Thoughts on Squeezing an Orange

By Elmer S. Yoder, Hartville, Ohio

As a youngster during the Great Depression we didn't have many oranges. When we did get one we squeezed it over and over with all the strength we could muster. All this effort was exerted to get every bit of the juice.

During the recent CMC sessions at Hartville I was reminded of squeezing oranges. Some of the songs shown on the big screen had a word or phrase that was repeated over and over, probably as many as six times. The repetition reminded me of squeezing an orange to get every droplet of the juice.

However, what left me disappointed was the fact that in the wonderful selection of hymns sung during the Saturday evening acappella hymn sing, only once or twice was the concluding Amen sung. I know vocabulary changes over the course of years, but where along the line did contemporary words come to mean more and become of greater priority than a universal Amen? The word Amen is understood by more people worldwide than many of the words used in contemporary repetition. And all I am suggesting is a one - time use, not a repetition of four or six times.

If we can squeeze some words and phrases over and over in more contemporary songs, then why in the name of worship can't we give a prolonged and hearty squeeze of the Amen as a conclusion of a great hymn? We should be eager to sing with our full being of the great truths just sung, "So be it!"

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