218 comments on “For the Golden Halo: Harriet Bedell vs. Charles Wesley”

1. Such a tough choice, but I have to go with Charles. The life examples of both stir my heart (especially as my husband's family also worked with Native Americans). Even this morning, as I read the lines to Love divine, my heart swelled and eyes teared up.

2. Which would look better with a golden halo...a wimple or a wig?

3. While Harriet is clearly a saint and an incredible witness to the Gospel, I have to vote for Charles for his impact on generations of Christians.

4. Whether he attains the GH or not, Charles Wesley will be part of almost if not everyones Easter worship w "Christ The Lord is Risen Today." No small honor all by itself.

5. Thank you again, for a wonderful season of Lent Madness!

6. Wesley for the win!

7. Voted for Harriet! Hard choice like they all were this year but hands down, the sprightly little lady gets my vote. She reminds me so much of my grandmother who was a pioneer in her day as well.

8. My mother started me out as a Methodist.... and then years as a young Episcopal choirboy connected me to Charles all over again. Not to mention the deep social caring/spiritual depth connection of the original Methodist movement... for someone brought up in a New England milltown.. where that social caring made a great difference... it's Bless you Charles, here's my vote.

   1. Just curious... Might that milltown be the land of "hills, mills, and pork pies" (aka Fall River)? Oh, to drive up President Avenue and taste Hartley's pork pies again!

9. I'm all about women - women saints and women in the Bible. But Charles Wesley has brought so much joy in my life through his hymns and witness that I'm casting my vote for him. And my husband, who was brought up Methodist but found his spiritual home in the Episcopal church, still keeps alive the spirit of Charles Wesley - and for all of that I am grateful. A vote for Charles here -

10. Charles has statues and portraits and buildings.....Harriett should get the Golden Halo!

11. Charles’ music is glorious, Harriett followed in Jesus’ difficult footsteps. What a hard choice! But I’m for Harriett as she went through life and now heaven, probably humming Charles’ hymns.

12. Harriet has pushed through to the top with the same intense determination with which she served and sought service for her beloved Seminoles. The County officials and legislators of her time would not be surprised!

    Charles has soared to the top on the notes of his glorious hymns which sing in our hearts through the ages.

    My heart full of music votes for Charles Wesley. May his be the victory alone.

13. they are neck and neck...what if there's a tie? will we have a tie breaker?

14. It's Wesley all the way for me. A blessed and Holy Week, Triduum, and Easter to all. This has been a wonderful blessing to me as I've been recovering from successful surgery.

15. Love Harriet! You will win the Golden Halo! Thank you for Lenten Madness. Better than the sermons I have heard throughout Lent....

16. I expect I know who will win (unless Methodists and music lovers overrun this website). Based upon comments throughout this year's Lent Madness, "doers" of social ministry have tended to be (wrongly) proclaimed more saintly...over and over again. I don't mind those with a preference, but I do mind any proclamation of ultimate saintliness. Scripture indicates that we all have a vocation as part of God's plan. Our behaviors in secret, our acts of worship and prayer, as well as our loving our neighbor are intimately related AND all important. Any list of saints can be helpful, but they are inherently imperfect like the saints they list. Supposed standards of greatness ultimately reflect our human preferences and values, not necessarily God's own. Both candidates today were used by the Spirit as God intended using the gifts given them in wonderful ways. Yet, how can we claim one act or behavior more saintly than another if they fulfilled their call and benefited from God’s grace? We shouldn't, or else we are playing God who sees everything, even that done in secret. Vote for whomever you like today. Speak of how you relate to them or why you prefer one over the other as you might a friend. Rejoice with them in Christ's love, a love we are all meant to share somehow. Even learn from them and perhaps try to imitate some of their faithful behaviors in your context with the gifts God has given you. Yet, let's please stop playing God in declaring ultimate holiness. let's not demean the sacred call of others as if we know better than God. Let’s stop avoiding our own call and denying Christ’s power in, through and over our lives by declaring, “I’m not a saint.” There have been many saints who have suffered, served or been used to help sanctify Christ's church that will never be on a list, properly known, or valued by anyone but God. Yet make no mistake. We are all saints called by and to a unique kind of love for important tasks. Let's live like saints - together. In closing, may the Three days before us bless you and your family. It's been madness, and it has been fun. See you next year.

    1. While I too have noticed the bias (which I often share) towards doers. But I think the bigger issue is what we see as doing, and the difficulty many people have in seeing people in their context.. Wesley, for example was not just a hymn writer, but a priest who served those undeserved by the C of E in his day. Or Lydia, who was equally a doer, even though her ability to be so was shaped by her being a wealthy business woman. I think sometimes we lack imagination about the past.

       Both Bedell and Wesley are stirring examples, both inspiring missionaries.

    2. Thank you, Lou, for your comment (which would make an excellent All Saints' homily), and you, Susan, for your reply. For some, active mission is indeed their calling; for others, a supportive mission is theirs. There are many saints of whom we have yet to hear--and may never hear in this life.
       Meanwhile, I'm sure Harriet and Charles are singing in harmony--either a Bach chorale, a Native American chant, or something by an unknown modern composer.

    3. I hear what you are saying, Lou Florio, but there is another way to look at this situation or prefernce, as you call it. If you read Charles Blow's columns in the New York Times, especially the one from last Saturday, you will see that oneof our increasing contemporary problems is that we do not live close to or work with people who are different from us.The data suggested that 65% of us live in homogeneous neighborhoods. When we are surrounded by people who share our situations and values, it becomes much harder to empathize with those who are different, and harder to take their concerns seriously. I realize some people may disagree with that analysis and you may be one of them. However, I have been watching this develop over my sixty years, and I find it very depressing, and very challenging. How do people understand the Christian message if they don't meet people who are different? Given this situation, work like Harriet's takes on an even greater importance. We need that kind of example even more today than we did in her day. I do not de-value Charle Wesley's contribution. I do look around at our society and think that we need to value and understand and emulate Harriet Bedell.

    4. Amen to everything you said.

       1. Sorry Lou, I should have addressed you when I sent my response to your comment. Beautifully put!

       2. Amen!

       3. Susan, I agree with you that "sometimes we lack imagination about the past."

    5. Well "spoken," Lou, and your comments apply far beyond a vote for the GH. Thank you for your witness.

    6. Amen and amen.

    7. Thank you Lou. Now I have well-said what I've been trying not-so-well to say to our adult class at church. Permission to use your words next year? Especially the idea of choosing among the saints as you would a friend....that's a concept everyone can accept.

       1. Barbara, certainly you may use any words I posted here for they aren't really mine alone. I learned this theology/belief from other saints along my way and perhaps the Spirit too.

17. In honor of the deaconesses who served here in the Appalachians, particularly at Phoebe Needles, and my mother, who spent many summers living with and learning from the Lakota, our house is voting for Harriet Bedell.

18. "Substance over sentimentality" well said, Ray G. Harriett Bedell is an inspiration to us all.

19. Charles Wesley's hymns might make me cry, but Harriet Bedell shows me how I would like to live my life. I vote for Harriet.

    1. I agree. The little known saints triumph ... she lived a life of compassion and love... I like charles Wesley, too - but he's so well known - I go for Harriet

20. We had a men and boys choir at St James in Texarkana. I had a clear soprano voice and the 1940 hymnal was put in my hands at age 5. That's how I learned to read, so I have enjoyed singing Charles's hymns for 60 years. Nevertheless, my vote goes to the Deaconess!

21. Another tie at 881!

22. Really, really difficult choice. Voted for both of these saints through all the rounds, but seeing nothing but "Love divine" before me on the page, with Hyfrydol automatically running through my brain, this musician and lover of hymns couldn't help it. Charles it was. My Methodist grandmother is singing my praises somewhere in Heaven for this decision, but she knows, I'm sure, that like Charles, I'll die an Anglican. Now on to the Triduum, the holiest time in our Christian year. If you're an Altar Guilder, be glad this isn't your week!

23. While Harriett was definately a Saintly doer and made a significant contribution, Charles' impact is much more long lasting and reaches more people simply due to his music. Rarely does a month go by when I don't see his name printed at the bottom of my hymnal when I look to see who wrote the inspiring music.

24. Wow! what a cliffhanger! I voted for Charles before permitting myself a "tally peak."

25. I spent the morning working with a Methodist colleague who tells me that Charles was much the better rounded of the two brothers. With two such inspiring people, my voted is decided by the generosity of my Methodist colleague.

26. This indeed was the hardest all choices and with my vote there were only 16 votes separating the two. I so greatly admire Harriet Bedell and she gives us an example of how to live a life as a servant of God. I am also from Florida (Go FSU), have Oklahoma roots and am in small part Native American. What swayed me to Charles Wesley was my belief that hymns are prayers. I do believe that Charles Wesley touched an uncountable number of lives. I have seen in my own church choir many staff singers of no particular faith finding Christ while singing. One of our staff singers when she left to do her student teaching wished for a prayer book hymnal to go with her as she left our church and choir. Another changed his major and is now studying for his masters in choral conducting at the Yale School of Theology and was confirmed a few years ago. Charles Wesley was steadfast in his faith and will continue to touch and change lives for centuries to come.

27. That is BAD FORM and NOT FAIR to use the final stanza of the greatest hymn text in all of Christendom against such a humble servant of God. Oh, wait...

28. A vote for the hymnist. We NEED mission and outreach, but it is the music that sustains me [us], from Advent - "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus" - through Easter - "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" - and beyond "Let us see thy great salvation perfectly restored in thee" As others have pointed out, Harriett was probably sustained in her good work by Wesley hymns. Have you noticed that one of the first things missionaries bring to the "frontier" are hymns?
    "Whenever you are discouraged by church bureaucracy, church family fights, religious intolerance, complacency and boredom..." SING. [Thank you Kara]

29. this deacon is going with one of the Wesley brothers.

30. I just tied it up! I suspect this will be close all day and I will be humming all those magnificent hymns as I prepare for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, & Easter.