Rev. Erudite Redneck, B.S., B.S., M.A., M.Div.

I would offer the following lines for you to prayerfully consider as you mourn:
What have I to dread, what have I to fear,
leaning on the everlasting arms?
I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,
leaning on the everlasting arms.

May you remember that presence in the coming weeks and months and years, Dear Friend. All blessings and peace to the whole ER clan.
 

What was Mama ER's favorite hymn?
 

SW, I think it was "The Old Rugged Cross."

But I also know she loved "Blessed Assurance" and not long ago when I was letting her know I was struggling with some things, after I'd gone on and on about it for 15 minutes on the phone, she summed it all up by saying something like, "Well, trust and obey," which is another great old hymn.


"Trust and Obey"

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.

Refrain

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.

Refrain

Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share,
But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief or a loss, not a frown or a cross,
But is blessed if we trust and obey.

Refrain

But we never can prove the delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows, for the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.

Refrain

Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet.
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way.
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.

Refrain



"Blessed Assurance"

1. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.
Refrain:
This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long;
this is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long.

2. Perfect submission, perfect delight,
visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
angels descending bring from above
echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
(Refrain)

3. Perfect submission, all is at rest;
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
watching and waiting, looking above,
filled with his goodness, lost in his love.
(Refrain)
 

that song was featured in charles laughton's '55 masterpiece, the night of the hunter. robert mitchum's character, posing a man of the cloth, sings it insessently, with effectively haunting effect. toward the climax, he and lillian gish, as a god-fearing woman fiercly intent on protecting her flock from mitchum's sinister minister, sing a sort of a duet of the song.

highly recommended. gish is an absolute delight!

KEvron
 

ps,

gish has the best line in the film (and it's got some gresat lines):

"children are man at his strongest. they abide. the wind blows, and the rains are cold, yet they abide. they abide.... and they endure."

makes every hair on my head stand on end!

KEvron
 

Ooooh. Sounds like a flick I'd like. But, what song do you mean of the three?
 

"The Old Rugged Cross" was my grandfather's favorite hymn, too.

I love "Blessed Assurance." After twenty years away from Methodist church camp, I still know all the words, and when I watch "Places in the Heart" I still lose it at the end.
 

"what song do you mean of the three?"

"leaning on the everlasting arms".

for the duet, mitchum lazily lows "leeee-nin'....leeee-nin....", while gish simultaneously counters with a cadent "lean on jesus! lean on jesus!" it's chilling and beautiful. it's "love" vs. "hate".

seriously, this is a great, GREAT film. it's got a dream-like quality, very stylized; at times, the scenes are purposefully made to have the look of the two-dimensional scenery you'd see in community stage productions. way ahead of it's time, yet nothing's been made that can compare to its style, though countless films have since drawn from its imagery (the "minister's" tattoed knuckles - "l-o-v-e" on the right hand, and "h-a-t-e" on the left - has been borrowed by everyone from the simpsons to spike lee). it flopped completely when it was released, but the great ones do, sometimes.

KEvron
 

Sounds Hitchcockish.

BTW, Sinister Minister should be the name of ... SOMEthing!
 

"Sinister Minister should be the name of ... SOMEthing!"

indeed, it is!

KEvron