Musical Mondays: Be Thou My Vision

I still haven't got those pics off the camera! So I'll post them and a quick summary of my trip later. In other news, the baby gate we bought on eBay (an Evenflo Wide Spaces Swing Gate with two extensions; the opening is 91 inches, very hard to find a baby gate for that!) came today and we will be able to close off the kitchen so we don't have to keep re-shelving the things in the pantry cupboard, yay!

For now, I'd like to tell you a bit about another of my favorite hymns, "Be Thou My Vision." If you don't know it or would just like to hear it and read the lyrics, the Cyber Hymnal has it here.

Those of you who know me know that I am very into my Irish heritage, and Irish music as well. So it is only natural that I love this very Irish tune and hymn. The music seems somehow ancient and harmonious with my soul, there are several folk tunes that I can think of that do that to me, but this is one of the only hymns that do it. The words are an ode to God, a song of praise and joy and somehow longing at the same time, of a man (or woman) striving always to be better, to do what we should and what we can, to embrace the Light of Christ that shines in the hearts of all men if we but listen for it.

I heard this hymn several times throughout my childhood, the tune probably even more than the words, but the first time I know it was really called to my adult attention was (and this is rather embarrassing/amusing) when it was featured in an episode of Without a Trace! A transgendered individual sang it in one of the flashback scenes, although we didn't know until later that this person was transgendered... Yeah, I know.

In any case, I recalled the tune from my childhood but not the lyrics, so I went to look it up, and fell in love with the hymn all over again. This hymn ranks high whenever I see a thread or hear a conversation about people's favorite hymns, which is kind of interesting to me. Do I hang out with a lot of Irish-American nuts (well, I know at least some of my family are) or is it just a really beautiful tune and/or words? For me, I think it's a little of both. The tune strongly evokes emotions about my heritage and connection with the past, and is also a beautiful tune and gorgeous, meaningful words. Also, I just like music, hymns, and Irish tunes and poetry. So, yeah, this one's got me on all counts. :)