In order to perfect the home meetings, we should first learn to teach people how to sing hymns. In Life Lessons, which was compiled for the perfecting of the home meetings, a suitable hymn is included in each lesson. When we go to the home meetings, the first thing we should do is to teach the attendants to sing those hymns.
Some among us may be willing to bear the burden to compose some new hymns. This is very good. For this, we should have some basic knowledge about hymns. First, we need to know about the rhyme of hymns. To maintain a proper rhyme, the long lines have to rhyme with the long ones and the short lines with the short. In some hymns, the first line can rhyme with the second, while in other hymns this is not possible. Sometimes the first line has to rhyme with the third, and the second with the fourth. We need to pay much attention to this because the initial emphasis of a hymn lies in its rhyme. Chinese poetry is very concerned with the four phonetic tones. However, when a long poem is put to a tune, there should not be such a concern for tones. Since a hymn is a poem for singing, we do not need to care for the tones. As long as the words with the four tones are rhymed, it will be fine.
Another concern for the hymns is rhythm. The tempo and rhythm should correspond with each other. Putting lyrics to a tune is based on these two considerations. The rhythm of Chinese poems is according to the Chinese writing style. For example, a ten-syllable sentence pattern can be in the combination of five and five or of four and six. The four-six pattern can be changed to six and four or five groups of two. These are all patterns that fit a ten-syllable sentence. Four and six, six and four, and five groups of two are all even-numbered patterns. However, the pattern of five and five is odd, so it cannot be put together with one of the even-numbered patterns. For example, in the Chinese supplemental hymnal, the first line of stanza 1 of hymn #835 reads, “What mercy that my eyes have seen the true God!” This sentence consists of eleven syllables arranged in a four-seven pattern. “What mercy that my eyes have seen” is four groups of two syllables, and the sentence ends with another three syllables. The following line of the hymn says, “What grace that I can freely have salvation!” This perfectly matches the pattern of the first sentence. Such a hymn is rhythmic and pleasant to our ears. This demonstrates that a hymn must have a proper rhythm.
With these points in mind, we will not compose hymns with strange combinations of mismatched rhythm, such as putting a three-five pattern together with a four-four pattern. Hymns, #1080 is one that has a good rhythm. Stanza 1 reads, “What profit all the labor here? / There’s nothing new for you and me! / Remember not the former things, / They’re all vanity!” These lines are in a three-five pattern in Chinese, and the tune and rhythm are well-matched. The last stanza says, “Remember God in days of youth! / Fear Him, and such will be your gain! / With Him you will be satisfied, / For He is not vain!” Although the first three lines are composed of eight syllables, in Chinese they all are in the pattern of three and five, not four and four. This provides a consistency in the rhythm.
If you are the one out of every four saints who is willing to go door-knocking and visiting, you should consecrate the Lord’s Day to the Lord. Then during the week you should offer three evenings. Since you have “joined the army,” you should set aside your time; otherwise, you should not join. The three evenings during the week all have different purposes. The first evening is to be trained in how to knock on doors, lead a home meeting, and use and teach from Life Lessons. Then having learned this, you should set aside two evenings to go out. One and a half evenings should be devoted to leading home meetings, and the remaining half evening should be used for door-knocking. You should not do too much door-knocking. We may compare this to having children. If you give birth to too many children, you will not be able to raise them. However, you should not stop begetting; you should continue to beget, but you should raise up the ones whom you have begotten. After two or three years you can beget two more and raise them gradually. In this way, life will propagate continuously. Never practice this out of a momentary excitement. Do not act only when you feel like doing it and then become cold when the excitement subsides. This is not the way. You must be steadfast until the Lord comes.