The Church is true, but it was truer when I was a kid.
Today the Church hymnbooks are green. They used to be blue, the color of true hymnbooks. Hymns were on familiar pages. “How Firm a Foundation” was on page 66. “Praise to the Man”- page 147. “Come, Come Ye Saints” - page 13. The new book groups hymns by subject. All of the sacrament hymns are between pages 169 and 197. Christmas songs start on page 201. Children’s songs start on page 300. This is more logical, but our pioneer forefathers walked across the plains. Certainly we can deal with random hymn numbers.
I admit there are some good new hymns. “I Believe in Christ”, for example, is very nice, but you have to allow an extra 15 minutes in Sacrament Meeting to sing it. They also changed the words of “How Firm a Foundation.” Deacons today don’t have the pleasure of waving while they sing “You who unto Jesus”. I just can’t make myself sing “Who Unto the Savior” in the new hymnal.
The Primary songs haven’t fared much better. “Autumn day, bright and gay“ has been changed to “Autumn day, autumn day.” The closing phrase of “I Am a Child of God” used to read “Teach me all that I must know to live with him someday.” And my favorite primary song, “Give Said the Little Stream” is still in the book, but I never hear the kids sing it anymore.
The Church is true, but it was truer when I was a kid.
Deacons used to sit on the front row during all of Sacrament Meeting. Now the bishopric member who is conducting has to say “We want to thank the Aaronic Priesthood for the reverent manner in which they passed the sacrament and excuse them to sit with their families.” In our stake he has to repeat it if he gets any of the words wrong. The hardest part of being Deacon’s Quorum Advisor used to be sitting behind the Deacons after the sacrament and trying to keep them quiet during the meeting.
The Deacons’ official uniform has also changed. When I was a kid, you could wear any color shirt you wanted, and you could still pass the sacrament as long as you had a suit on. Now if you wear a white shirt, it doesn’t matter what else you wear, you can still pass the sacrament.
When I was a kid, the rules for the Sabbath day made perfect sense. You couldn’t attend sporting events, but you watch them on television. You couldn’t go furniture shopping, but you could go with the Priests Quorum Advisor to buy doughnuts between Priesthood and Sunday School. Today the rules seem less logical. You can play catch in the back yard with your brother, but you can’t play catch in the front yard with your friend. You can stop and help a stranger who has run out of gas, but if you run out of gas, you have to walk home.
The church is true, but it was truer when I was a kid.
Primary classes had interesting names like Stars and Top Pilots and Larks. Church athletics were the highlight of the week. We played fast pitch softball. We actually looked forward to dancing at the Gold and Green Ball. We took time to practice new hymns in Sunday School. Relief Society included lessons on Cultural Refinement, Mother Education and Spiritual Living. Elders spent Saturdays working at the Welfare Farm instead of moving members in and out of the Ward. Primary met on Wednesdays after school. Relief Society was held on Tuesday mornings.
Yes, the Church is still true. . . But I am an old fuddy-duddy and it was truer when I was a kid.