Then Sings My Soul (at FPC): What Music at Your Memorial Service?

This Sunday’s class will be a bit of a different discussion, led by Brian Davidson, on the theme of “What music do you want at your memorial service?” This is a discussion that I encourage you to have with loved ones, both those where you might well be involved in arranging their memorial service and those who will likely be arranging yours. It doesn’t have to be a morbid or depressing discussion. Certainly, my wife and I have discussed this a time or two, and this is a reminder that it’s a discussion I should probably be revisiting with a few people.

For me, there are a couple of things I’d like. Both my wife and I would love to have the ending of our memorial services be the “Amen, Alleluia” by Douglas E. Wagner[1]. Particularly when taken up tempo, this is a really uplifting piece, and is something my wife described as thumbing one’s nose at death.

Another one for me is “How Can I Keep From Singing?”. According to Wikipedia[2], this was written by Robert Wadsworth Lowrey and first published in 1868. Several parts of the lyrics speak to me:

    My life flows on in endless song;
        Above earth's lamentation,
    I hear the sweet, tho' far-off hymn
        That hails a new creation;
    Thro' all the tumult and the strife
        I hear the music ringing;
    It finds an echo in my soul--
        How can I keep from singing?
    What tho' my joys and comforts die?
        The Lord my Saviour liveth;
    What tho' the darkness gather round?
        Songs in the night he giveth.
    No storm can shake my inmost calm
        While to that refuge clinging;
    Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth,
        How can I keep from singing?
    I lift my eyes; the cloud grows thin;
        I see the blue above it;
    And day by day this pathway smooths,
        Since first I learned to love it;
    The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart,
        A fountain ever springing;
    All things are mine since I am his--
        How can I keep from singing?

The version I know is a bit different in the middle, with the lyrics being No storm can shake my inmost calm while to that rock I’m clinging. And I really like the part Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth, how can I keep from singing? Indeed, since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth, how can I keep from singing?

Amazing Grace is an old stalwart, and often used at memorial services, which tempts me to not ask for it to be used in mine. But there is the stanza that when we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we first begun. That’s a comfort to me, and I hope it will be a comfort to others when I’ve passed over.

There is also the silly child in me who remembers singing You Can’t Get to Heaven at various Boy Scout campfires in my youth. There are a number of different verses to this song, such as the one on http://www.kididdles.com/lyrics/o003.html or the much longer collection at http://dragon.sleepdeprived.ca/songbook/songs5/S5_62.htm. There is a part of me that just chuckles at the idea of this children’s song at my memorial service. I want people to be able to laugh and see the silliness in life, and this is a silly song that brings back some fond memories. And in that vein, I’d like to add in another thanks to Mr. McGee, Mr. Smith, Mr. Levy, Mr. Vogt, my dad, and a bunch of other adults who put a lot of time and effort into making Troop 18 (Indianapolis, IN) a great place. Those campfire songs were one of the first places I learned to love singing.

Another “song” I’d love to be remembered by is the Victory Chant. There are several different variations of this, but the one I learned when I went on my Walk to Emmaus[3] is below. This is done with a leader who calls out the line, which is then echoed by the congregation. The last line is repeated a few times, getting softer each time, and then one last time very loudly. There’s also a couple of neat presentations of this on You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V6Rp9bECb4 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc86xI3OhQs.

Hail Jesus, You're my King
Your life frees me to sing
I will praise You all my days
You're perfect in all Your ways

Hail, Jesus You're my Lord
I will obey You're word
I want to see Your kingdom come
Not my will but Yours be done

Glory, glory to the Lamb
You take me into the land
We will conquer in Your name
And proclaim that Jesus reigns

Hail, hail Lion of Judah
How powerful you are
Hail, hail Lion of Judah
How wonderful you are
How wonderful you are (softer)
How wonderful you are (softer)
How wonderful you are (softer)
How wonderful you are (LOUD)

My last thought for a song is one I’ve mentioned before in this class, which is Will You Love Jesus More, by Phillips, Craig, and Dean[4]. I know I’m someone who likes being the focus of attention at times, and this is a song I sing to myself often.

If all I've done in the time we've shared
Is turn your eyes on me,
Then I've failed in what I've been called to do
There's someone else I want you to see.