Imagine this scenario from the perspective of someone who would rather be behind the stage than on it—anything to avoid being the person in front. It’s commencement day. Excitement hums through the air as graduates celebrate this milestone. Faculty in full regalia line up, ready to enter the chapel. Our main concern? That the sweet students carrying the academic banners don’t accidentally impale a professor while also navigating the doorway’s height limitations.

And then it happens—a ripple of realization moves through our group. We are going to be seated on the front row of the stage. Under the lights. In full view. For the entire ceremony.

A few groans escape, but this isn’t our first rodeo. We know how to persevere through the awkward. Today isn’t about us anyway. We process in (it is a procession, after all), squeeze into our seats, and attempt to maneuver with dignity. Where do I put the items in my hands? It feels like every eye is watching. The spotlight feels intense. Don’t draw attention, Julie. Just ease everything onto the floor under your seat and pick up the program. There. Crisis averted.

I relax and bow for prayer. And then the chapel prepares to sing a hymn. Everyone is watching—maybe even online. Do I know all the words? What’s that phrase you’re supposed to mouth when you don’t? Or-ange juice?

It’s a hymn, Julie. You’ve sung these Lasting Lyrics your whole life…except for the Third Verse.

As the voices blend in elegant harmony to Joy to the World, my mind wanders. Why did we always skip the Third Verse? Accepting that my brain tends to latch onto questions no one else is asking, I refocused, listened to the speakers, recessed from commencement, and went on my merry way. But that little niggling thought wouldn’t leave. What happened to the Third Verse?

And what do we do today when a question won’t let us go? We consult the internet. Lo and behold, I’m not the only one who has pondered the mystery of the missing Third Verse. John Moore writes in The Wylie News, “If you’re a Baptist from the South, you’re hoping that if there’s a Pearly Gates pop quiz, the question isn’t, ‘What’s the third verse to any song in the hymnal?’ You won’t know the answer.” If you’re laughing right now, you know exactly what he means. I certainly did.

Moore’s column, “Verses Versus Verses,” offers a delightful and humorous take on the Baptist Hymnal of the 1970s and its elusive Third Verses. He puts words to what had been tugging at my mind: “But why not sing all the verses and just have fewer songs? Often, the third verse is part of a story told by all the verses.”

For me, song lyrics become Shared Stories. The writer is offering a piece of their narrative—poetry set to music. Ken Costa notes that “songs reach untapped longings…The words capture [our] yearnings for something deeper.” So when we skip a verse, are we skipping part of the writer’s story?

I know song leaders choose intentionally, and no one is trying to rob anyone of meaning. But sometimes my brain simply refuses to quiet its random curiosities. And I’m relieved to know I’m not alone in wondering what happened to the Third Verse. Thank you, John, for your column—your musings prompted me to pull out that old hymnal again. Maybe I’ll finally learn some of those missing lyrics and hear the full story the writer intended.

On a side note, the song leader didn’t announce, “We’ll sing the first, second, and last stanzas” of Joy to the World—but that’s exactly what we did. So I was spared the embarrassment of being on the front row without knowing the Third Verse. Sometimes God’s sense of humor just makes me laugh.

References:

Costa, K. (2016). Know your why: Finding and fulfilling your calling in life. W Publishing.

Moore, J. (2024, July 10). Verses versus verses. The Wylie News. https://wylienews.com/2024/07/10/verses-versus-verses/ (December 2025)