167. Hymn for the 26th Sunday after Trinity

This would be the second-last Sunday of a church year with a full complement of 27 Sundays after Trinity, but Easter would have to land on or before April 2 for there to be even so many as 26. The Epistle is a toss-up between 2 Peter 3:3-14 or 2 Thessalonians 1:3-10. The Gospel is Matthew 25:31-46, where Jesus depicts the final judgment in terms of separating the sheep from the goats. For the tune I self-borrowed again, slightly modifying the tune AMEN, AMEN I wrote in 2013 for this hymn, which happens to begin with the words "Amen, Amen." The fact that there's an "Amen, Amen" in the refrain of this hymn makes the choice of tune seem significant, but it actually came about by accident. I had already selected the tune for this hymn before I wrote the text. I originally meant there to be just one "Amen" in the refrain, with the second syllable slurred over five notes, like the first syllable of the word "glorify" in the other hymn. I realized this wasn't going to sound good in this case, so I decided to break up the five-note slur and stick in a second Amen.

The Son of Man will come with might,
Enthroned amid the sons of light,
When all the nations in His sight
Shall be divided, left from right:
Amen, Amen! Come quickly, Lord!

The King will turn His kindly face
To those found righteous by His grace
And say, “Come, brethren, take the place
Prepared since God designed your race!”
Amen, Amen! Come quickly, Lord!

“In aiding any in his need
You aided Me with loving deed,”
The King will say, as though to heed
Alone what works from faith proceed.
Amen, Amen! Come quickly, Lord!

But to the left He will proclaim
A curse, a banishment, a flame
With Satan’s ministers of shame,
Though they feel neither want nor blame.
Amen, Amen! Come quickly, Lord!

Redeemer Christ, root out the pride
Which on that day will be denied!
Grant us a heart that will confide
In You, who for our failings died!
Amen, Amen! Come quickly, Lord!

Now, pardoned of iniquities,
We bow to You our hearts and knees
Whom without faith no work can please;
Help us to serve the least of these!
Amen, Amen! Come quickly Lord!

Infernal Devices

Infernal Devices
by K. W. Jeter
Recommended Ages: 13+

Back in print after many years, this book was an early example of the now thriving Steampunk genre. Its author, a specialist in "dark science fiction," was not only among the handful of writers who invented this semi-satirical blend of alternate history and gadget-propelled paranoia, he was actually the one who coined the word "Steampunk." Now that everybody who's anybody spins fantasies of clockwork automata, Victorian costumes with brass-studded leather accents, aircraft with flapping wings and ground craft with walking legs, this forgotten gem is suddenly important again.

It begins when a hapless, straight-arrow type named George Dower finds himself out of his depth trying to run the clockwork gadgetry business left to him by his remote father. Lacking his father's genius for that sort of thing has already gotten George into a few scrapes, notably an incident involving clerical automata in a church that resulted in mayhem, blasphemy and a close call with utter ruin. But now a visit from a stranger he comes to call "the brown leather man" starts him down a path of madcap adventure involving a couple of scoundrels who talk like denizens of a later age, an army of anti-clockwork puritans, a lost civilization from beneath the waves, and a mad secret society that wants to bring about the end of the world.

Most of the hallmarks of the genre are in place, including daft theories about the aether, an attempt to bring a dying race back from extinction, debates about the benefits and drawbacks of technological progress, an absurd flying machine and a wind-up doppelgänger who has a screw or two loose. It abounds in retro-futurism, juxtaposing could-have-beens that never were with larger-than-life splashes of what once was. It allows us to explore a speculative future branching out of a beloved literary period, an alternate yesteryear that is both whimsical and horrifying. It sets a fetish for Anglo-archaism against a sneering caricature of present-day Americanism. And with loopy high-jinks, spiced with sexual tension and genuine suspense, it sneaks a subversive commentary on modern society under the reader's radar.

This review is based on an audiobook narrated by Michael Page, which I bought at a truck stop (EDIT: I did not, after all, borrow it from the local library). This new edition includes a new introduction by the author and a scholarly afterword that explores the book's place in the Steampunk canon, and the genre's place in our culture. It leaves me intrigued by what else K. W. Jeter has to offer, such as the recent sequel to this book titled Fiendish Schemes. And it touches chords of fond memory strung from other Steampunk works I have enjoyed. I may have to explore that world a bit more.

166. Hymn for the 25th Sunday after Trinity

This Sunday towards the end of the church year, like some of those around it, may exist some years but not others. This is because there may be more or fewer Sundays after Trinity depending on the date of Easter. The low extreme of 22 Sundays can only occur when Easter falls on one of the two latest dates possible, April 24-25, whereas there are five possible Easter dates (March 22-26) to allow 27 Sundays after Trinity. I note this here because more than half of the possible dates of Easter, but only a little more, allow for at least 25 Sundays after Trinity. I should also have mentioned a few hymns ago that the Introit for the 23rd Sunday after Trinity, on which I based that Sunday's designated hymn, is always supposed to be used on the last Sunday of the church year. At any rate this particular mass has 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 for its Epistle and Matthew 24:15-27 for its Gospel. I chose two alternate tunes for this hymn, both titled WENN MEINE SÜND. The one above the hymn is from a German source, dated 1790. The one below it is by Michael Prætorius, 1609.

When tribulation rises
And shows the end is near,
Man’s lot he realizes;
The nations quake in fear.
Woe to the womb, the nursing breast
Whom the brash bolt surprises
That flashes east to west!

That day comes of a sudden
And finds men unprepared;
The faithful, though downtrodden,
Need not withal be scared.
Though springs the trap on ev’ry sin,
Yet mercy’s gates will broaden
T’ward us whom Christ drew in.

Heed not false Christ or preacher
Whose word or wondrous deed
Would even God’s new creature,
If possible, mislead!
See, Jesus warns us in advance
Lest comely voice or feature
Should mesh us in its trance!

Now be not unenlightened
On them who are asleep,
But let your hearts be lightened
From hopeless, pining grief!
Christ comes with angel’s voice to raise
Those dead in Him; then brightened
Shall be all after days!

165. Hymn for the 24th Sunday after Trinity

The Epistle for this mass is Colossians 1:9-14. The Gospel is Matthew 9:18-25, where Jesus' raising of the official's dead daughter is interrupted by the healing of a woman with a twelve-year hemorrhage. The tune is MALVERN, from something called The Hallelujah of 1849.

Christ, rise without delay
To touch our woe today
And comfort give,
As at the ruler’s plea
His daughter’s corpse to see
You rose at once, that she
Also might live!

Hear, though a keener need
May check Your answer’s speed;
Help us endure,
As You Your meeting kept
With her who lately slept,
While wounds that twelve years wept
You paused to cure!

We need not stealthy cringe
To touch Your garment’s fringe,
Lord of all grace;
You choose yet surer routes
Whereby we taste Your fruits.
The means You institute
Help us embrace!

Help us regard Your word
As heaven’s pow’r conferred
On heart and ear,
And Your blest sacrament
As You both said and meant:
Your body for us rent
By nail and spear!

Thus as we taste Your cup
And on Your promise sup,
Open our eyes
As once, though people mocked,
You to the dead girl talked;
Death’s dungeon You unlocked,
Bidding her rise.

Likewise our hearts revive,
Lamb slain and yet alive!
And though we die,
Our souls securely keep
And grant our bodies sleep
Till from the grave we leap,
Summoned on high!

164. Thanksgiving Hymn

This is a day late, but I was busy celebrating Thanksgiving yesterday! Though Thanksgiving is a public holiday rather than a universally Christian feast, there is a strong tradition at least in American Lutheranism of reading the Gospel for the 14th Sunday after Trinity, Luke 17:11-19, at Thanksgiving services. So I heard it Wednesday night at a "Thanksgiving Eve" Communion service that reminded me what the word "eucharist" means. Here's a hymn I hoped might capture that meaning, set to an original tune titled THANKSGIVING.

Lord, when our voice to You we raise,
To whom belongs all pow’r and praise,
Have mercy on our meanness;
Though one in ten extol Your grace,
Yet pardon our uncleanness!

Good Master, help us when we cry!
Without Your favor we would die,
Were it one hour denied us.
Help us perceive with grateful eye
All that You do provide us!

You give food, clothing, home and wealth,
Mind, body, senses, life and health,
For which we owe thanksgiving.
By serving those in need by stealth,
Make us Your means of giving!

Again have mercy when we fail,
When thankless attitudes prevail,
Our sinfulness forgiving!
Come, Bread of life to bodies frail!
Come, Cup of glad thanksgiving!

A thankful heart in us create,
And dwell in us; rejuvenate
The seed of faith You planted
Till we rise where, in royal state,
Your praise is ever chanted!

163. Hymn for the 23rd Sunday after Trinity

I'm getting so close to the end of this "hymns for the Sundays of the Church Year" project that I just can't stop. So here is a second original hymn in one day, written mainly on the Introit for this mass from Jeremiah 29:11-14 and surrounding verses, with a bit of the Epistle from Philippians 3:17-21 and the Gospel from Matthew 22:15-22, where Jesus famously says, "Render unto Caesar," etc. It's pretty much a hymn about Christian vocation. The tune is IMMANUEL by J. P. Löhe, 1869-1952.

Tell this to captive Israel:
Tempt not the Lord, but hear Him well,
Says God, the Lord of hosts.
Dwell where He causes You to dwell;
The work you find to do, do well
In cities, fields or coasts!

Though subjects of His realm above,
The Lord calls you to serve in love
Your neighbor here below,
As Daniel and the three youths throve
Whom into Babylon God drove,
And kept faith even so.

Wherever leads your pilgrim way,
Build, grow, do business, marry, play,
According to your place:
Whatever city, for it pray;
Whatever duty, gladly pay,
And trust your Father’s grace!

Pay neither heed to men’s applause
Nor to false prophets’ dreams and laws,
Which God did not ordain;
But let His gospel be the cause
That calls its ministers, and draws
His people home again!

“I know my own thoughts,” says the Lord;
“Thoughts that not ill but peace afford
To you who call My name:
A future hope, a great reward,
The captive freed, the home restored,
In Me are found and claimed.”

As citizens of heaven walk,
Awaiting Christ, our mighty Rock,
Whose cross is all in all!
Soon will He gather all His flock,
Our transformation to unlock
By His almighty call.

Till then, let all His ransomed tell
These tidings unto Israel,
Who Jesus trusts and lauds:
Whatever duties men compel,
Pay in their coin; but know as well
Your race and realm are God’s.

162. Hymn for the 22nd Sunday after Trinity

The Epistle for this mass is Philippians 1:3-11. The Gospel is Matthew 18:23-35, Jesus' account of the unmerciful slave. The melody is the 19th century Welsh hymn tune DOLGELLY.

God, who forgave our debt,
The misdeeds we regret:
Our nature black as jet
Repair, lest we forget
The liberty to You we owe,
That we forgiving hearts may show!

The pardon that You give
Makes our dead spirits live;
How then can we survive
Unless we too forgive?
Dare we our hearts on vengeance set
Whom You loosed from law’s awful threat?

As we before You grow,
What we reap, let us sow!
The pardon You bestow
On us, through us will flow.
From grace to grace our way will thrive
Till we into Your rest arrive.