Hymn #175
Jul 6th, 2008 by Stephen Erastus Knudsen III
I think it is clear that the more things rhyme, the truer they actually are.
For example:
The family that prays together stays together.
We all know that that’s true.
Therefor, needless to say, I was quite disturbed yesterday in sacrament meeting by the off-rhyme in the final verse of Hymn #175 (”Oh God the Eternal Father”).
The verse reads as follows:
How infinite that wisdom, The plan of holiness,
That made salvation perfect And veiled the Lord in flesh,
To walk upon his footstool And be like man, almost,
In his exalted station, And die, or all was lost.
Now, maybe in the olden days “almost” rhymed with “lost” but not any more, and this is problematic as it calls into question the absolute Truthfulness of the message. While the ideal solution would be a return to the speech of olden days (I’m aiming for the Adamic language myself) I think it is unrealistic with so much laziness around us today. Thus, I feel inspired to rewrite the final verse of this song, to maintain its important message and its poetic/prophetic poetry:
To walk upon his footstool And be like man, almost,
In his exalted station, And die, or all was toast.
Oh man, promise me you won’t look up “Come All Ye Sons of God” (#322).
Dear Brother Kullervo,
No need — I have them all committed to memory and hum them to myself at various and sundry times throughout the day. It’s one of the main reasons why I never have temptations. But you’re right, I should probably just re-write them all. I’d love to create a revised hymnbook completely in reformed Egyptian, to get the purest possible message. I’ll have to ponder and fast on that one.
Fair enough. Quick question: do you already know Reformed Egyptian, or would you do the translation by looking into a hat? See, the former would show you’d been diligently doing your Morning Study and been obedient to D&C 130:18-19, but the latter would show so much more faith.
Also, why Reformed Egyptian and not Adamic? Or are they really the same thing?
Adamic is not the same as Reformed Egyptian. I speak Reformed Egyptian but have trouble reading and writing it (it’s clumsy, but is mighty when spoken). iIm just the opposite with the Adamic. I can read and write without the need of an interpreter, but it all sounds like Pentacostal jibber-jabber when I try to speak it. But no worries. I’ll get there.