These are the kinds of things that keep writers humble.
Last month, I spent some days in the mountains, and came back with a blog about our search for sunglasses.
Just over 100 years ago, Henry van Dyke, Jr. – a minister, professor, writer – went to the mountains, and came back with this:
Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee
God of glory, Lord of love
Hearts unfold like flow'rs before Thee
Op'ning to the Sun above
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness Drive the dark of doubt away Giver of immortal gladness Fill us with the light of day
He called his poem, “Hymn to Joy,” and set it to the melody of “Ode To Joy,” the last part of Ludwig van Beethoven's last great work, Symphony No. 9. If the hymn eludes you, you can find it all over YouTube. It’s the kind that makes you want to storm hell with a water pistol.
It's a beautiful illustration of the difference between mere happiness – sweet as that can be – and the greater depths of joy, which comes with the overwhelming recognition that God is, that He is truly good, and that His grace and mercies have engulfed me.
All Thy works with joy surround Thee Earth and heav'n reflect Thy rays Stars and angels sing around Thee
Center of unbroken praise
Field and forest, vale and mountain Flow'ry meadow, flashing sea Singing bird and flowing fountain Call us to rejoice in Thee
Van Dyke took inspiration not only from the mountain vistas but from Psalm 71:23: “My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to You, and my soul, which You have redeemed.”
His idea was to encourage his fellow believers to lift their eyes from the mundane and the profane of an increasingly violent, confused age – imagine! – and focus anew on the beauty of God’s creation. And, by implication, the power, purpose, and love of One Who could create such wonders for us to experience.
Thou art giving and forgiving
Ever blessing, ever blest
Well-spring of the joy of living
Ocean-depth of happy rest
God our Father, Christ our Brother – All who live in love are Thine Teach us how to love each other Lift us to the Joy Divine
The hymn has been widely acclaimed, for more than 100 years, as one of the greatest expressions of joy in the English language, and one of the great celebrations of Christian faith.
Van Dyke had hoped it would accomplish something like that. He lived in a time, at the turn of the last century, when the theory of evolution was prompting many of his fellow academics to deny their faith, and when anarchy was rocking the political establishment all over the world.
“These verses,” he said, “are simple expressions of common Christian feelings and desires in this present time – hymns of today that may be sung together by people who know the thought of the age, and are not afraid that any truth of science will destroy religion, or any revolution on earth overthrow the kingdom of heaven … this is a hymn of trust and joy and hope.”
And, he might have added: a call to commitment.
Mortals join the happy chorus Which the morning stars began Father-love is reigning o'er us Brother-love binds man to man.
Ever singing, march we onward Victors in the midst of strife Joyful music lifts us sunward
In the triumph song of life
Van Dyke was a respected man in his day, and he kept some distinguished company. He was an old school chum of Woodrow Wilson, officiated at Mark Twain’s funeral, and counted Helen Keller among his close friends.
“Dr. van Dyke,” Ms. Keller wrote, “is the kind of a friend to have when one is up against a difficult problem. He will take trouble, days and nights of trouble, if it is for somebody else or for some cause he is interested in.
“I'm not an optimist,” she quotes her friend as saying. “There's too much evil in the world – and in me. Nor am I a pessimist; there is too much good in the world – and in God. So, I am just a meliorist (one who believes in brightening the world for others), believing that He wills to make the world better, and trying to do my bit to help and wishing that it were more.”
(You can find a beautiful illustration of his point in his famous short story, “The Other Wise Man,” a popular Christmas reading.)
So, in a day not at all unlike Dr. van Dyke’s own, when it’s so easy to become mired in the muck of futility and enraged with the blunt lies and foolish brutalities all around us, I respectfully commend to you one of the great cure-alls for a frustrated, yearning soul: a trip to the mountains … a glance around your own backyard … and a hymn to joy.
And I wish you your own sweet chorus "in the triumph song of life."
“What you possess in the world will be found at the day of your death to belong to someone else. But what you are will be yours forever.”
– Henry van Dyke
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