Abide with Me: A Photographic Journey Through Great British Hymns
Author:
Genres: Arts & Photography, Biographies & Memoirs, Travel, Humor & Entertainment, Christian Books & Bibles
Book Type: Hardcover
Author:
Genres: Arts & Photography, Biographies & Memoirs, Travel, Humor & Entertainment, Christian Books & Bibles
Book Type: Hardcover
So, I just finished a really interesting book! It is called Abide With Me A Photographic Journey Through Great British Hymnsand let me tell you, I enjoyed the abiding!
The photographs are truly amazing, though they are not why I initially wanted to read the book. I read a book a year or so ago that was in some way related to the backstory of a famous hymn, and I was really touched by the truth behind it. So, I saw the title of this book and figured it would be interesting. Having been brought up in a traditional Protestant church, I wondered if I might be familiar with any of the hymns mentionedAllow me to say that familiar does not even begin to convey
What a pleasure it was, to read about the authors of these famous hymns: their lives, the circumstances in which they wrote, how they came to their calling, and their home sites and churches! And speaking of sights.lets get back to those photographs! They are just so, so, so beautiful, and they support the information quite well. Some of my favorite stories include the ones for Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love, Take my life and let it be (whose writer, by the way, Ms. Frances Ridley Havergal, turned down SEVEN marriage proposals so that she could focus on hymnwriting and music!), and also Just as I am (to name only a few).
Did you know that many hymn writers were preachers who often wrote these hymns to coincide with their next sermon? Did you know that Onward Christian Soldiers was written, in fact, to ensure that children would keep up the pace as they marched behind their pastor one Sunday? (Sabine Baring-Gould)
If you love travel at all, have a hankering to see ancient stone buildings and deep green countrysides, this book will certainly cause you to drool tastefully, of course. It may also stir your faith to hear of these wonderfully dedicated disciples and how they brought us the musical treasures we have nowMany of us love more contemporary praise and worship music now, but who of us who had the luxury of growing up, even absent-mindedly, in some kind of church as a kid, will not feel even the slightest bit of home-comfort feeling when reading about these songs and hearing them in our heads?
Oh! I almost forgot! You dont just have to hear them in your heads! The book comes with a CD of the hymns! Wow, huh?!! Quite honestly, that really helped, too, as there were some hymns and poems I hadnt heard before, so I enjoyed the added bonus!
To sum up, I found the book well-written, very interesting and faith stirring, and the bonuses of picture and song absolutely icing-on-the-cake. (It was written by John H. Parker; photography by Paul Seawright, both amazing artists in their own right. Be sure to read the About the Authors section!)
The photographs are truly amazing, though they are not why I initially wanted to read the book. I read a book a year or so ago that was in some way related to the backstory of a famous hymn, and I was really touched by the truth behind it. So, I saw the title of this book and figured it would be interesting. Having been brought up in a traditional Protestant church, I wondered if I might be familiar with any of the hymns mentionedAllow me to say that familiar does not even begin to convey
What a pleasure it was, to read about the authors of these famous hymns: their lives, the circumstances in which they wrote, how they came to their calling, and their home sites and churches! And speaking of sights.lets get back to those photographs! They are just so, so, so beautiful, and they support the information quite well. Some of my favorite stories include the ones for Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love, Take my life and let it be (whose writer, by the way, Ms. Frances Ridley Havergal, turned down SEVEN marriage proposals so that she could focus on hymnwriting and music!), and also Just as I am (to name only a few).
Did you know that many hymn writers were preachers who often wrote these hymns to coincide with their next sermon? Did you know that Onward Christian Soldiers was written, in fact, to ensure that children would keep up the pace as they marched behind their pastor one Sunday? (Sabine Baring-Gould)
If you love travel at all, have a hankering to see ancient stone buildings and deep green countrysides, this book will certainly cause you to drool tastefully, of course. It may also stir your faith to hear of these wonderfully dedicated disciples and how they brought us the musical treasures we have nowMany of us love more contemporary praise and worship music now, but who of us who had the luxury of growing up, even absent-mindedly, in some kind of church as a kid, will not feel even the slightest bit of home-comfort feeling when reading about these songs and hearing them in our heads?
Oh! I almost forgot! You dont just have to hear them in your heads! The book comes with a CD of the hymns! Wow, huh?!! Quite honestly, that really helped, too, as there were some hymns and poems I hadnt heard before, so I enjoyed the added bonus!
To sum up, I found the book well-written, very interesting and faith stirring, and the bonuses of picture and song absolutely icing-on-the-cake. (It was written by John H. Parker; photography by Paul Seawright, both amazing artists in their own right. Be sure to read the About the Authors section!)
