A company of friends were in the Sunday School Times party which took a trip by water from Philadelphia to the Pacific coast. In an article on “Cruising to California,” in 1930, Dr. Charles G. Trumbull related the following:
“They were gathered together on the after-deck of the steamer, singing the old hymns. Night had come down over the ocean, the myriad stars of a tropical sky were twinkling overhead, and more than one of the Sunday School Times party who were joining in the singing were thanking God for the precious memories the old hymns brought them. Stewards and stewardesses in the service of the ship were on deck near by, resting in steamer chairs, enjoying the cool breezes and listening to the hymns.
“It was interesting to note the deep interest with which the passengers on board listened to the singing of the old hymns. Some joined in; the lips of others were seen moving as words of the hymn were being repeated; one man removed his eyeglasses to wipe a certain mistiness from his eyes, then he rather timidly asked that a certain hymn might be sung, ‘I Will Sing the Wondrous Story.’”
Some incidents are parables of life as when a congregation
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!