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“Keep your lamps trimmed and burning; the time is drawing nigh.
Children, don’t grow weary; the time is drawing nigh.
Darker midnight lies before us; the time is drawing nigh.
Christian journey soon be over; the time is drawing nigh.”
In these weeks between All Saints’ Day and Advent, the lectionary starts to change tone. If Advent is the season of waiting, this time could perhaps be called a season of “watching.” We hear all about this in this weekend’s Gospel parable of the bridesmaids, some of whom kept watch for the bridegroom, and others who did not. I’ll leave the clergy to further explain the meaning of the parable for us. This shift in tone, of course, also affects the music that we sing over the next few weeks.
One hymn that we’ll be singing in both services this weekend which reflects this shift is called “Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning.” It will likely be new for almost everyone! “Keep Your Lamps” is a traditional song with unclear origins, though it likely originated as a Black spiritual. It made its way through the blues scene in the early 20th century, first being recorded by Willie Johnson in 1928, and eventually made it into hymnals toward the end of the century. Though it is not in any official Episcopal hymnal, it is in the current Lutheran and Presbyterian hymnals.
Given its history as a song from oral tradition, there are several variations of the hymn, with different sets of verses, and even slight variances in the melody. Some verses lean more into the story of the parable – those verses have themes of darkness and light. Other verses lean more into the idea of freedom – which for us today might mean freedom from sin, though historically it certainly would have been about freedom from slavery. You can see a sampling of these verses listed above, all of which call us to keep watch as we make our journey toward the preparations of Advent.
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