Pathfinder Song

tuningpeg571 · **Joined:** Sat Jul 15, 2006 5:27 pm **Posts:** 788

As for the rose parade, it is true that Pathfinder have participated in making floats. Check out this link:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1 ... 45,5610603

The story behind the Pathfinder Song:

https://web3.securelytransact.com/~kansaco/site/1/docs/PathfinderStory.pdf wrote:

Henry Bergh is another of those pioneers in this club who preferred to keep a low profile. When asked to write a song he properly protested that he was neither a musician nor a composer and promptly dismissed the notion. He says,

Quote:

“But along in May of 1949, I was driving to an appointment out on Monterey Peninsula about 70-80 miles (110-130 km) from home. I was thinking about our Pathfinders and how they needed a tune. Then I thought, well, at least I should write some words. So I tried to compose a poem. I thought about the MV Pledge—pure and kind and true, with a message to go to the world. I pulled to the side of the road, took a piece of scrap paper out of my Bible, and began to write:

Attachment:

pathfinder song.JPG

“Well, I thought, that’s not bad… I took off again for my Sabbath appointment. On my way home afterwards, I started humming a tune of sorts; then the words began to fit in. I pulled off the road again and jotted down some dots as I hummed the tune over. That evening I asked my wife to try and play this thing for me from the dots on the page. I still wasn’t confident that it was good enough for a Pathfinder Song, so I sent it to Wayne Hooper (a well known church musician and composer) and asked him to edit it. He sent it back and said ‘It’s a good song—go ahead and publish it!”

ruben · **Joined:** Wed Aug 19, 2009 8:21 pm **Posts:** 2

thank you very much for sharing this articles about Pathfinder history, it was timely and of good help for our club which has just started. i will be looking forward for more of your assistance... again i say... thank you very much

greetings from TRIS Pathfinder Club, Bangkok Thailand

Runner13 · **Joined:** Fri May 08, 2009 7:32 am **Posts:** 232

Cool! That was neat!

betsyc · **Posted:** Tue Sep 08, 2009 11:13 am

Yes, good to know the story behind the song. I don't think many Pathfinders know about it.

tuningpeg571 · **Joined:** Sat Jul 15, 2006 5:27 pm **Posts:** 788

The other thing: You may notice that there are two versions of the song.

"In kindness, truth and purity"
"In truth and purity."

The reason for the discrepancy: The Pathfinder song got published in a song book, the word "kindness" was accidentally (or purposely by the editors?) left out.

When Henry Bergh originally wrote the song, he included all three to go along with the first part of the Pathfinder pledge: "I will be pure and kind and true..."

Peacemaker · **Joined:** Sat Jan 24, 2009 1:30 pm **Posts:** 41

I was told that the song was intentionally changed to make it easier to sing, thus "kindness" was intentionally removed making "in truth and purity" the proper version.

jomegat · **Posted:** Fri Sep 18, 2009 7:57 am

I was curious to see which version they would use at CTS, so when the song began, I paid close attention to the jumbotron. The words they used there included "kindness", which I like a lot better. IMO, that's as authoritative as we're going to get!

betsyc · **Posted:** Fri Sep 18, 2009 8:11 am

Agree with you Jomegat. Even some of the Pathfinders next to me included 'kindness'. I wonder if it can be publish again the right way.

tuningpeg571 · **Joined:** Sat Jul 15, 2006 5:27 pm **Posts:** 788

I want to get a copy of "The Pathfinder Story" and look up that section... I can't remember exactly what all went on there. But I am under the impression that leaving out the word 'kindness' was a mistake. I also believe it had been previously published in a song book with 'kindness' included.

betsyc · **Posted:** Mon Sep 21, 2009 7:19 am

Yes, I read the same about another publisher song with the word on it. Just can't remember where I read it.

tuningpeg571 · **Joined:** Sat Jul 15, 2006 5:27 pm **Posts:** 788

tuningpeg571 wrote:

I want to get a copy of "The Pathfinder Story" and look up that section... I can't remember exactly what all went on there. But I am under the impression that leaving out the word 'kindness' was a mistake. I also believe it had been previously published in a song book with 'kindness' included.

So, I found the section in "The Pathfinder Story" that I was thinking about. Here is is:

'The Pathfinder Story' wrote:

A side note to this story is another from Elder Bergh. "I was contacted by persons in the Southern Union Conference for permission to include the song in their Youth Sings. Unfortunately they edited the song and left out the word "kindness" that came from the pledge. Then it was picked up by the Review and Herald, in Singing Youth, and they also left out the word "Kindness". The editing was done without my permission and I have always felt it diluted the impact of the song." (As a note of interest—in 1998 the North American Division voted to put Kindness back into the Pathfinder Song—and incidently into the Pathfinder clubs.)

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