In his brief meditation on the importance of hymns in American Christian life, Henderson considers several hymns, but pays most attention to the Shaker hymn "Simple Gifts," the classic "Amazing Grace" and the lesser-known "Make Me a Channel of Your Peace." Hymns' appeal, Henderson says, owes to their pleasing musicality and to the way they support a spiritual purging: "we sing to each other of our pain, loneliness, and fear, topics we would hesitate to admit flat out in gatherings after services."
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