The Melody of Lent

 

Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day
Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away
Change and decay in all around I see
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

A bit of history of this hymn.  The words were written by  Henry Francis Lyte.  He was an Anglican minister.  Lyte’s story is one of heartbreak.  He did not have a good childhood, with his father abandoning him and his brother.  Lyte was able to receive a good education.  He spoke Latin, Greek, and French; enjoyed discussing literature; and played the flute.  But, Lyte had significant health issues.  When Lyte penned this hymn is debated.  Some say he wrote it for a friend whose hand Lyte held while his friend was dying and others say he wrote it after he preached his final sermon. 

His daughter, Anna Maria Maxwell Hogg, recounts the story of how "Abide with Me" came out of that context:

The summer was passing away, and the month of September arrived, and each day seemed to have a special value as being one day nearer his departure. His family were surprised and almost alarmed at his announcing his intention of preaching once more to his people. His weakness and the possible danger attending the effort, were urged to prevent it, but in vain. "It was better", as he used to say often playfully, when in comparative health, "to wear out than to rust out". He felt that he should be enabled to fulfil his wish and feared not for the result. His expectation was well founded. He did preach, and amid the breathless attention of his hearers, gave them a sermon on the Holy Communion ... In the evening of the same day he placed in the hands of a near and dear relative the little hymn, "Abide with Me", with an air of his own composing, adapted to the words.  Just weeks later, on November 20, 1847, Lyte died. The hymn was sung for the very first time at Lyte's funeral. 

In those words, I hear the second verse differently.  I hear Lyte’s own realization of how life can fade away.  That sometimes the things we seek and see as so important in life, end up not being so vital in the end.  Yet, God’s persistent presence, God’s prayerful abiding and faithfulness, is where we long to dwell.  I invite you again to hold each of these lines and let them connect to your life.  Where are things passing away right now, coming to an end?  What was so important a week ago, a month ago, or a year ago, suddenly doesn’t seem so big?  Where do you see decay around you?  How might each of these places be a dwelling space for God?  That final question is the one that gets me.  I can make a list of my laments, but to then ask, where is God in this, reframes and refocuses my attention.  Holy Week reminds us that God abides in the struggle, strain, stress, and even suffering.  Not that God causes this, not that God uses these moments to teach us a lesson – although we might learn something - not that God throws lightening bolts.  And yet, God can be found in the midnight of our souls.  To be open to the abiding presence of God in the uncertainty is a profound truth this hymn, and Lyte’s own story, point us toward.

Prayer: Abiding God open me to the places and spaces that are confining and confounding as still having room for You to move.  Amen.