Words That Sing

From the back cover: "Reflections on Hymns for the Christian Year - Here are hymns drawn from many centuries and traditions. Gail Ramshaw, with poetic writing, discusses their history and meanings, taking the church year for her guide. She is enthusiastic about the use of hymns in contemporary liturgy: 'Ideally, the classic and the new all find their place in the liturgy. Hymns enrich our doctrinal emphasis with that of another tradition, our spirituality with that of a previous age, my emotion with that of my neighbors, our musical taste with that of another culture.... While some Christians lived and died without a strong hymn tradition, we need not emulate their poverty. Hymns, while givers of life, will not stay alive on their own. It is our parish musicians and planning committees who must schedule their use, our presiders who must respect these profound contributions to the people's piety, our assemblies that must sing their throats hoarse. In our singing, we keep the saints' worlds among us.' "