Sing to Celebrate the Life of Charles Wesley

Continuing with my theme of singing, I thought I'd post today on the birthday of Charles Wesley. Consider how different our lives would have been if we had not had the Wesley brothers.

Would we have had Methodists, had those two brothers not been so diligent (so methodical!) in spreading their version of the Protestant faith?

I've spent my life asking similar questions about Martin Luther. When I was young and not yet fully formed (and barely educated), I assumed we would all still be Catholics had there been no Martin Luther. Now I know that there were plenty of people asking vital questions. The Church would have been reformed--but in very different ways, without the force of Martin Luther, without his humor, without his tireless work.

But I'm biased, I know. Back to Charles Wesley.

I'm always amazed at how many of our hymns come from the Wesley brothers. Some of our best loved hymns come from the pen of Charles: "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," "Christ the Lord is Risen Today," and "O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing." Here's a Methodist website where you can get words to hymns and hear them.

So, play some sacred music, and lift a mug of hot chocolate to the work of Charles Wesley. Better yet, gather a group together and sing. Break open that hymnbook. May you feel strangely warm! May you go on to shape the world in ways that only you can!