Exalting Grace—a Shaker experience

Back in the spring of 1978, I woke up at Timbaloo in Arlington, Massachusetts, intending to fly to Bergen County, New Jersey for a meeting. My glance out the window stopped with a thud in solid New England pea-soup, penetrating only inches past the glass. A phone call to Logan Airport confirmed that I needed, as they say these days, to “seek alternative routes.” So, I packed up my research material, kissed Valerie, and jumped into Brunnhilde, our 1969 Volvo station wagon. Interstate 95 was navigable, despite the fog, and I ended up only an hour late.

Valerie and I would fall in love with the Shakers only a couple of decades later, attending their worship service (the only one that day, anywhere, as far as I know) on the Fourth of July in the year 2000, at their community at Sabbathday Lake, Maine. You may remember how a Shaker meeting went: a member, when so moved, would rise and announce, “An angel gave me this for you,” and would then teach the congregation a song and sometimes a dance, often complete with the angel’s name. The Shakers were a modest lot, to the point of declining to put their names on their gravestones. When they acted as angelic conduits, they saw it as a blessing and as an act of humble obedience, not as a means to any sort of personal aggrandizement. They were careful to write down their revealed treasures, including many of surpassing beauty and a wide range of poetic and musical sophistication.

While driving, though [don’t try this at home: I’m a highly-trained, professional, distracted driver], I had what I can only describe as a Shaker experience. Got to thinking about some lovely Folk Legacy recordings by Gordon Bok and friends. In particular, a Scots piece they called “Come by the hills.” Also about my recent efforts (by then fairly consistent for fifteen years or so) in daily, prayerful study of the Scriptures. Pretty soon, I’d put a pad of paper on the shotgun seat and was scribbling (yes, unsafely) on it with a ball-point pen. A lot of my favorite scriptural passages just fell into the gentle, folky rhythm of the Celtic ballad. And by the time I pulled into the parking lot at my destination, I’d written down a hymn (if that’s the right term) of ten quatrains. Named it “Exalting Grace.” Shared it around gingerly: how does a Mormon tell his friends (much less his ecclesiastical leaders) that he’s had a Shaker experience? Not much response. It surfaced again in 2002, in the tender, reminiscent, last days of our Timbaloo period. Realized, to my surprise, that, unlike a lot of my old writings, it didn’t embarrass me, a quarter century later. Revisited the text, introduced a few minor refinements, and recorded it to a computer file and to an audio CD. Sang it in a couple of meetings, including a missionary farewell. Nobody was critical, even helpfully. One nice person (can’t for the life of me remember who) actually took a copy and sent it to Church headquarters, where a kindly functionary replied that they’d keep it in the files. Guess that’s how the Restoration registers a rejection slip. By the time I thought about “Exalting Grace” again, it was 2010. I’d fallen in love again, this time with Doctrine and Covenants 78:17-19: 17 Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you; 18 And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours. 19 And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious… Cycling along the Santa Ana River with daughter Cyndi and grandson Matthew, in early September, 2010, I received something like an angelic P.S. We only did eight miles, but by the time we got back, the ninth verse of the current version (below) had become inevitable. So I’ve decided to put the story and the song out on this blog; it’ll be interesting to see if it draws any attention. Even negative attention: that’d hurt some, but I think I’d prefer it to the hitherto bleak, hollow silence. It’ll also go into my hypertext personal history, not that that’ll earn it any more attention… 1. Come unto me! I am Christ, the Savior of men. Give me your heart. Let it break: I will mend it again. Take my burden with joy. Believe me. It’s easy to bear, And the day of this life is the time for men to prepare. 2. Come and open your door, for behold, I stand here and knock. Surely ’tis I, your Redeemer, your Master, your Rock. When you open to me, I’ll come in, and we’ll sit down and sup. And that meal will suffice, ’til the hour when I’ll raise you up. 3. If you love me, you’ll keep my commandments. Behold, I command: As I have loved you, so help one another to stand. O remember my poor! Uplift the distressed tenderly: Inasmuch as you do it to them, you do it to me. 4. Truly happy the man who delights in the law of the Lord: He shall increase, as a tree nourished full by my word. His fruit shall not fail, and when he shall enter my rest, Grateful friends and descendants shall rise and call his name blessed. 5. So what manner of men, O my friends, ought you to be? Even as I, showing works you observed first in me. Let your love cast out fear: evil shall perish at length. As I’ve called you to act in my name, I’ll give you my strength. 6. In our purpose, the Father and I have always been one: Bringing you life in abundance, that’s why I Am come. I’ve perfected the work our Father assigned me to do, And I’ve gone up on high to prepare a mansion for you. 7. Immortality’s free, and the path is narrow but plain, Leading to life of a kind kings may covet in vain. By suffering I learned obedience, though I Am the Son: Follow me, and the life of the gods will be yours when you’ve done. 8. Have I said unto any, ’Begone! I don’t want you here!’? No--if you’re far away, you’ve done the moving, my dear. Come, you ends of the earth! Partake of my bread and my wine. I can give them: the Father’s proclaimed all things are now mine. 9. You’re still children, beloved: as yet, you’ve not understood All that your Father in Heaven intends for your good. The Kingdom is yours! the riches and blessings thereof: Now receive with thanksgiving the glorious gift of His love. 10. Overcome! Overcome, and you’ll sit with me in my throne. I, who have trodden the winepress of wrath all alone, Will to share with you now the joy my atonement has won. Grasp my hand and endure: by my grace you shall overcome. 11. I have said what I’ve said. It’s the truth, and I make no excuse. Seek first your crown: all the rest by and by you shall lose. Though the earth pass away, my word shall endure for your good, And death shall inherit no place in the Kingdom of God. If you care to, you may download here sheet music (PDF) and an audio file (MP3—6MB+) of Debbie and me singing last year's version. It's surely presumptuous of me to say so, but I continue to believe that this little unsolicited project plugs a significant hole in our hymnody. I'll save that argument for a later posting.