The Songs of Caedmon by Chris White

“One generation shall praise Thy works to another, and shall declare Thy mighty acts.”

                                                                                                          --Ps. 145:4

One of the most legendary poets in the English language was a monk by the name of Caedmon.  Caedmon, who lived in the latter part of the 7^th century, was given an extraordinary gift from God.  This gift was the ability to hear a verse or story from the Bible read to him, to muse on it awhile, and then write a beautiful song that encompassed the elements and truths of that passage.  So wonderful were his songs that those who taught him the scriptures soon found themselves anxious to hear what he would come up with next.  What truly makes this interesting is that Caedmon was not a poet or musician by trade.  We don’t know what he did exactly but he had been in some form of secular employment all his life.  As an elderly man, God told him he had this gift in a dream, and he immediately began exercising it and using it to the glory of God alone.  It was also said that Caedmon was “a deeply religious man, who humbly submitted to discipline and hotly rebuked all who tried to follow another course.  And so he crowned his life with a happy end.”  The old radio preacher J. Vernon McGee used to say that you may not be able to teach an old dog new tricks, but when God is in the equation He can sure make the tail end wag!  No matter what your age, be open to the new things God has in store for you—the calling of Caedmon was not a singular event.