Song of the Chaplain’s Wife
She was lonesome as she sat in the small parsonage. Her preacher husband had entered the army as a chaplain in World War II, and this little woman, like many others of that period, had several problems to solve. A family of small children had to be looked after. Furthermore, being a lay preacher, she had been asked to care for her husband’s church during the period of his service with the armed forces of the United States. Household help was almost impossible to secure; but, with the aid of a high school girl, mostly, she cared for the home, with its three small children, and also the church.
This little woman (for she was really small physically) was a trained musician. She could both play and sing, if need be, as well as preach. Natural was it, therefore, that she should turn to her hymnal as well as her Bible for needed strength of soul. She found it in a comparatively new hymn. Its prayerful spirit expressed the yearning desire of her soul:
“Come! Peace of God, and dwell again on earth,
Come, with the calm that hailed Thy Prince’s birth,
Come, with the healing of Thy gentle touch,
Come, Peace of God, that this world needs so much.”
She asked to have it sung when I led a devotional service. Then I later wrote her, asking: “What particular association has this hymn with your life?” Her answer was as follows: “It is a favorite hymn with me, partly because of the unusual and beautiful harmony to be found in the music, and partly because the words are my own prayer for the world, and also for myself, now that my husband is serving as a chaplain.”
Seeking information concerning the hymn itself, I turned to the informing work of Dr. McCutchen. There I learned that it “was written about 1928, when there was much talk about the peace of the world and a great desire for it amid the unrest of the nations.” The author, Miss May Rowland, submitted it in manuscript to the commission preparing the new hymnal of The Methodist Church, “and its inclusion in this book (1935) marked its first publication.”
The author of the hymn, and also the composer of the tune (“Pax”), are both residents of England, and each is a prize-winner. When The Hymn Society of America issued an appeal for a “Hymn for Airmen,” though there were more than twelve hundred competitors from all parts of the world, Miss Rowland won. Musicians were then invited to furnish a musical setting for the same. This contest was also world-wide, and Miss Lily Rendle was the winner. This was in 1928; and both women were greatly surprised to learn that they each lived in Bournemouth within a mile of each other, though they were born in different parts of the country. “Since that time their artistic association has been close.” One of their beautiful joint productions is this:
“The day is slowly wending
Toward its silent ending,
But ’mid its light declining
The evening star is shining:
O Father, while we sleep,
Thy children keep!”
World War II ended suddenly and dramatically. Soldiers were returning home in large numbers by the latter part of 1945. “Will Daddy be home for Christmas?” the chaplain’s children began to ask. “We hope so,” was the cheery reply of the anticipating woman. “Perhaps he’ll even return for Thanksgiving,” she added.
One day early in November Chaplain Donald M. Cobb, of the United States Army, appeared at the parsonage in the little railroad center at Richland, New York. What an unspeakably happy moment for him, his wife, and the three growing children! Thanksgiving and Christmas would both be spent at home. Now a manly voice could blend with the voices of his wife and the growing girls, as that night the family circle gathered around the piano and sang:
“Come! Blessed Peace, as when, in hush of eve,
God’s benediction falls on souls who grieve;
As shines a star when weary day departs,
Come! Peace of God, and rule within our hearts.”