I WOULD BE TRUE

          One of the very sad trends in Christian circles today is the exodus of many young people from the church.  Too many young men and women who have grown up in evangelical churches leave, often to go to college, and never return.  Today's society bombards them with world views that are contrary to what they have been taught and as a result many leave the faith.  This is especially hard for parents who have taught their children and then send them off to college and see their faith attacked and destroyed. Often all we can do is surround them with prayer, even before they leave.  As a parent and a grandparent, over the years I have spent many hours for them before the Lord.  And it is exciting when we see victories where young people actually grow in the Lord during those difficult years. It does happen!  I imagine this must have been the case for the parents of Howard A. Walter, who in his twenties, went to Japan in 1906 to spend a year teaching English at the Waseda University.  It was his desire to reassure his mother back home of his continuing faith so he wrote a statement of his philosophy of life. with the title "My Creed".  His mother was greatly impressed and pleased with her son's convictions and sent a copy to Harper's Magazine where it was published in the May, 1907 issue.  Walter also shared his poem with a Methodist lay-preacher, Joseph Yates Peek, who immediately began whistling a tune for the words.  Peek then shared this with a friend, Grant Colfax Tullar, an accomplished organist and songwriter who notated and harmonized the music in its present form.  Walter went on to serve the Lord in various ministries until his death in a severe influenza epidemic.  Incidentally, this was the same Spanish Flu epidemic that caused the death of my grandfather.  Now I must admit that this hymn was never one of my favorites, but after hearing the story behind its writing, I have become impressed.  Have you ever written your personal creed for living?  Maybe that would be a good exercise and Walter's might be a good model to start with.  I have never done this personally, although my wife and I did create a list of 12 goals that we used to raise our boys and it is posted in our living room.   Sometimes it is a good technique to take those ideas which you carry in your head and put them on paper where they can be seen, reviewed and remembered.  So what is your creed?

1.     I would be true, for there are those who trust me;

I would be pure, for there are those who care;

I would be strong, for there is much to suffer;

I would be brave, for there is much to dare;

I would be brave, for there is much to dare.

2.     I would be friend of all - the foe, the friendless;

I would be giving, and forget the gift;

I would be humble, for I know my weakness;

I would look up, and laugh, and love and lift.

I would look up, and laugh, and love and lift.

3.     I would be faithful through each passing moment;

I would be constantly in touch with God;

I would be strong to follow where He leads me;

I would have faith to keep the path Christ trod;

I would have faith to keep the path Christ trod.

The following three verses were added several years later by someone else and are not found in most hymnbooks.

Who is so low that I am not his brother?

Who is so high that I've no path to him?

Who is so poor, that I may not feel his hunger?

Who is so rich I may not pity him?

Who is so rich I may not pity him?

Who is so hurt I may not know his heartache?

Who sings for joy my heart may never share?

Who in God's heaven has passed beyond my vision?

Who to Hell's depths where I may never fare?

Who to Hell's depths where I may never fare?

May none, then, call on me for understanding,

May none, then, turn to me for help in pain,

And drain alone his bitter cup of sorrow,

Or find he knocks upon my heart in vain.

Or find he knocks upon my heart in vain.

You can listen to it here.     LISTEN