Spiritual Acuity 2

The young Scotsman George Matheson won honors while studying classics, logic and philosophy at the University of Glasgow. But at age 20 he went blind. Adding sorrow to sorrow, the woman he was engaged to marry rejected him, saying she could not go through life married to a blind man.

Matheson remained single all his life and his sister took care of him. When he was 40, his sister got married, reminding him again of his loss. On her wedding night, Matheson composed a hymn that has been much loved in the English-speaking church, “O Love That Wilt [Will] Not Let Me Go.” Seeming to come from outside him, he composed it in only five minutes.

O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

{Music and all verses at http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/o/l/oltwnlmg.htm }

Coffee ThoughtCoffee/tea thought: Imagine you are with Matheson as he sits alone that night. Can you identify with his experiences of deepest loss, as well as God’s blaze of spiritual light?

John

{Email readers: www.aonotes.com has clickable link to Chinese Version}

Chinese Version: Spiritual Acuity 2

January 27th, 2012

1 Comment

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