Hilary Jolly, winner of St.. Paul's Cathedral Millennium Hymn Competition, has been using her gift with words since she could put pen to paper.
'My mother used to recite poetry as she did the housework - in the way that other people sing,' and when Hilary was only four years old, she wrote her first poem. But following her conversion at the age of 35, Hilary recognised that her gift with words was a gift from God and resolved to use it for him. 'I became a Christian and knowing that I have this gift, I decided from that moment: that gift is for God; he gave it to me, he shall have it back.'
For Hilary, that means using her poetry and hymns to speak about God and the Christian faith. And it is on God's faithfulness over the past 2,000 years that her winning hymn 'Through the Darkness of the Ages', concentrates. All the writers and composers who entered the Millennium Hymn Competition - over 550 of them from all over the world - were asked to write a set form and metre so that tunes and words matched. Then the judges assessed tunes and words separately, without knowing the composers' or writers' identities.
Music winner
The winning tune was composed by Paul Bryan, director of music at St. John's College School, Cambridge. Although they both live in Cambridge, Hilary Jolly, who attends The Round Church at St. Andrew the Great, and Paul Bryan had not met until four members of St. Paul's choir performed the hymn for them in the cathedral crypt on the day of the prize-giving in February. And on Saturday January 2 2000, it will be sung by the congregation of St. Paul's Cathedral and members of the Royal Family.
It is not only in her winning hymn that Hilary has had the opportunity to speak of God's faithfulness - but also in response to the media interest surrounding the competition. The reporters were particularly interested in her views on the millennium - which she expresses with gentle forthrightness. 'The millennium, as people are planning to celebrate it, is about man's achievements. That is not warranted . . . God's grace and fidelity over the last 2,000 years - let's celebrate that.' 'I am quite frankly sickened by the millennium hype that surrounds us. I think it is pagan and most unpleasant.'
Tower of Babel?
She feels no less passionately about the Dome. 'It is a hideous monstrosity, a piece of idolatry that is unparalleled in my lifetime . . . it reminds me of a latter-day Tower of Babel, but at least that was built with some aspiration towards heaven.' A couple of correspondents showed spiritual, rather than purely journalistic, interest and Hilary speaks of the privilege of being able to talk to them about Christ, deeply aware of the need to be thoughtful and prayerful about what she said. She has also received many letters, appreciating her hymn, and supporting her views and her stand for Christ.
Hilary's other great passion is writing Christian poetry and, in time, she is hoping to publish a collection of her poems. Writing poetry, she explains, involves a totally different process from writing hymns. With poetry, she takes an idea that she wants to communicate and works at finding a metaphor to express it. Then she 'worries away at it until a poem comes out'. Hymn-writing is quite different. She selects a passage of the Bible and studies it hard and prayerfully until she has drawn out the main gist of what the writer is saying. She then juggles with words - usually walking along the river with her dog Hannah - until she comes up with 'singable poetry'. Hilary is no prima donna. She recognises the crucial importance of good theology in hymns and songs and invites the church staff and church family to suggest improvements and changes to her work. 'People go away from church singing the last hymn - as I do most Sundays, when I ride home on my bike. If hymns and songs say something theologically wrong, that's stuck for life.' She also feels that the content of some modern 'worship' songs is more suitable for children than for adults and that 'the mature Christian should have moved into deeper truths'.
Troubled times
Life has not been simple for Hilary and that has played a significant part in making her the writer she is. Now 52, her ex-husband committed suicide and one of her two children is very ill. Her life has been full of adversity and trouble. But rather than quenching her creative spirit or diminishing her trust in God, Hilary says it triggers it. 'The worse things are, the more one wants to praise God for pulling us out of it.' I ask her if she thinks poetry is a particularly good medium for expressing spiritual truth. She replies enthusiastically: 'Yes, I do. You just have to look at the Bible - most particularly, of course, the Psalms. Believe it or not, there are passages of St. Paul that are pure poetry. Scripture spills into poetry, because what is being communicated is so beautiful.'
When I asked Hilary which of her own poems she liked most, she was in no doubt. 'Gifts. It's my mission statement,' she laughs. And the master hymn-writer, in her view? Charles Wesley, no competition. 'Bold I approach the eternal throne and claim the crown through Christ my own.' 'He had the audacity to say it and it's the most wonderful thing about our faith. There's no line in hymnody like it.'
Runners-up to the St. Paul's Cathedral Millennium Hymn Competition were Brian Wren from Maine, USA (words), and Jeffery Fraser from Beaminster, Dorset (tune).
The Millennium Hymn
Through the darkness of the ages,
Through the sorrows of the days
Strength of weary generations
Lifting hearts in hope and praise
Light in darkness, joy in sorrow,
Presence to allay all fears,
Jesus, you have kept your promise,
Faithful through two thousand years.
Bounty of two thousand harvests,
Beauty of two thousand springs:
He who framed the times and seasons
Has vouchsafed us greater things.
Word of God who spoke creation
Speaks forgiveness, speaks to save,
Gathers still his ransomed people
In the life he freely gave.
Countless flowers have bloomed and withered,
Countless noons are sealed in night,
Shattered thrones and fallen empires,
Realms and riches lost from sight.
Christ, your kingdom still increases
As the centuries unfold.
Grain that fell to earth and perished
Has brought forth ten thousandfold.
Master, we shall sing your praises,
Man of sorrows, God of power,
For the measured march of seasons
Shall at last bring in the hour
When, as lightning leaps the heavens,
You return to lead us home,
You have promised, 'I am coming',
Swiftly, our Lord Jesus, come.
