Hymn: “Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross” – Fanny Crosby (1820-1915)
Tune: NEAR THE CROSS
This was my mother’s favorite hymn. It served her well as a daily prayer for her life, and it continues to minister to me every time I hear it or sing it.
Growing up, I thought she loved it because it was all about the cross and the sacrifice of Christ upon that emblem of suffering and shame. As her life wound down, however, it seemed to me that what she found attractive about this Fanny Crosby text was this closing line of the refrain – its emphasis on “rest.”
“In the cross be my glory ever, till my ransomed soul finds rest just beyond the river.”
In the busy-ness of our lives, this may become one of our great spiritual desires: to slow down long enough to reflect adequately on our lives with uninterrupted introspection. In reality, we might better sing, “Till my WEARY soul finds rest,” or better yet “my hurried LIFE.”
Those of you who actually noticed that I haven’t posted for about a week may have wondered why; I actually got a few emails asking if I were sick or not feeling well. No, the truth is I didn’t have another 1/24 of the day to devote to blogging – even about one of my passions: hymns! It takes me a good hour to do these. Once I’ve decided on the one I want to attack for the day, I usually cross-reference some related scriptures, try to come up with an interesting angle on the text I’ve chosen… then write the blog, keeping it down to an easily-read length. Then I look for some art work or illustration to accompany it and a listening example.
But for the past couple of weeks, having an extra sixty minutes has been out of the question. For a semi-retired person, I am way too busy – and much of it still involves ministry, just through different channels than before. And quite frankly, my “hurried life” is seeking some rest. I could use a time-out. How about you? I bet this is a common denominator for most of us.
For a day or so, this hymnline has kept coming to mind, so I thought it must be time to sit down here at the computer and put another one out there. My initial intention was to produce one of these every day for a full year – 365 musings on hymnody. I’m almost halfway there with about 180 posts. I WILL do 365 eventually, just not daily as I had intended.
I just hope I gain some rest from my labors on this side of river!
Babbie Mason Leads the Singing of This Hymn
No comments:
Post a Comment
You are welcome to comment on any of the posts. They are sent to ME directly. Thanks for any feedback you would like to make.