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THE BEST CHOICE

Appears in 2 hymnals Composer and/or Arranger: Anonymous Tune Key: F Major Incipit: 12321 71231 76256 Used With Text: I Love My Jesus Quite Alone

Author: Johannes Kelpius; Christopher Witt Appears in 1 hymnal Lyrics: 1. I love my Jesus quite alone. The Bride, the Bridegroom of my spirit; No others shall my heart, no, none, Through love, through loving more inherit. No man can do at once for two. For one’s, for one’s will and for t’others: Therefore I’ll leave all others. 2. The magnet needle erring goes, When from, when from the pole distracted. And take before quite no repose, Till he, till he has her attracted. And since my heart with Thy love dart Is touched, is touched by its flaming ether, Therefore, they haste together. 3. And though Thou art like the north star In Heav…in Heaven altified And I on earth so distant far I’ll fol…I’ll follow undenied. Still Thee my Light, and my eyesight. Shall still, shall still be turned to Thee, From every place, and woo Thee. Used With Tune: THE BEST CHOICE

Ich Liebe Jesum Mir Allein

Author: Johannes Kelpius Appears in 1 hymnal Lyrics: 1 Ich liebe Jesum mir allein Den Brautgam meiner Seelen; Kein andrer soll mein Herzelein Durch Liebe mir abstehlen. Niemand kan Zwei Mit gleicher Treu Zu einer Zeit unfassen, Drum will ich Andrer lassen. 2 Mein Ohr allein nur deine Stim Mit Andacht soll anhören. Wann einer Fremden ich vernim Lass ich mich drum nicht stören. Mann kann ja nicht Mit treuer Pflicht Swei widrigen anhören; Meiner Jesus soll mich lehren. 3 Die Magnet Nadel irrn geht Wann sie vom Pol verrücket ist; Auch gar nicht ehe stille steht Bis ihr sie zu süss zücket. Und weil mein Herz Dein liebes Herz Berufet mit ihren Flammen. Drum eilen sie zusammen. 4 Gehörsam hör ich deine Stim Wann mein Herz zu dir fahret. Und ich hin wiederum vernim Was mich dein Mund da lehret; Drum ob du schon Ins Himmel’s Thron So weit bist abgelegen, Bist mir doch zugegen. Used With Tune: [Ich liebe Jesum mir allein]

Instances

Published text-tune combinations (hymns) from specific hymnals

I Love My Jesus Quite Alone

Author: Johannes Kelpius; Christopher Witt Hymnal: The Cyber Hymnal #2898 Lyrics: 1. I love my Jesus quite alone. The Bride, the Bridegroom of my spirit; No others shall my heart, no, none, Through love, through loving more inherit. No man can do at once for two. For one’s, for one’s will and for t’others: Therefore I’ll leave all others. 2. The magnet needle erring goes, When from, when from the pole distracted. And take before quite no repose, Till he, till he has her attracted. And since my heart with Thy love dart Is touched, is touched by its flaming ether, Therefore, they haste together. 3. And though Thou art like the north star In Heav…in Heaven altified And I on earth so distant far I’ll fol…I’ll follow undenied. Still Thee my Light, and my eyesight. Shall still, shall still be turned to Thee, From every place, and woo Thee. Languages: English Tune Title: THE BEST CHOICE

Ich Liebe Jesum Mir Allein

Author: Johannes Kelpius Hymnal: The Cyber Hymnal #13512 Lyrics: 1 Ich liebe Jesum mir allein Den Brautgam meiner Seelen; Kein andrer soll mein Herzelein Durch Liebe mir abstehlen. Niemand kan Zwei Mit gleicher Treu Zu einer Zeit unfassen, Drum will ich Andrer lassen. 2 Mein Ohr allein nur deine Stim Mit Andacht soll anhören. Wann einer Fremden ich vernim Lass ich mich drum nicht stören. Mann kann ja nicht Mit treuer Pflicht Swei widrigen anhören; Meiner Jesus soll mich lehren. 3 Die Magnet Nadel irrn geht Wann sie vom Pol verrücket ist; Auch gar nicht ehe stille steht Bis ihr sie zu süss zücket. Und weil mein Herz Dein liebes Herz Berufet mit ihren Flammen. Drum eilen sie zusammen. 4 Gehörsam hör ich deine Stim Wann mein Herz zu dir fahret. Und ich hin wiederum vernim Was mich dein Mund da lehret; Drum ob du schon Ins Himmel’s Thron So weit bist abgelegen, Bist mir doch zugegen. Languages: German Tune Title: [Ich liebe Jesum mir allein]

People

Authors, composers, editors, etc.

Anonymous

Composer of "THE BEST CHOICE" In some hymnals, the editors noted that a hymn's author is unknown to them, and so this artificial "person" entry is used to reflect that fact. Obviously, the hymns attributed to "Author Unknown" "Unknown" or "Anonymous" could have been written by many people over a span of many centuries.

John Kelpius

1667 - 1708 Person Name: Johannes Kelpius Author of "I Love My Jesus Quite Alone" in The Cyber Hymnal Johannes Kelpius (1667–1708) was a German Pietist, mystic, musician, and writer, interested in the occult, botany, and astronomy, who came to believe with his followers in the "Society of the Woman in the Wilderness" that the end of the world would occur in 1694. This belief, based on an elaborate interpretation of a passage from the biblical Book of Revelation, anticipated the advent of a heavenly kingdom somewhere in the wilderness during that year. Kelpius felt that the seventeenth-century Province of Pennsylvania, given its reputation for religious toleration at the edge of a barely settled wilderness, was the best place to be. Philadelphia had been founded in 1682, but the city and the Province of Pennsylvania had quickly become a tolerant haven and refuge for many pietist, communitarian, or free-thinking groups who were leaving an intolerant Old World for the congenial religious climate of the British colony. Kelpius and his followers crossed the Atlantic and lived in the valley of the Wissahickon Creek in Philadelphia from 1694 until his death. It is reported that they lived communally, though they also spent time in solitary meditation in caves and small cells scattered about their common living quarters. Though no sign or revelation accompanied the year 1694, the faithful, known as the Hermits or Mystics of the Wissahickon, continued to live in celibacy, searching the stars and hoping for the end. Kelpius was born Johann Kelp in 1667, (American documents incorrectly placed his birth in 1673), near the town of Schäßburg, Transylvania (now Sighişoara, Romania) and attended the University of Altdorf, near Nuremberg, where his name was Latinized to Johannes Kelpius according to the custom of scholars of his days. By the age of 22 he had taken a master's degree in theology and published several works, including one in collaboration with Johannes Fabricius. At the university he had been drawn to Pietism, initially a reaction against the formalism of orthodox Lutheranism, but a term that sometimes included various esoteric or heretical Christian ideas. He became a follower of Johann Jacob Zimmermann, a mathematician, astronomer, and cleric, whose pastoral position had ended in 1685 due to his prediction of the imminent advent of a heavenly kingdom, as well as his criticism of the state church. Zimmermann was himself attached to the ideas of theosophist Jakob Böhme. After Zimmerman's sudden death, shortly before the group's departure for the New World, Kelpius became the group's magister or leader. The travel diary of Kelpius has been preserved. Some of the forty or so who traveled with him aboard the Sarah Maria Hopewell were Heinrich Bernhard Koster, Daniel Falckner, and Johann Gottfried Seelig. They disembarked at Bohemia Landing, Maryland and proceeded to Philadelphia and Germantown. On arrival in Philadelphia (which barely had 500 houses at this time) they moved to Germantown and then to the Wissahickon. There they established a regular program of private study and meditation. They eventually erected a large building for their meetings; some say they lived there communally, but others that they lived separately in caves and other rude shelters and cabins. They created a school for neighborhood children, held public worship services, and shared their medical knowledge. A few newcomers, including Conrad Matthai and Christopher Witt joined the group, but the community began to decline, especially after the death of Kelpius. Little is known of his death except for an account from years later which states that Kelpius had believed that he would not suffer physical death, but be translated to another existence. The same account suggests that Kelpius possessed the legendary philosopher's stone, which at his direction was cast into the Wissahickon or Schuylkill River shortly before he died near Germantown in 1708. His literary legacy is a collection of original hymns, a journal that includes many of his correspondences, and a book on prayer and meditation, A Short, Easy, and Comprehensive Method of Prayer, first published in English in 1761, and republished in 1951. However, this old translation has some inaccuracies, and English has changed over the more than two centuries since it appeared. Fortunately, a completely new translation has been completed by Kirby Don Richards, Ph.D.: A Method of Prayer. A Mystical Pamphlet from Colonial America. Dr. Richards' book includes both the German original and the new English translation. It also contains background materials that help explain the pamphlet and put it in its historical context. The book is now out of print. Kelpius was a musician, and he and his followers took with them instruments that became an integral part of church life. Kelpius was also a composer, and is sometimes called the first Pennsylvanian composer, based on his unproven authorship of several hymns in The Lamenting Voice of the Hidden Love. The 70-page hymnbook which he is believed to have composed is the earliest extant musical manuscript compiled in the thirteen British colonies. It is likely that he wrote the text, though the tunes are mostly based on German songs; four come from Christian Knorr von Rosenroth's Neuer Helicon (Nuremberg, 1684), and another four are from other German sources dated 1690 and later. The harmonies show considerable musical talent and skill. The English translations in the collection are attributed to his disciple Christopher Witt, an Englishman who joined the mystics. Witt is said also to have built them a pipe organ, said to be the first privately owned organ in North America. --www.en.wikipedia.org (excerpts)