Monday, November 4, 2013

"I need thee ev'ry hour. Stay thou nearby."

"I need thee ev'ry hour. Stay thou nearby."
Hymn: “I Need Thee Every Hour” – Annie S. Hawks (1834-1918)
Tune: NEED

This coming weekend, we will have an hour transfused into our lives by the great timekeeper of the earth. I have to admit that I am not a fan of the semi-annual resetting of the clocks. If a presidential candidate would make the abolishing of spring-forward, fall back his/her major platform issue, I would cast my vote on their behalf whatever party they might represent. Well, maybe not!

Down deep, I think it must be an economical ploy to give me one extra hour of daylight from March through October to spend money!

Every year at this time, we are told that we have an extra hour to sleep, probably because officially this this donation of sixty minutes comes to us at 2:00 am. Most of us are probably awakened by our body-clock at the same time anyway, so we ended up with an extra waking hour instead. And because it always falls on a Saturday night into Sunday, our additional time is part of the holiest day of our week. So theoretically, we have an extra hour to invest in the worship of God, the sharing of our faith or service on his behalf to our fellow human beings – those activities and attitudes to which we are drawn on Sundays.

God is not thrown off by this human-induced attempt to make the sun stand still. Since the Most Holy One never naps, doses or sleeps, he is just as available during our gift-of-hour each autumn. His watchcare is active no matter how many time increments our days may be expanded. I’m glad about that: imagine if for one hour each November, God’s presence in our lives were suspended. As absurd as that may sound, it should give you pause.

How ever many hours I have in this day or any other day, with this century-old hymnline, I daily ask for God to stay nearby… so near that I will sense his presence in such a way that his nearness will affect my thinking, my decision-making and my actions.

“O ever-present One, I need you every hour. Stay close at hand because I know that the temptations I face today will be less powerful when you are near. Amen.”

An Amazing A cappella Setting

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Hymnlines - Hemlines: Get it?! :)

Hymnlines - Hemlines: Get it?! :)