Bible book, Philippians. Or that its thoroughly Biblical message and meditative tune draw me close to God. Or that its classic hymn form reaches deeper into my spirit than many of today's shallow spiritual songs with loud and rocky rhythms. It's my prayer-song for devotional times, for being quiet and listening to God and seeking ways to live in humble obedience.

This You-Tube offers a meditative sing-along:

May the Mind of Christ My Saviour (Tune: St Leonard - 5vv) [with lyrics for congregations] - Bing video