391. I feel the winds of God today
Jessie Adams, 1863—
For many years the authorship of this hymn was unknown since the writer preferred to remain anonymous. It finally came to light that the lines were penned by Miss Jessie Adams, a member of the Society of Friends in England. She was a progressive teacher and a leader of the local Adult School at Frimley, England, where she long resided. Miss Adams wrote the hymn after a long period of service as teacher in which she felt a considerable measure of disappointment and failure, as if tugging and laboring at the oars of a boat without making much headway. She wrote:
If then, quitting the labors at the oars, we humbly believe that God’s Spirit still leads us aright, we shall pass the point of danger and helplessness. Some little act of kindness may be as the upturned sail which that spirit waits to fill, in spite of past and future.
The message of the hymn is for our time. Many in our day labor at the oars, in their own strength, only to find themselves worn and discouraged. Progress comes by lifting the sails and permitting the invisible power of God to carry life forward.
MUSIC. HARDY NORSEMEN is an anonymous Norse melody, the origin of which has not been traced. It is a popular tune among the Dutch Mennonites where it is often sung at their young people’s gatherings.