We'll sing the first, third, and fifth

Marian and I were discussing the phenomenon of skipping verses when singing hymns. I realize that if your church has a big screen in front of the "sanctuary" (gym) then the notion of a hymnal is probably alien to you, but it's a book that contains a bunch of old songs that have been sung by the church for (if its a good hymnal) centuries. It includes all of these funny little marks, called musical notation, which tell the musicians what notes to play and the congregation what notes to sing. (There are even different lines of notes for different kinds of voices--usually soprano, alto, tenor and bass. All these different parts combine to produce one glorious sound. There's something trinitarian about it. Weird, huh?)

Well, most of these hymns have maybe 3-5 verses, but there are many times that only the "first and last" or "first and second" or "first, third, and fifth" verses are sung. This is what Marian and I were discussing. Why does this happen? We thought of two reasons: theology and time. "Theology" would be if there is a genuine disagreement with a verse's meaning or teaching. Now, I have to say, as one who has led a fair share of hymns in my day, that I have never known this to be the reason for verse-skipping. In my experience it has always been the "time" reason.

The problem is that the time reason is pretty pathetic if you examine it. Most verses of most hymns take about 30 seconds to sing. The quicker common meter hymns (like "How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds") are about 15 seconds per verse. So, most hymns are no more than 2.5 to 3 minutes. WOW!!!!! No wonder everyone is skipping all those verses! Who's got three more minutes to sing a song to God when the line's getting crowded at Golden Corral?!?!?!