Why you should teach He Sent His Son even if your children already know it
I have read post after post of music directors who will not be teaching the song of the month "He Sent His Son" because their Primary children already know it. That brings me to the question:
What DO the Primary children really know about the song?
Consider this:
When I sing a song that I love, I am taught, especially if I interact with the song.
Just last night as I was singing Come Thou Fount (which I have sung and directed literally hundreds of times), we sang the phrase, "He to rescue me from danger interposed His precious blood." I pondered deeply on what danger I am in. Why would someone have to get between me and danger? Why would anyone do that for me? What does interposed mean?
When I interact with a song I love, I am taught. What could the children learn more deeply if they interacted with the words of "He Sent His Son?" I want to feel the rise and fall of the song over and over again. I love watching the ocean waves sneak in and out or crash in against my legs. I love playing tag with the waves. The rise and fall of the sound waves is just the same for me. I love feeling the ups and downs of the melody that pulls me and then releases. I love the harmony that gives anticipation, then deep satisfaction. I love the voyage in and out of a minor chord and back to a major chord.
The flow of music can move my soul. Especially when combined with sacred words, the flow of music can help me and touch me in a way no other thing can. I want to experience that kind of movement and flow every day of my life. What could the children feel more deeply if they had different activities with the flow of "He Sent His Son" that they haven't experienced before? There is so much more to be learned from a song than just the words.
If I sang the song combined with a touching story (Story Song), the memory of the song will never be the same. If I sang the song and moved in beautiful flowing movement to the flow of the song (Magic Crayon, Magic Paintbrush, Mirror Image, or Scarves), my soul would lift and flow with the flow of the song.
If I sang the song watching a slide show of children I know intermixed with scenes from Jesus' life, I would make a personal connection with the song I never have before.
If I sang the song with no outward sounds, only the movement of my hands signing ASL words of the song, I would open my heart up to the possibility of the Spirit confirming all the words running through my head.
There is so much more to be learned from a song than just the words. If I were a child, I would plead: Please let me interact with this beautiful song over and over again in different ways.