Hymns in Human ExperienceHart, William J. (William John)
Religion
Hymns in Human Experience
Hart, William J. (William John)
Hymns -- History and criticism
But the lights feebly flickered and died, and the congregation, again in
darkness, continued:
“Change and decay in all around I see:
O Thou, who changest not, abide with me!”
But the choir sang on to the end. When they reached the last stanza some
of the gas jets were burning; and in the dim light the words were
stirringly appealing:
“Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes:
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies:
Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee:
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me!”
_The Christian Advocate_ gives two illustrations of the popularity of
the hymn,
“God Will Take Care of You”
A blind man was seen crossing the street at a dangerous place in the
Bronx, New York City. When a friend approached he saw that the lips of
the blind man were moving, and as he listened he heard him singing
softly, “God will take care of you.” When the friend made himself known
to the blind man he carelessly inquired, “Why are you singing that
hymn?” He replied: “The reason is that I must cross this dangerous
crossing just ahead of me in about a minute, and I was thinking that
possibly one of the many wagons or trucks might strike me and I would
get killed. But the thought came to me that even if it did occur my soul
would go straight to God. And if He led me across all right it would be
just another evidence of His care of me. So I just could not help
singing to myself, ‘God will take care of you.’ Hallelujah!”
A young woman who had lost both her husband and little daughter, and was
left to support herself in sorrow, took a slip of paper on which was
written the song, “God will take care of you,” and pinned it over the
place where she did her dishwashing, and testified to the great comfort
the song brought to her.
A different kind of testimony, both interesting and exceptional, is
given in
A Sexton’s Tribute to a Singer
Traveling amid the great artificial lakes in the Elan Valley, from which
Birmingham receives its water supply from the Welsh mountains, the
visitor had pointed out to him by the driver a little church on the
hillside. The visitor was interested in the “little sanctuary, nestling
among the green mountains,” and confessed that he liked to think of
places which recall the words, “It’s quiet down here... And God is very
near.” Being a newspaper man, however, he was particularly impressed by
a somewhat garbled version of the time when Dame Clara Butt sang in the
little building. Later, in London, he had the opportunity of hearing the
story from Dame Clara Butt herself. She was motoring with some friends
through the valley beyond Llandrindod Wells and espied this simple and
tiny church, without spire or tower, standing alone on the hillside. It
seemed so like a little private sanctuary that she exclaimed, “I wish
that little church were mine!” and halted the car, and crossed the river
to have a closer look.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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