Spring this Morning, Winter Tonight

I returned home from my Dad's birthday celebration to a wild sight- the hyacinth Joe and Ilona gave me last year was in bloom! I took in inside for the winter to keep it from the squirrels. It has been so warm that it opened up before Christmas, started to put out a scape last week and when we got home last night it was in bloom.

Tonight winter will return. It was 54 degrees outside last night and this evening it will go down to 19 here. That is okay. We could even use some snow.

Seasons in our lives can turn in a moment. We never know what is just around the corner. But those who know Jesus know He will be with them come good or bad.

I'll never forget what a man told me years ago, "I have a lot of friends, but they are all fair weather friends."

Jesus not only rides with us in the storms, He is our shelter in them!

What a Friend We Have in Jesus!

Here are two hymns and their stories, one from the title above and one from the picture:

William Cowper was so depressed one night that he hired a cab to bring him to London Bridge, where he had planned to throw himself off, ending his life. A fog blew in on the way and the cabbie rode around London for two hours. Finally he told Cowper, "I'm lost. I cannot find the bridge." Cowper asked him if he could find his way back to his house and an hour later they arrived. He went to pay the cabbie. The cabbie refused citing that he didn't get him to his destination. Cowper said, "Young man, you saved my life. I was going to throw myself off the bridge this evening." William Cowper then stumbled back into his house where he penned these words:

Light Shining Out of Darkness

by William Cowper

---

God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill,
He treasures up his bright designs,
And works his sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the LORD by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence,
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding ev'ry hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flow'r.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain;
GOD is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain.

Another favorite of mine is:

WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS

What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do no carry everything to God in prayer

Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged; Take it to the Lord in prayer!
Can we find a friend so faithful, who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness. Take it to the Lord in prayer!

Are we weak and heavy laden, Cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Saviour, still our Refuge; Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer.
In His arms He'll take and shield thee; Thou wilt find a solace there.

Someone has well penned this statement, "A Christian's practical theology is often his hymnology." Many of us could attest to this truth as we recall some deeply moving experience - perhaps the loss of a dear loved one-and a simple hymn which has been used by the Holy Spirit to minister to our spiritual need. Such a hymn is "What a Friend We Have in Jesus." Though it is not considered to be an example of great literary writing, its simply stated truths have brought solace and comfort to countless numbers of God's people since it was first written in 1857. So relevant to the basic spiritual needs of people are these words that many missionaries state that it is one of the first hymns taught to new converts. The very simplicity of the text and music has been its appeal and strength.

Joseph Scriven was born in 1819 of prosperous parents in Dublin, Ireland. He was a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin. At the age of twenty-five he decided to leave his native country and migrate to Canada. His reasons for leaving his family and country seem to be two-fold: the religious influence of the Plymouth Brethren upon his life estranging him from his family and the accidental drowning of his fiancee the night before their scheduled wedding.

From that time Scriven developed a totally different pattern of life. He took the Sermon on the Mount literally. It is said that he gave freely of his limited possessions, even sharing the clothing from his own body, if necessary, and never once refused to help anyone who needed it. Ira Sankey tells in his writings of the man who, seeing Scriven in the streets of Port Hope, Ontario, with his sawbuck and saw, asked, "Who is that man? I want him to work for me." The answer was, "You cannot get that man; he saws wood only for poor widows and sick people who cannot pay." Because of this manner of life Scriven was respected but was considered to be eccentric by those who knew him.

"What a Friend We Have in Jesus" was never intended by Scriven for publication. Upon learning of his mother's serious illness and unable to be with her in far-off Dublin, he wrote a letter of comfort enclosing the words of this text. Some time later when he himself was ill, a friend who came to call on him chanced to see the poem scribbled on scratch paper near the bed. The friend read it with keen interest and asked Scriven if he had written the words. Scriven, with typical modesty, replied, "The Lord and I did it between us." In 1869 a small collection of his poems was published. It was simply entitled Hymns and Other Verses.

After the death of Joseph Scriven, also by accidental drowning, the citizens of Port Hope, Ontario, erected a monument on the Port Hope-Peterborough Highway, which runs from Lake Ontario, with the text and these words inscribed: Four miles north, in Pengally's Cemetery, lies the philanthropist and author of this great masterpiece, written at Port Hope, 1857. The composer of the music, Charles C. Converse, was a well-educated versatile and successful Christian, whose talents ranged from law to professional music. Under the pen name of Karl Reden, he wrote numerous scholarly articles on many subjects. Though he was an excellent musician and composer with many of his works performed by the leading American orchestras and choirs of his day, his life is best remembered for this simple music so well suited to Scriven's text.

Ira D. Sankey discovered the hymn in 1875, just in time to include it in his well-known collection, Sankey's Gospel Hymns Number One. Later Sankey wrote, "The last hymn which went into the book became one of the first in favor."