tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1170863882017712417.post7889125634817260531..comments2024-03-15T02:28:07.743-07:00Comments on GodSongs.net: The Complete Come and PraiseEditor, GodSongs.nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09722732061854286556noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1170863882017712417.post-13525043761284231082021-05-18T03:07:38.021-07:002021-05-18T03:07:38.021-07:00I sang many of these hymns at my infants school be...I sang many of these hymns at my infants school between 1979 and 1982. Our Morning Assembly was held in the school hall three times every week. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. I have vivid and powerful memories of us singing these songs with a projector projecting the words on a big screen so we could all sing them. Our teacher bashing the piano and invariably telling us to sing a lot louder as God would just not hear us. This 'Come And Praise' hymn book was central to the collective worship at my school - right up until I left in 1985 when the last hymn we sung together was 'One More Step'.<br /><br />I know some people object to this sort of religious education and collective worship in schools but, from my own very personal experience, I think it is extremely important. It is something that should happen and should also continue. For I can just honestly say these hymns were a crucial part of my own spiritual, moral and religious development. Indeed I have to admit, as a boy, I found morning worship to be extremely profound. I took it very seriously and looked forward to it. I looked forward to being with God in the school hall so I could encounter Him. So I could just be with Him and worship Him. I clearly remember experiencing or seeing God in my assemblies. It was amazing. An experience that I'll always treasure.<br /><br />I can even recall when I first began to experience or to see God. I must have been aged about six and, as we sang 'Sing Hosanna', I became aware of God near me and also in my mind. I felt such an overwhelming sense of joy and happiness. It was wonderful. And magical. Like a dream but real. Like this great big mystery had been revealed to me. I began to see God quite clearly and, after the hymn had finished, I simply wanted to worship what I had seen.<br /><br />Two of my most favourite hymns are 'Imagine A World Without Any Flowers' and 'I've Seen The Golden Sunshine'. The latter includes that chorus "I Have Seen The Light". I had no idea what it meant until I saw the Light myself (aged about fifteen) and I became a Christian too. Funnily enough it all then made sense to me. Everything fell into place. Everything I had been taught. Forty years later I am still a Christian and I am grateful for the spiritual journey 'Come And Praise' encouraged me to take. This is especially so when you consider my own parents were atheist and agnostic. For being able to worship at school was the only opportunity to worship God and to experience God that I had. Indeed it was only when I started at school that I first began to learn about God. To learn about the Christian Faith. I am very, very grateful 'Come And Praise' was a part of this.<br /><br />Looking back now, as I approach the age of fifty, I can honestly say the hymn 'Turning The World Upside Down' has the most resonance for me. It encapsulates life's journey. It's trials. It's tribulations. It's challenges. It's difficulties. Yet God can turn this world upside down as we now know but, if we have faith in Him, we can turn the world upside down too. For the better and for everybody we encounter.Neil Weltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14136012163614236311noreply@blogger.com