Bringing in the Sheaves – Mom’s Version

Bringing in the Sheaves – Lyrics

Sowing in the morning, sowing seeds of kindness,

Sowing in the noontide and the dewy eve;

Waiting for the harvest, and the time of reaping,

We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.

Refrain

Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves,

We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves,

Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves,

We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.

–  Knowles Shaw, 1874

“Bringing in the Sheaves” is a popular American hymn that I have sung my entire life. It’s just one of those songs on the required singing list for Baptist preachers’ kids (as well as their parents’ congregations).

And, the fact is, I love this song.

My mom, dad, sister and I would sing it a cappella in four part harmony and it was beautiful. We sang lots of songs together and singing was one of the ties that bonded our family together for life.

Mom sang in the church choir for a long as I can remember. She sang soprano and always strategically sat right behind dad’s pulpit. If his sermon went even one second past noon, those of us in the know could hear the faint tap, tap, tap of mom’s right shoe reminding dad to speed it up so the Baptist could beat the Presbyterians to the cafeteria for lunch.

Mom still sings something or another each and every day … anytime and anywhere.

It could be with me, with her adult day care cronies or by her lonesome. Jesus Loves the Little Children, This Little Light of Mine, Old Susanna, Coming Round the Mountain and America the Beautiful are a few of her current favorites. And, she can belt them out like nobody’s business, her hands and feet never missing a beat.

I can even get her to sing a little rock and roll with me, but that’s another story for another time.

Another song on mom’s current play list is Bringing in the Sheaves.

One of mom’s challenges with most of her songs is that she can’t remember all of the words. She never forgets the tune, and she lets not remembering stop her. She just makes up words that rhyme and keeps on going. Her lyrics are often better than the original and always more entertaining.

Here is mom’s latest version of the refrain of Bringing in the Sheaves:

Bringing in the sheets, bringing in the sheets,

We are washing dolphins, bringing in the sheets.

I believe, if we only knew the hidden meaning of her words, we could unlock the secret of life.

In the meantime, it is truly the secret to making any human on this planet smile from ear to ear.

Tell me it isn’t so!