Hosanna now through Advent
With loving hearts we sing,
For Jesus Christ is coming
To be his children’s king.

Hosanna! Blessed Jesus,
Come in our hearts to dwell,
And let our lives and voices
Your praise and glory tell.

Yep. It’s another song I learned in my youth. I can’t find the setting I had learned by Giuseppe Moschetti, but I can still hear in my mind my cousin Darlene singing the solo at the beginning.

The text is by Claudia Frances Hernaman, one of the Anglican hymn writers in the Victorian era who produced numerous songs for children. It’s interesting that some people became very concerned in the nineteenth about how children were raised in the faith. There were numerous songs written to teach aspects of the faith, like the church year, through music. Somewhere in the last quarter of the 20th century that emphasis declined, maybe as a result of the “graying” of our churches. Now there are churches that don’t want children or won’t make any effort to reach out to children.

It doesn’t surprise me that many children from nominally Christian families know more about who comes down the chimney than who came down from heaven. But then, maybe that’s something they’ve learned from the adults. Do we really desire the Savior to be with us? Do we show that desire in our lives?  Do we want others including children to truly know the Lord? Hmmm. I wonder.

Hosanna! Let this welcome, Ring out from every heart;
Draw nigh to us, O Jesus, And never more depart.

Read Matthew 21:9 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne