Hymn Stories

Yesterday we went to an auction and found somethings that were of value to us.  One item that my friend made a bid on was a box of books she won the bid at $5.  One of the books inside was a hymn book with the stories of them inside. Enjoy..

Nearer, My God, to Thee

1840

 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to the heaven. Genesis 28:12

It was reported that the band aboard the Titanic gallantly played "Nearer, My God, to Thee" as the great liner sank to its watery grave on April 14, 1912.  A Canadian survivor told of being comforted by its strains.  Historians, however, have never been able to nail down the validity of the story.

Never mind.  It's a great hymn anyway, written by a woman named Sarah Flower Adams.  She was born in Harlow, England, in the winter of 1805.  Her father was a newspaper editor and a man of prominence. 

Sarah herself grew up enjoying the spotlight.  She showed great interest in the stage and dreamed of being an actress.  In 1834, she married William Bridges Adams, a civil engineer.  The couple lived in London where Sarah could be near the great theaters.  In 1837, she played "Lady Macbeth" in the Richmond Theater in London to rave reviews.  

Her frail health hampered her career, however, and she found herself focusing more on her literary gifts.  It's said that she wrote quickly, as if under compulsion; and seldom did editors find anything to change in her work.  Among her compositions were hymns of praise to the Lord.  Sarah's sister, Eliza, a gifted musician, often wrote the music for her hymns.  The two were very close. 

One day in 1841, their pastor, Rev. William Johnson Fox of London's South Place Unitarian Church, paid a visit.  He was compiling a church hymnbook and he wanted to include some of their hymns.  He further mentioned that he was frustrated at his inability to find a hymn to go along with the upcoming Sunday's message, which was from the story of Jacob at Bethel in Genesis 28:20-22.

Sarah offered to write a hymn based on those verses.  For the rest of the week she poured over the passage, visualizing Jacob's sleeping with a stone for his pillow as he dreamed of a ladder reaching to heaven.  The following Sunday, South Place Unitarian Church sang Sarah's "Nearer, My God, to Thee"

Eliza who was suffering from tuberculosis, died in 1846.  Sarah had faithfully cared for her sister during the illness, but by the time Eliza died, Sarah, too, was showing signs of consumption.  

She passed away on August 14, 1848, at age 43.