Building Gone, but Hymn Remains
“Above the hills of time the cross is gleaming,
Fair as the sun when night has turned to day;
And from it love’s pure light is richly streaming,
To cleanse the heart and banish sin away.”
“The church where that hymn was first sung is utterly destroyed, but the hymn remains. In this thought I take comfort.” Thus wrote the Rev. Thomas Tiplady, superintendent of the Lambeth Mission, London, to The Hymn Society of America a few weeks after the end of World War II. He explained thus: “Had not the Church of England friends granted the use of a tiny chapel and a wooden hut the congregation would have been entirely homeless, for the wrecking of the entire buildings of the Mission was completed by a rocket bomb.” The building was historic, and dated back to the ministry of the notable commentator, Dr. Adam Clark.
The author has written a fairly large collection of hymns, and they are rapidly finding places in new hymnals. But “Above the Hills of Time” continues to be the favorite. Congregations sing with enthusiasm:
“To this dear cross the eyes of men are turning
Today as in the ages lost to sight;
And so for Thee, O Christ, men’s hearts are yearning
As shipwrecked seamen yearn for morning light.”
Visits to the United States have been made by the author; and the writer was privileged to hear him speak at Columbus, Ohio, to an immense audience. Hearers were profoundly moved as this chaplain in World War I told the story which is found in his book, “The Cross at the Front.”
This beautiful tribute appeared in a review of one of his little collections of hymns, where an English periodical made this comment: “Hymns are rarely poetry, say the critics, but there is poetry of a high order here ... and frequent evidence that the poet has been inspired not by the muse alone, but also by the Holy Spirit.” No one doubts this when he hears a great congregation sing:
“Like echoes to sweet temple bells replying,
Our hearts, O Lord, make answer to Thy love.”