Our Newsletter
Our newsletter, "Cross Current" is published each Sunday. Along with an up-to-date rundown of congregational activities, each edition features an interesting and challenging cover story that connects faith to real life.
Written by Rick Gamble, these articles are published the following week in the Brantford Expositor where Rick is the Religion and Ethics columnist.
Oh-Oh, Canada!
The man who wrote the Canadian national anthem didn't exactly have a song in his heart for Confederation. In fact, he did't believe in this country, spent much of his life in America, and thought Canada should become part of the US.
Calixa Lavallee was born in 1842 in Quebec, and grew up with a blacksmith father who loved music and eventually began making instruments. So it seemed natural when Lavallee started playing the organ. By the time he was 12, word of his talent had reached Montreal where a patron convinced the family to let the boy live in the big city.
But at 16, Lavallee ran away to pursue show business. He joined a minstrel troupe in which whites did musical comedy with faces painted to caricature black people. For a decade, Lavallee led the band in blackface and outrageous costumes.
When the American Civil War broke out in 1861, the musician signed up with the Union Army and became a lieutenant. He enlisted as a bandsman but likely served as a stretcher-bearer or helped with surgeries. Though it's not clear how, Lavallee was hurt at the Battle of Antietam, ending his war stint.
In that period, Lavallee thought Canada should join the US, believing francophones would get a better deal from the Americans than the British. “[He] clearly didn't believe in Canada,” says music writer Robert Harris, author of Song of a Nation: the Untold Story of Canada's National Anthem.
But by 1880, Lavallee was back in Montreal where Quebec's lieutenant-governor asked him to write music for a patriotic poem by Adolphe-Basile Routhier. The result — O Canada — was meant as a nationalistic hymn for French Canada. In fact, there were no original English lyrics, because the song was never intended for an anglo audience. Regardless, the song never caught on and was soon forgotten. Three months after writing it, Lavallee moved to Boston and never came back.
But in 1907, Quebec needed a song for a royal visit by King Edward Vll. One of Lavallee's pupils remembered O Canada and played it for the occasion. It was played again during stops in Ottawa and Toronto and became a big hit with the public, which led to its revival in French Canada. It was finally adopted as Canada's national anthem in 1980.
Robert Harris says the song is a fitting one, because it represents this country's many tensions and contradictions, and the passionate search for a true national identity. Few people know about Lavallee's true feelings, but it's unlikely allegiance to the song would change, even if were common knowledge.
So, does somebody's past impair the worth of their work? The public verdict is a clear and resounding yes in the cases of people like comedian Bill Cosby, Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, and actor Kevin Spacey. But what about us? What about our guilt, and our work?
I'm reminded of Paul's comments about those who spread the gospel, even though they don't fully believe or live it. “It's true some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry” he says, “They don't have pure motives. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely... But that doesn't matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice.” (Phil. 1:15-18)
I've had to take consolation from those words when — even though everything looked fine on the surface — my divided heart and behaviour were at odds with my ministry. I've had to trust that God could still use the imperfect offerings of a deeply flawed servant and still accomplish his will, not just through me, but despite me. I still have to believe that, and so does every other serious person of faith.
The only alternative is to think our motives and conduct must be absolutely spotless before anything we do is acceptable, in which case none of us has anything to offer. Even scripture's most powerful instruments of God were deeply sinful in some areas of their lives, including David (murder and adultery), Solomon (idolatry), and Peter (denial of Christ). But in the end, redemption won out
And that's the whole point of the gospel: progress, not perfection. If we could be perfect, we wouldn't need the grace and sacrifice of Jesus. As Paul wrote, “We now have this light shining in our hearts [the good news of salvation in Jesus], but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.” (2 Cor. 4:7)
None of this means we can excuse our sin by relying on God's ability to use us despite our disobedience. Before addressing those false preachers, Paul stresses the need to keep moving forward. “I pray your love will overflow, and you'll keep growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to know what really matters, so you may live pure and blameless lives until Christ returns. May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation: the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ, for this will bring much glory and praise to God.” (Phil. 1:9-11)
So wherever you are spiritually, give all you can while you work on the rest. It takes time and growth, but God's power really will instil true, patriot love, for Him, and your life will be a fit anthem for the King.
By Rick Gamble. Reprint at will in not-for-profit publications. Originally published in Cross Current, the weekly newsletter of Followers of Christ, an independent, nondenominational church in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. To get these free weekly articles by email, with no strings attached, send a note to Rick at info@followers.ca
Calixa Lavallee was born in 1842 in Quebec, and grew up with a blacksmith father who loved music and eventually began making instruments. So it seemed natural when Lavallee started playing the organ. By the time he was 12, word of his talent had reached Montreal where a patron convinced the family to let the boy live in the big city.
But at 16, Lavallee ran away to pursue show business. He joined a minstrel troupe in which whites did musical comedy with faces painted to caricature black people. For a decade, Lavallee led the band in blackface and outrageous costumes.
When the American Civil War broke out in 1861, the musician signed up with the Union Army and became a lieutenant. He enlisted as a bandsman but likely served as a stretcher-bearer or helped with surgeries. Though it's not clear how, Lavallee was hurt at the Battle of Antietam, ending his war stint.
In that period, Lavallee thought Canada should join the US, believing francophones would get a better deal from the Americans than the British. “[He] clearly didn't believe in Canada,” says music writer Robert Harris, author of Song of a Nation: the Untold Story of Canada's National Anthem.
But by 1880, Lavallee was back in Montreal where Quebec's lieutenant-governor asked him to write music for a patriotic poem by Adolphe-Basile Routhier. The result — O Canada — was meant as a nationalistic hymn for French Canada. In fact, there were no original English lyrics, because the song was never intended for an anglo audience. Regardless, the song never caught on and was soon forgotten. Three months after writing it, Lavallee moved to Boston and never came back.
But in 1907, Quebec needed a song for a royal visit by King Edward Vll. One of Lavallee's pupils remembered O Canada and played it for the occasion. It was played again during stops in Ottawa and Toronto and became a big hit with the public, which led to its revival in French Canada. It was finally adopted as Canada's national anthem in 1980.
Robert Harris says the song is a fitting one, because it represents this country's many tensions and contradictions, and the passionate search for a true national identity. Few people know about Lavallee's true feelings, but it's unlikely allegiance to the song would change, even if were common knowledge.
So, does somebody's past impair the worth of their work? The public verdict is a clear and resounding yes in the cases of people like comedian Bill Cosby, Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, and actor Kevin Spacey. But what about us? What about our guilt, and our work?
I'm reminded of Paul's comments about those who spread the gospel, even though they don't fully believe or live it. “It's true some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry” he says, “They don't have pure motives. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely... But that doesn't matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice.” (Phil. 1:15-18)
I've had to take consolation from those words when — even though everything looked fine on the surface — my divided heart and behaviour were at odds with my ministry. I've had to trust that God could still use the imperfect offerings of a deeply flawed servant and still accomplish his will, not just through me, but despite me. I still have to believe that, and so does every other serious person of faith.
The only alternative is to think our motives and conduct must be absolutely spotless before anything we do is acceptable, in which case none of us has anything to offer. Even scripture's most powerful instruments of God were deeply sinful in some areas of their lives, including David (murder and adultery), Solomon (idolatry), and Peter (denial of Christ). But in the end, redemption won out
And that's the whole point of the gospel: progress, not perfection. If we could be perfect, we wouldn't need the grace and sacrifice of Jesus. As Paul wrote, “We now have this light shining in our hearts [the good news of salvation in Jesus], but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.” (2 Cor. 4:7)
None of this means we can excuse our sin by relying on God's ability to use us despite our disobedience. Before addressing those false preachers, Paul stresses the need to keep moving forward. “I pray your love will overflow, and you'll keep growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to know what really matters, so you may live pure and blameless lives until Christ returns. May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation: the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ, for this will bring much glory and praise to God.” (Phil. 1:9-11)
So wherever you are spiritually, give all you can while you work on the rest. It takes time and growth, but God's power really will instil true, patriot love, for Him, and your life will be a fit anthem for the King.
By Rick Gamble. Reprint at will in not-for-profit publications. Originally published in Cross Current, the weekly newsletter of Followers of Christ, an independent, nondenominational church in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. To get these free weekly articles by email, with no strings attached, send a note to Rick at info@followers.ca
