How Beloved Hymns Have Impacted the Lives of Seniors

A few years ago, my church had the idea of using traditional hymns as a way to explain truths about the Christian faith to seniors. We were looking for a welcoming and non-threatening approach, and we recognised just how precious hymns are to this generation. They resonate with a lifetime of memories, even for those suffering from increasing short-term memory loss, and even for non-believers.

Here you can read a few real-life testimonies of individuals who have found particular hymns to be a source of great comfort during their lives.

John

'Thine Be the Glory'

“There are many things that I really love about ‘Thine Be the Glory’. The first is that it tells the story of Jesus' resurrection, so it feeds the mind, and even the music fits with the way it tells the story.

“Then you get the line ‘Lo! Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb’, and we’ve moved from just telling the story to discovering that there’s somebody to encounter who’s alive.

“And then, because you can’t help your heart responding, you end up singing to God, ‘Thine be the glory, risen, conquering Son.’ So it’s got everything: mind, heart, emotion, worship, all wrapped up into one!

“The words have been familiar to me most of my life, and yet it wasn’t until my later teens when I would say I came to really believe that they were actually true. So, to be able to sing the hymn and realise that Jesus is actually alive, that these are not empty phrases—it’s terrific.

“I’m in a situation even this week where I am saying goodbye to a couple of friends who are seriously ill, both preparing to go to be with Jesus. My own mum, who is 93, is also nearing the end of her life. She came to know Jesus as a 12 year old and she's one of the people who have taught me hymns that have stayed with me all my life. To be able to be sorrowful with people who are going through a trying time, but yet to know that it isn't the bitter end of everything—that ‘death hath lost its sting’—it’s especially meaningful.”

Dorothea

'Rock of Ages'

“I was born in South India in Bangalore. When I was nine months old, my father died, and my mother had no option but to leave for Bombay in search of work. She left me with my great-grandmother, Charity Haslam, who brought me up, along with my granny and my aunties and uncles. She had a tattoo on her right forearm of the word ‘faith’, and she used to smoke. She was the one who taught me how to pray.

“She had a postcard of hymns in a little album, and ‘Rock of Ages’ was the first hymn in that postcard. This was the first time I had come across it. Beside the print was a picture of a rugged cross on a rock. That image, along with the hymn itself, has become a beautiful reminder to me that Jesus is my rock—a rock who is steadfast and stable. His precious blood has been shed and has cleansed me of all my sins.”

Jean

'The Lord's My Shepherd'

“‘The Lord’s my Shepherd’ was one of the hymns that we used to sing quite regularly at my school—I think we sang it once a week—so I learned the words. I know them off by heart now, so I don’t have to read them: they’re in my head. They’re very special to me because my time at school was one of the happiest periods of my life, so when I hear the hymn, it soothes and comforts me and reminds me of happy times.

“I was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer 4 years ago and I had major bowel surgery. The pain from that was absolutely incredible, and I lived on morphine for quite a long time. There comes a time in the middle of the night when the last dose of morphine wears off, and you have to wait a little while for the new dose to kick in. It was at those times that I felt really low, really at the end of my tether, and the only thing that soothed me was singing ‘The Lord’s my Shepherd’ to myself over and over again, until the morphine kicked in again and I could fall asleep.

“It soothed me, comforted me and let me know I wasn’t alone. It reminded me that God was with me and would help me through. This would happen virtually every night for many weeks.

“There are still times when I feel really anxious, particularly when I have to go for an appointment. There’s the time leading up to it, then you have a scan and then you've got the two-week wait between the scan and the appointment—and that triggers my anxiety again. I then use the hymn to calm myself down. During any times of anxiety, I will use that hymn because it’s there—it's in my head—and it’s my go-to song!”

Hymns We Love is a gentle evangelistic series which uses well-loved hymns to explore the Christian faith with seniors. Each session features a beautifully shot video set in a historic English church, and tells the story of the hymn and the gospel message behind it. The Leader's Kit is the best way to get started with Hymns We Love and contains everything you need to run the series. Visit here to find out more and to sample the first session for free.