Maybe, no certainly, the worst singing I have ever heard during a worship service was by a man named Elbert Jacks.
Maybe, no certainly, the most uplifting singing I have ever heard during a worship service was by a man named Elbert Jacks.
Brother Jacks was deaf or nearly deaf and it affected his ability to sing. The only thing he seemed able to hear was Verna’s voice. His wife of 68-years could speak in a normal tone from anywhere in their home, and he would hear and answer as if by radar.
As sweet as this story seems at this point, sitting in front of brother Jacks during morning worship was a revelation. I have never heard a man sing with absolutely no pitch. What those of us who can hear take for granted is how much it affects our ability to sing. When we can not hear, we have no way of knowing which verse is being sung, much less what the key, scale, or note should be in a song. But what brother Jacks singing voice lacked in quality, he attempted to make up for it with volume and enthusiasm.
Ms. Verna explained her husband’s unique vocal quality this way. He could feel the rhythm or see the song leader’s motions well enough to stay in time. But melody is just as essential as rhyme or meter in singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (Colossians 3:16). Elbert knew his obligation to God was to sing and make melody in his heart (Ephesians 5:19). Jehovah was his God and Jesus his Lord. If they commanded a Christian to sing during our assemblies as a church, brother Jacks would obey and if the song’s words moved him, his singing would be moving as well. Still, not good mind you, but moving non the less!
What you don’t know is, I have only given you part of the information you need to understand why a deaf man’s singing was uplifting. I mentioned his wife, Verna, a little earlier. She explained to me one day that Elbert had been an exceptional fiddle player and singer in his younger days. Yes, the worst singer I ever knew was a man with a memory of singing like a bird.
That memory haunted him as his fiddle playing diminished. Fiddle players do not have frets on their instruments to determine the note. They must hear the sound of other instruments to play along. It finally got to the point, he couldn’t even tune his fiddle.
As his wife told the story, you could see a kind of unease on his face and a tension in his shoulders. Sometimes he would apologize for singing so loudly and off-key, but he felt obligated to praise his God in song. That answered the question for a simple Christian. The Bible says to sing when we assemble, then Elbert would be joining in every Lord’s day.
I had been aware of my brother’s inability to sing, but when I heard what Paul Harvey would call, “the rest of the story.” It became painfully beautiful to my ear. Oh no, it did not actually “sound” beautiful, but it’s flailing, kind of “half-sing” was a jewel of Christian spirit, humble obedience, and joyful worship.
“Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!”-Psalm 95:1
Brother Jacks left this world for a home in heaven five years ago this month. My guess is, the young singer from Haleyville, Alabama is an eternal voice in that blood-cleansed chorus, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,”-Revelation 4:8 (KJV).
I learned so much from what sounded so terrible. “Sing on brother Jacks. Louder this time.”
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