Today marks week two of our road trip, and day two in Kansas City, Kansas (Overland Park, to be precise). We’re enjoying KC, the wedding festivities, and the relative luxuries of the hotel–our Aspen campground didn’t have showers, let alone A/C and an exercise room.

At tomorrow’s wedding, I’ll be singing this beautiful and biblical text by Jaroslav Vajda (other famous hymns include “Go My Children” and “God of the Sparrow”).

A Luther pastor, though Vajda translated hymns from Slavic from a young age, his own writing career didn’t begin until he was almost 50 years old. And even then, it was almost by accident.

In 1968, when Vajda was editing This Day magazine, Vajda found himself having to fill a blank page in the magazine before the copy went to the printer three days later. Vajda decided he would fill the page himself. As he shaved the next morning, he was bothered by a question which had troubled him for years. He was always struck by the psalmist’s statement, “I was glad when they said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord.” Not only did Vajda perceive most contemporary worshipers as not particularly glad when anticipating worship, he himself was not always pleased at the prospect of worship. Vajda then attempted to write a hymn that would prepare worshipers in a way that might enable them to identify more with the psalmist. “Now the Silence” was born.

Now the silence
Now the peace
Now the empty hands uplifted
Now the kneeling
Now the plea
Now the Father’s arms in welcome
Now the hearing
Now the pow’r
Now the vessel brimmed for pouring
Now the body
Now the blood
Now the joyful celebration
Now the wedding
Now the songs
Now the heart forgiven leaping
Now the Spirit’s visitation
Now the Son’s epiphany
Now the Father’s blessing
Now
Now
Now

To fill the blank space, Vajda listed out the Lutheran order of worship, noting what happed at each cycle. He later wrote, “As I went through the list, I realized there was so much there that I was missing, or that the average worshiper was missing, simply because of not anticipating. I thought, if this kind of hymn (or poem) could be sung or read at the beginning of a church service, a person would be more conscious of what’s happening in that holy hour.” He wrote the basis for “Now the Silence” in next thirty minutes.
The hymn was published in This Day and caught the attention of Carl Schalk, a professor of music at Concordia University in River Forest, Illinois. Schalk contacted Vajda, asking if he could set the text to music. Vajda agreed. The hymn has since appeared in 20 hymnals. Vajda continued writing hymns, mainly in his retirement, and has now published more than 200 original and translated hymns.

Later, Vajda wrote another text set to the same Schalk tune, “Then the Glory”

Then the glory
Then the rest
Then the Sabbath peace unbroken
Then the garden
Then the throne
Then the crystal river flowing
Then the splendor
Then the life
Then the new creation singing
Then the marriage
Then the love
Then the feast of joy unending
Then the knowing
Then the light
Then the ultimate adventure
Then the Spirit’s harvest gathered
Then the Lamb in majesty
Then the Father’s Amen
Then
Then
Then

I don’t know the full story for this second text, but as in the first, every image is straight from the Bible. I love its eschatological emphasis, and the contemplative imagery-driven approach. The hymn invites the reader to imagine, to reflect on the Bible, but also to just experience the rich variety of God’s promises.

I certainly won’t due the hymn justice tomorrow at the wedding, but in that one-of-a-kind congregation gathered for a wedding around the word, a couple will make their vows and God’s covenant of love will be celebrated and honored. Now, and then, may God be praised.

image by Scyza