Sunday School Songs

Last week I amused my daughter with a performance of some of the “Christian” songs we used to sing in Sunday School.  Like this one:

Mommy told me something a little girl should know,
And it’s all about the devil, and I’ve learned to hate him so.
She says he causes trouble when you let him in the room
He will never, ever leave you if your heart is filled with gloom.

So let the sunshine in!  Face it with a grin.
Smilers never lose, and frowners never win,
So let the sunshine in!  Face it with a grin.
Open up your heart and let the sunshine in.

It’s the theology of smilers and frowners that earned this song the quotation marks in the “Christians” song category.  And of course, that song leads quite naturally into:

Climb, climb up Sunshine Mountain, heavenly breezes blow.
Climb, climb up Sunshine Mountain, faces all aglow.
Turn, turn from sin and doubting, look to God on high.
Climb, climb up Sunshine Mountain, you and I.

Now my parents are here visiting, and it’s easy to bring my mom into this fun.  She tells us that there’s another verse to be sung:

Don’t slide down Gloomy Mountain where the storm clouds blow
Don’t slide down Gloomy Mountain faces looking so [and of course she made a very sour face]
Turn, turn from crosspatch pouting, look to God on high.
Climb, climb up Sunshine Mountain, you and I.

Well, we barely got through that verse because my mom was laughing too hard at her pantomime of Gloomy Mountain’s catastrophic landslide.  And she couldn’t remember the part about crosspatch pouting, so I asked Mr. Google what the words were.  He could only find three places in the whole world wide web where this second verse was hiding.

But as I said earlier, it’s easy to bring my mom into this sort of fun.  Before we knew it, she was introducing us to a song I know we just need to record, but I’m even more sure that she won’t let us.  It’s one for the books.  And one for Mr. Google: Mr. Google could only find one instance of these words on the internet.  I’m about to make that two:

Shoo them out, Get them gone,
All the little rabbits in the field of corn.
Jealousy, envy, malice, and pride
and all the other sins that in my heart abide.

Search them out, plant them in,
All the blessed virtues of the Book within.
Kindness, thoughtfulness, peace, and love
and all the other likenesses of Christ above.

Try to imagine all the cute little bunny ears in verse one.  It’s even more special seeing them on your children’s grandmother.  Thanks, Granny!

I think tomorrow I’ll ask Mr. Google to see if he can locate Sunshine Mountain on that really big map of his.  I don’t have many hopes of seeing Gloomy Mountain; it seems to have gone the way of Atlantis.

from Psalm 24

³ Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD?
Or who may stand in His holy place?
⁴ He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,
Nor sworn deceitfully.
⁵ He shall receive blessing from the LORD,
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.

Springing Ahead

Snow fell all day on this first day of spring in Chicago, but that’s okay; we’ve been springing ahead for a whole week now.

Sure, we’ve started saving our daylight again, even as premiums for daylight reach their annual low. But for my family and me, springing ahead means throwing ourselves into our preparations to begin a new season of our lives.

On April 30, Paul fulfills 17 years of working in Chicago. He’s enjoyed his job, but a new radio show is replacing the one he works for, and it’s time to pack up and move out.

So as we prepare our house for the market, we sort through piles of index cards and sweat through the tasks hastily scrawled on them. It’s the Spring Cleaning of all spring cleanings.

God has been so faithful to us. I hope I can snag some time here and there to chronicle them on behalf of the family. We have so much to remember as we anticipate so much before us.

from Psalm 36

5 Your mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens;
Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the great mountains;
Your judgments are a great deep;
O LORD, You preserve man and beast.

7 How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.
8 They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house,
And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.
9 For with You is the fountain of life;
In Your light we see light.