Sang Amid the Darkness
Many years ago the Bishop of Ripon preached at Harrowgate on the text, “While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light” (John 12:36). Earnestly and impressively he presented Christ as the Light of the World. Those away from Christ were pictured as being out in the darkness. Tenderly urging the congregation to come into the light, he announced the hymn, “Abide With Me!” The large congregation had joined with the choir in singing the first line:
“Abide with me! Fast falls the eventide,”
when every light in the church suddenly went out.
Without a moment of pause, however, the choir continued to follow the organ, and sang:
“The darkness deepens—Lord, with me abide!
When other helpers fail, and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me!”
While singing the next lines, a few of the gas jets were lit. These words were:
“Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;”
But the lights feebly flickered and died, and the congregation, again in darkness, continued:
“Change and decay in all around I see:
O Thou, who changest not, abide with me!”
But the choir sang on to the end. When they reached the last stanza some of the gas jets were burning; and in the dim light the words were stirringly appealing:
“Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes:
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies:
Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee:
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me!”
The Christian Advocate gives two illustrations of the popularity of the hymn,