My Baptist Alchemy
We would usually sing
I’ll fly away, oh glory,
on Sunday nights when
the Baptist mood was
more laid back, dusky.
I must confess I never once saw us as angels as we sang that chorus but rather as flocks of birds thick enough to choke sun and moon. As a Baptist boy my bright heaven was not destination as much as transmutation: man weighed down by his common sins free as a bird at last to fly in skies of rapturous vulgar gold. Hallelujah, by and by.
I must confess I never once saw us as angels as we sang that chorus but rather as flocks of birds thick enough to choke sun and moon. As a Baptist boy my bright heaven was not destination as much as transmutation: man weighed down by his common sins free as a bird at last to fly in skies of rapturous vulgar gold. Hallelujah, by and by.
finding wings here John
I too was raised on a Baptist hymnal and suffered a severe bout of indignation when peers at a Presbyterian seminary had the nerve to speak ill of Fanny Crosby and the like (although I had my own well-warrented opinions about the Presbyterian hymnal too). Just asked for an old baptist hymnal for my birthday – I want to sing those songs to my kids at bedtime, but I’ve forgotten the words. Looking forward to remembering.
My father was the Baptist church organist, so I attended many of those “song services”. The baptists could really sing, don’t know now. Maybe they have switched to “praise songs” too. Thanks for the poignant childhood memory.
Amen.
Never a Baptist but I sang that song in plenty of dusky services myself. And I love your image. A lot.
Amen!
Do you know “He Set Me Free?”
I can identify so with this…..your post brought back memories of Sunday evening church on warm summer nights. I can hear them singing now! Loved this.