Years ago, I prepared a presentation on hymns to be presented to parish adults and those in the family catechesis program. Our acapella group would supplement the presentation, who would sing each hymn after I spoke about the composition.
It was a fascinating period of preparation when I discovered the origin and significance of many of the hymns we sing during Mass or come to know and love from other faiths.
One of my sources was an intriguing book by American gospel singer and composer Ira David Sankey, "My Life and the Story of the Gospel Hymns." Sankey, who died in 1908, shared an interesting story of the well-loved hymn, "Blessed Assurance."
"'During the recent war in the Transvaal … when the soldiers going to the front were passing another body of soldiers whom they recognized, their greetings used to be, 'Four-nine-four, boys; four-nine-four,' and the salute would invariably be answered with 'six further on, boys; six further on.'
The significance of this was that in 'Sacred Songs and Solos,' several copies of the small edition of which had been sent to the front, number 494 was 'God be with you until we meet again,' and six further on that 494, or number 500, was 'Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine.'
'Blessed Assurance' was written in 1873 by blind American hymn writer Fanny Crosby with music composed by Phoebe Knapp. Fanny wrote some 8,000 hymns and Gospel songs over her lifetime, courageously facing the world with faith in the God she loved so much.
Her lyrics clearly profess the words of Jesus, "I am with you always," stressing the hope of Christ and the promises of God.
For me, "Blessed Assurance" is a reminder of God's promise of rebirth, spoken through the prophet Isaiah: "Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not, see, I am doing something new!"
The Book of Hebrews in the Old Testament also underscores the connection between assurance and faith: "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for" (NIV, Heb.11:1).
We are reminded that the Old Testament presents us with women and men who were pillars of faith, who, even in the darkest hours and faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles, found their assurance in God.
Today, thousands of years later, we still encounter dark times and run up against obstacles that sometimes threaten to overwhelm us.
I believe Fanny would offer us the assurance that God finds his way to us by whatever means possible, through the words of Scripture, through creation, and even through coded messages exchanged on a battlefield.
Mary Regina Morrell is a Catholic journalist, author, and syndicated columnist who has served the dioceses of Metuchen and Trenton, New Jersey, and RENEW International in the areas of catechesis and communication.