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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