LEAD KINDLY LIGHT

        Have you ever been lost?  It is a frightening experience.  I remember when I was about 14 that a group of us hiked through the woods to climb a tower.  When we were done we decided to leave the path on which we had come and try to take a "short cut" through the woods.  It was fun until we realized that our sense of direction had failed and we weren't reaching our destination.  We were scared.  But finally we came to a highway and realized that we were about two miles from our destination.  And we were able to follow the road and return safely - but tired and thankful.  But we don't need to be in a woods to get lost in our lives.  It is easy to wander away from the truth and the Lord.  We decide to lean upon our own intelligence and our own wants and before we know it we are lost and without hope.  And then we suddenly realize that it is dark and we are far from home.  But when we call upon our Father, He will "lead me home in childlike faith, home to my God."  And that is the message of this hymn which was written in 1833 by John Henry Newman as a poem titled "the Pillar and the Cloud".  Newman was 33 years old when he found himself on a boat from the Sicilian city of Palermo to Marseille, France. Newman, who was recovering after being dangerously ill with a fever, was on the boat to return to start the trip back to his native England when he penned the lyrics to "Lead, Kindly Light."  The fact that he was recovering from a frightening illness in the middle of the sea gives some insight to the lyrics:

Lead, kindly Light, amid th'encircling gloom; Lead thou me on!

"The night is dark, and I am far from home; Lead thou me on!

Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see

The distant scene - one step enough for me."

His hymn kater became very popular and was sung in many interesting situations. Newman's hymn was sung by a soloist, Marion Wright, on the RMS Titanic during a hymn sing gathering shortly before the ocean liner struck an iceberg on April 14, 1912.  The hymn was also sung aboard one of the Titanic's lifeboats when the rescue ship Carpathia was sighted the following morning.  Lead, Kindly Light was sung by British troops to the accompaniment of nearby artillery fire on the Western Front during the First World War at services held before going into the trenches the following day.  While the hymn is no longer sung very often today, the truth and message have not changed. Maybe today you feel lost and discouraged in your daily life.  Maybe you are fearful or discouraged or maybe even depressed.  Maybe you feel far from home. Then call upon Jesus who will be your guide, strength and comfort amid the encircling gloom in your life.  Lead kindly light!

1      Lead, kindly light, amid the encircling gloom,

lead thou me on;

the night is dark, and I am far from home;

lead thou me on.

Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see

the distant scene; one step enough for me.

2      I was not ever thus, nor prayed that thou

shouldst lead me on;

I loved to choose and see my path; 

but now lead thou me on.

I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,

pride ruled my will: remember not past years.

3      So long thy power hath blest me, 

sure it still will lead me on,

o'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, 

till the night is gone,

and with the morn those angel faces smile,

which I have loved long since, and lost awhile.

4.     Meantime, along the narrow rugged path,

Thyself hast trod,

Lead, Saviour, lead me home in childlike faith,

Home to my God.

To rest forever after earthly strife

In the calm light of everlasting life.

Listen to it here.    LIGHT