Appreciation

One of the books that most influenced me when I was growing up was written by a man whose career had been based on helping people to sell things. His name was Dale Carnegie, and the book (a best-seller) was How to Win Friends and Influence People. One good thing about it was that its message could be summarized in a few simple rules, one of which was “Give honest and sincere appreciation.” Many people seem to be unaware of the power – one might almost say the magic – of this piece of advice. Genuine praise, particularly to someone who isn’t used to receiving it, can light up their whole life.

But what if the appreciation belongs not to any human entity but entirely to the Creator? I am not a Christian, nor a believer in any religious doctrine. But that does not prevent me from enjoying some of the great songs and hymns which try to do that job musically. Among my favorite hymns is one we sang at school in England. (Although the school’s enrollment was then about a third Jewish, I suppose there were no complaints because the words were more or less non-denominational.) To me, both in words and melody, the hymn was (and still is) thrilling and majestic, embodying the true concept of an “Almighty” being. I think it is usually known by its first line, “O God, Our Help in Ages Past.” The words were written about 300 years ago by an English preacher named Isaac Watts, and the magnificent melody by William Croft. 

It was a time when there were still deep divisions among people who all called themselves Christians – not just between Catholics and Protestants, but between various sects of Protestants. In England, there was (and still is) an “Established Church” or “Church of England” (now elsewhere called Anglican or Episcopalian), the only one officially recognized by King and Parliament.

And there were various “non-conforming” groups, such as the Congregationalists, to whom Isaac Watts belonged. The laws made life a little harder for those people. For one thing, they were not permitted in the Universities (of which there were then only two, Oxford and Cambridge).

Watts was not only a preacher, but, like John Donne, a poet as well. (We know Donne, who lived at the same time as Shakespeare, for his famous sermon saying that “No man is an Island.” I used that as the first line of an epigram. The second line said, “But some of us are Long Peninsulas.”)

Watts was extremely prolific, and wrote many hymns, which are still sung today. But the first stanza of the one I mentioned illustrates his poetic skill:

“O God, our help in ages past,

Our hope for years to come,

Our shelter from the stormy blast,

And our eternal home.”

I like the alliteration of those three powerful words, “Help,” “Hope,” and “Home.” I also particularly like the third stanza, with its inspired geological perspective – written, of course, a century before the development of what we now call the “Earth Sciences”:

“Before the hills in order stood,

Or Earth received her frame,

From Everlasting Thou art God,

To endless years the same.”

And finally, just to put us mortals in our place, we have the stark but unforgettable image of Time as a relentless river:

“Time, like an ever rolling stream,

Bears all his sons away –

They fly forgotten, as a dream

Dies at the opening day.”

The solemn melody was composed for these words by William Croft, who was as prolific musically as Watt was with verse. Croft was at the time an organist at St. Anne’s Church in London, and the tune is therefore called “The St. Anne.” It has been used for many other hymns since then.

I don’t like to write about music, which is meant to be heard rather than read about. But nowadays so many of us have access to devices that can play any tune we want to hear that I hope you will take the trouble to look up this hymn, if you don’t know it already.

And, getting back to our original subject of appreciation, the idea of expressing thanks to God is of course an ancient one. One of the most quoted of all the 150 Psalms in the Old Testament is number 100, which begins with the words, “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord.” Or, in my own words (if this is an appropriate message to God): “THANKS FOR BEING.”