The Unusual Island of the Colorblind

The Caroline Islands are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. On the eastern side is a tiny atoll called Pingelap. (An atoll is a group of islets connected in a ring by a coral reef. Atolls nearly or completely enclose a lagoon.)

Satellite Image of Pingelap Atoll

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia Commons

Pingelap, a municipality of the Federated States of Micronesia, consists of three of these tiny islets, only one of which is inhabited. About 250 people live on Pingelap, but that was not always the case. Pingelap has an amazing history, and even more so, it has a unique claim to fame.

The part of the world where 455 acre Pingelap is located has never been a stranger to typhoons, but in 1775, while western parts of the world were caught in the throes of revolution, Pingelap was struck by a devastating typhoon. The typhoon named Lengkieki nearly wiped its civilization out. Only about twenty people survived. One of those who survived the typhoon and the famine which followed was the atoll's king, Nahnmwarki Mwanenised. 

But after years of research, it was discovered that the king was the source of a recessive gene, an inherited trait, that due to the geographic and cultural isolation of Pingelap, was bred into future generations of the tiny population. The gene began showing up about four generations later. By the sixth generation, about 5% of the population was affected. 

The trait was "rod monochromatism", also called achromatopsia--to the layman, complete colorblindness. 

People with the condition see in shades of black, white, and gray. "Color" is only a word to them. Oftentimes their vision is blurry, and they are very sensitive to light, so they have trouble seeing in sunlight. Their night vision, however, is much stronger than people who do not have achromatopsia. They can often easily spot faint light. Sometimes the use of eyeglass lenses in dark, red, or blue can aid them in filtering the bright light of day.

On Pingelap, the island king seemed to have been the only person to carry the trait after the time of typhoon Lengkieki, but he passed the gene along. Island lore says that the gene was actually introduced into the populace before King Nahnmwaarki Mwanenised's time by a marooned Irish sailor. Nowadays, approximately 250 people live on the tropical paradise of Pingelap, and amazingly, 10% of them are monochromatics. Meanwhile, world-wide, the condition is extremely rare, with only 1 in 30,000 people having this complete form of colorblindness. In the United States, that's only around 10,000 people of the nation's more than 343 million.

Pingelap became known as the Island of the Colorblind and as a living case study of the condition (see the book below). The small atoll has also played important roles in both world wars. The Peace Corp and U.S. Air Force have a presence there today.

The Island of the Colorblind, a 1997 book by neurologist Oliver Sacks about achromatopsia on the Micronesian atoll of Pingelap.

For more on the island's history, it's beauty, and it's unique population, here is a video that delves further into this interesting atoll of the Pacific: 

Pingelap, the Village of Colorblind

____________________________________________

I began researching achromatopsia while working on my upcoming novel The Girl from Tomorrow's Town, book five in Barbour's Enduring Hope series, releasing in Spring of 2026. One of my story's protagonists who works as a roustabout with a famous circus has the condition. I hope you'll join my newsletter to catch the upcoming cover reveal and to learn more about this exciting story, as well as discover some of the further nuances surrounding the lifestyle of those with total monochromatism.  

Northwoods Faith & Fiction Newsletter

Music for Our Souls ~ Will Your Anchor Hold (We Have an Anchor) ~ Priscilla Jane Owens

As I’ve been researching and writing about the history of some of our beloved hymns, I’ve been blown away to discover how God has gifted hymn writers and poets throughout the ages and moved them to pen lyrics and music that inspire others to a closer relationship with Christ Jesus. There are many songs in Scripture, from Moses song after the Exodus down through the ages to David’s many songs of praise and deliverance, and even to Mary’s song when she was chosen to bear and nurture God’s Son.

Yet, God didn’t stop there. Although music in the ages since has not been divinely inspired in the sense of the Holy Spirit moving someone to write canonized Scripture, God has still used many more people throughout the ages to write poetic lyrics of praise and worship as they were first moved in their own spirits by the precious love of God, and then blessing that work to encourage and inspire others.

I find that fascinating.

Today I’m introducing you to another famous hymn writer—although, she probably didn’t set out to become so, and if you’re like me, maybe you never noted her name until now, although you’re probably familiar with some of her hymns.

Priscilla Jane Owens was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1829 where she spent a lifetime dedicated to education as a school teacher and to Christian ministry. Raised in the Scottish and Welsh heritage of her parents, Priscilla held to the Methodist tradition and was committed to working with children and youths.

 

Besides spending most of her adult life as a school teacher in Baltimore, Priscilla also devoted over fifty years to Sunday school ministry, always looking for ways to teach and inspire youths to a faithful walk and greater love of their Savior Jesus. During those years, she wrote many hymns, most of them penned to use with her students. You can hear her training them in some repetitive lyrics such as “Jesus Save! Jesus Saves!”, a hymn in which she compels them toward God’s call to have a missionary spirit of their own.

We Have Heard the Joyful Sound - "Jesus Saves" - acapella hymn with lyrics

Some of Priscilla’s poetry was published in The Methodist Protestant and The Christian Standard. Much of it was set to music with the help of William Kirkpatrick, a Pennsylvania musician and hymn compiler of some renown. Her most enduring piece, "Will Your Anchor Hold" (also called "We Have an Anchor") was written in 1882 and set to music by Mr. Kirkpatrick.

The hymn underwent modifications when it was adopted for use by Dwight L. Moody and Ira Sankey for use in revival meetings, asking rhetorical questions that would give the audience pause to consider the condition of their hearts.

Priscilla’s hymn spread far and wide, partly because of its use in those meetings, but also because it went on to have a long connection with The Boys’ Brigade.

The Boys’ Brigade is an international, interdenominational Christian organization, conceived by Sir William Alexander Smith, a Scottish businessman who envisioned combining drill with fun, boyhood activities and Christian values. Thus, in 1883, the Boys' Brigade was formed in Glasgow and spread quickly across the United Kingdom. Within a decade, its popularity grew to where the organization had spread across the world, and even today boasts hundreds of thousands of members.

The motto of the club was adopted as "Sure & Fast" and its emblem was an anchor. Early on, the Boys' Brigade adopted Priscilla Owens's hymn as its standard. Here is a video pictoral history of the Boys' Brigade set to that hymn.

Boys' Brigade ~ Will Your Anchor Hold

Priscilla Jane Owens left a lasting legacy in the hundreds of hymns she wrote. You can find a compendium of her work containing 229 of them here. Priscilla died in 1907 at her home in Maryland, and she is interred in the Greenmount Cemetery, Baltimore, Maryland.

_______________________________________

Naomi Musch is an award-winning author from the pristine Northwoods of Wisconsin, where she and her husband Jeff live as epically as God allows, enjoying the families of their adult children. Amidst it, she writes about imperfect people who long to change the story. Along the way, her own is also sometimes changed. Visit her on social media and sign up for her monthly newsletter, Northwoods Faith & Fiction:
Website & Newsletter
Goodreads 
Amazon Author Page 
Bookbub 
Facebook
Instagram

Music for Our Souls - C. Austin Miles - "In the Garden"

A few days ago, my husband Jeff asked me if I ever sing "I come to the garden alone. . ." while I'm out in our garden, toiling away at tilling and tending.

My answer, "Yes, absolutely."

"In the Garden" has been a hymn favorite for generations. A song popularized especially for how it's often been sung during funerals and at Easter services, harkens back to the story of Mary Magdalene coming to the garden tomb to mourn her Savior. And then! She hears His voice, and He reveals Himself to her first. Our risen Lord! Oh, what sweet swells that scene conjures in our breasts!

C. Austin Miles must have visualized it well as he penned the lyrics, for according to his great-granddaughter, the verses were penned in a New Jersey basement, where not even a window allowed the daylight in, much less a garden view.

Image by wirestock on Freepik

But who was C. Austin Miles, and what inspired him to write such a beautiful, timeless hymn?

Charles Austin Miles (January 7, 1868-March 10, 1946) studied at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and the University of Pennsylvania. However, in 1892, he gave up his career to purse the writing of Gospel songs. His first Gospel song, "List! ’Tis Jesus’ Voice", was published by the Hall-Mack Company, where he later became editor and manager of the music publishing company for 37 years.

He is quoted as saying, "It is as a writer of gospel songs I am proud to be known, for in that way I may be of the most use to my master, whom I serve willingly although not as efficiently as is my desire."

I love that! Writers of fiction drawn from a Christian world view are prone to questioning whether or not their work serves any larger purpose. We sometimes even feel like it's a guilty pleasure (even though there are days we want to pull our hair out over a plotting or character development issue). Yet, we feel God's pleasure when we write the things that are pleasing to Him. This is how Mr. Miles must have felt, to believe so strongly in his calling. He wrote 398 songs in his lifetime, and he wrote the music to at least eight others. In the Garden was the result of personal quiet time spent with God.

A hobby of Miles' was photography, and he created a darkroom for developing film in his New Jersey basement. With the ability to see well enough to read his Bible in the red lighting of the darkroom, he would often spend the time awaiting his developing process to finish by reading his Bible. Sometimes he purposely read with the desire of creating worshipful songs from Scripture.

I confess that I have often read my Bible with an eye to themes that resonate in stories I want to write. Now and then, God places one directly into my heart.

It was on a day in 1912, while reading in his darkroom, that Miles opened his Bible to John, chapter 20, and read again the story of Mary Magdalene coming to the tomb of Jesus. Discovering he was no longer there, her heart sank, for she feared his body had been stolen. Then she heard his voice behind her. When she thought it was the gardener speaking, He said her name. "Mary."

Have you ever heard the Lord speaking your name to your heart? Calling your attention to him?

I think that maybe that's what happened to C. Austin Miles at that moment. So touched by the thought of what had happened, he didn't need a garden outside his window to imagine it.

Miles' recalled how he gripped his Bible, his muscles vibrating with the urgency to write the lyrics to the poem, thinking, This is not an experience limited to a happening almost 2,000 years ago. It is the daily companionship with the Lord that makes up the Christian's life.

Later, Miles said that the lyrics came quickly. That evening he composed them for a musical setting that became the song we love today.

Do you go to the garden alone to hear the voice of Jesus?

The Garden of Gethsemane at Jerusalem (Deposit Photos)

In the Garden

I come to the garden alone

While the dew is still on the roses

And the voice I hear falling on my ear

The Son of God discloses.

Refrain

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,

And He tells me I am His own;

And the joy we share as we tarry there,

None other has ever known.

He speaks, and the sound of His voice,

Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,

And the melody that He gave to me

Within my heart is ringing.

Refrain

I'd stay in the garden with Him

Though the night around me be falling,

But He bids me go; through the voice of woe

His voice to me is calling.

Refrain

Sing along:

Discover more hymn history on Cindy Ervin Huff's recent post telling the story of Just As I Am. 

Music For Our Souls - Carl Boberg - "How Great Thou Art"

In springtime, it's hard not to admire the many shades of green blanketing the countryside, smell the blossoms bursting on the fruit trees, listen to the gobble of a turkey on the hills, or welcome the chorus of peepers on a pond, and not to wonder at the glory of God and all He has created for us to enjoy.

Sometimes there are no words. We can only try to imagine what that new earth will appear like, void of sin's deteriorating effects, when God comes to dwell with us, and all things are new. Yet, while we are here, we can also not help to be in awe at the miraculous majesty already surrounding us.

That's how Swedish lay minister Carl Broberg must have felt on his walk home from church, on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in 1885, as he enjoyed the blue sky and warm sunshine, the birdsong lifting his spirit, and peace filling his soul. Then, in the distance a thunderhead appeared. With staggering swiftness, the day changed. The sky darkened as thunder rolled and cracked, lightning flashed wildly, and winds buffeted the trees. Within moments of the previous tranquility, a storm lashed the countryside. 

Carl wasn't frightened but gripped in awe at the mightiness of God's sudden display. Just as quickly, the storm ceased, and blue skies returned. The winds calmed, and the birds sang. Once again, Carl Broberg was mesmerized at God's power.

Like us, when we have those moments of awed, holy reverence, Carl wished to find the words to express what he saw and felt. That evening he penned a poem:

O (Thou) great God! When I the world consider

Which Thou has made by Thine almighty Word;

And how the web of life Thy wisdom guideth,

And all creation feedeth at Thy board:

Then doth my soul burst forth in song of praise:

O (Thou) great God! O (Thou) great God!

Carl wrote nine verses to his poem titled in Swedish O STORE GUD. But that is only the beginning of the journey of this great hymn which has since been a favorite for generations. As the poem made it's way to places around the world, stanzas were added or taken away. Tempo was change. Here and there a word replaced.

In 1891, when Boberg was editor of the periodical Sanningsvittnet (“Witness of the Truth”), he published his poem again, this time to the tune of an old Swedish folk melody. Some say he wrote the poem with this tune in mind, others say he was inspired to use it when he first heard a congregation singing the lyrics to that tune. Either way, the song and tune became inseparable.

There were two English translations made. One by Stuart Hine, a British missionary in Ukraine. After learning the Russian version, he transcribed it to English, and produced the poem in a booklet of Russian Melodies and Hymns of Other Lands.

The other English translation, by E. Gustav Johnson, was published 1925 in The Children’s Friend, a periodical produced by The Swedish Christian Orphanage in Cromwell, Connecticut. His text and the Swedish melody were then published together in The Covenant Hymnal. It is Johnson's version that's considered to be a more faithful English rendition of the original Swedish text than the version we sing today. 

It wasn't until April, 1954, when Baptist minister, Dr. J. Edwin Orr, professor of missions and founding board member of Campus Crusade for Christ, introduced the song to publishers in the United States. Then the hymn moved forward and changed once again. Orr had learned the song in India as it was being sung by tribespeople. He introduced it at the Forest Home Christian Conference Center in southern California where it was arranged as broadsheets by Gospel Light publications. That arrangement didn't survive. However, one of those sheets were carried home by the son and daughter of Christian music writer and publisher Tim Spencer. Spencer had found fame while singing with Sons of the Pioneers, along with Bob Nolan and Roy Rogers. Spencer contacted Stuart Hine and was given copyright to the music under Manna Music, Inc. The hymn changed again, this time to the version we most commonly know, and it was published in 1955.

Two years later, in 1957, it rose to even greater popularity when George Beverly Shay sang it at the Billy Graham Crusades at Madison Square Garden. It went on to be considered by many as the biggest song in Christendom, even being sung by Elvis.

That is the SHORT version of how we came to know and love this hymn. 

Imagine hearing the majesty of this song, sung in this arena:

George Beverly Shay singing "How Great Thou Art"

Carl Broberg, born in 1859, passed into God's glorious presence in 1950. He could not have known on that day he strolled home from church, with thoughts of praise and wonderment toward God, how the poem he then wrote would one day influence millions. It will be interesting to meet him and talk together about his work in Heaven some fine day.

If you are enjoying these histories of famous hymns and their writers, don't miss 

Cindy Ervin Huff's recent post: Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee 

__________________________

I enjoyed writing about art, beauty, and the very diversity in God's creation when I wrote Paint Me Althena, the story of an artist who's lost her way. Because we are made in God's image, we love also to create.

Ava Day buried love and walked away, but could her crooked path lead home, or has the time for second chances slipped away?

Learn more at Amazon or NaomiMusch.com

The inspiration behind the iconic hymn Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee

Once again, I’m featuring a beloved hymn and the history behind it. If you missed my last story you can find it here. Naomi Musch has been sharing some wonderful hymn stories too. Her last one is here. 

Today I’m focusing on “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee.” This song is easy to identify if you love classical music because the music is the final movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Hymn writers often borrow familiar tunes to accompany their lyrics.

Henry van Dyke jr.

Henry van Dyke Jr was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania in 1852. During his life, he was a prominent Presbyterian minister and leading liturgy figures in the country.  He also served as a professor of literature at Princeton from 1900-1923.  He interrupted his professorship when he served as a Navy Chaplain during the First World War. Then President Woodrow Wilson appointed him ambassador to Belgium and Luxenberg in 1913. After which he resumed his post at Princeton, finding it more to his liking than diplomacy. He was a prolific writer of devotionals along with hymn lyrics and short stories. One of his more memorable short stories was The Other Wise Man (1896) This was a Christmas story of another wiseman who used his gift to help the needy as he journeyed to Bethlehem.

Henry’s best-known hymn is “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee.” He is quoted as saying his purpose for writing this iconic hymn and others:

“These verses are simple expressions of common Christian feelings and desires in this present time, hymns of today that may be sung together by people who know the thoughts of the age, and are not afraid that any truth of science will destroy their religion or that any revolution on the earth will overthrow the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, these are hymns of trust and hope.”  Quote taken from 101 Hymn Stories by Kenneth W. Osbeck

“Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee” illustrates a joyful interplay between God’s creation and the same creative spirit in the believer’s life. Each verse paints a vivid picture of how God created the world and the believer’s response to His glory and majesty.

Inspiration for the hymn

Henry wrote this hymn when he was a guest preacher at William College, Williamstown Massachusetts. He handed the finished lyrics to the college president saying “Here is a hymn for you. Your Berkshire mountains were my inspiration. It must be sung to music of Beethoven’s “Hymn of Joy.” It was first published in van Dyke’s Book of Poems, third edition in 1911.

Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony

 Beethoven’s “Hymn of Joy” which is the final movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony was composed somewhere between 1817-1823 and published in 1823. Beethoven never wrote a tune specifically for a hymn text. However, some of his works have been the musical accompaniment to hymns.

The Ninth or the “Choral” symphony was the last and perhaps greatest piece he ever wrote. It took six years to complete the entire symphony. His desire was to create one great symphony that would combine both voice and instruments in one majestic expression of sound. His poet friend Frederick Schiller inspired the work with his poem Ode to Joy.

The musical world was and still is amazed at how wonderful this piece was since Beethoven hearing declined toward deafness by the time he was thirty. There is a debate as to whether Beethoven was totally deaf or only had severe hearing loss at the time he wrote this final symphony. When the Ninth Symphony was first performed in Vienna, Austria, in 1824, the soloist had to come down from the stage and turn Beethoven around from his position facing the stage so he could see all the enthusiastic applause. The joy in the music truly complements the lyrics Henry van Dyke was inspired to write.

 

Joyful Joyful, We Adore Thee

1. Joyful, joyful, we adore You,
God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flow'rs before You,
Op'ning to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness;
Drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness,
Fill us with the light of day!

2. All Your works with joy surround You,
Earth and heav'n reflect Your rays,
Stars and angels sing around You,
Center of unbroken praise;
Field and forest, vale and mountain,
Flow'ry meadow, flashing sea,
Chanting bird and flowing fountain
Praising You eternally!

3. Always giving and forgiving,
Ever blessing, ever blest,
Well-spring of the joy of living,
Ocean-depth of happy rest!
Loving Father, Christ our Brother,
Let Your light upon us shine;
Teach us how to love each other,
Lift us to the joy divine.

4.Mortals, join the mighty chorus,
Which the morning stars began;
God's own love is reigning o’er us,
Joining people hand in hand.
Ever singing, march we onward,
Victors in the midst of strife;
Joyful music leads us sunward
In the triumph song of life.

Listen for yourself

Here is a link to a YouTube video.

 

https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-iba-3&ei=UTF-8&hsimp=yhs-3&hspart=iba&p=performance+of+joyful+joyful+we+adore+thee+youtube&type=smff_10230_FFW_ZZ#id=3&vid=083ff3b4a1ac5c1bdf3fbbfa7d1ec030&action=view

Have you ever heard this hymn before? How does it inspire you?

Cindy Ervin Huff, is a multi-published award-winning author. A 2018 Selah Finalist. She has a passion to encourage other writers on their journey. When she isn’t writing, she feeds her addiction to reading and enjoys her retirement with her husband of 50 plus years, Charles. Visit her at www.cindyervinhuff.com.

Cherishing Her Heart

After being falsely imprisoned in an asylum, Susan escapes and assumes the identity to a simple valet’s daughter. Once she starts a new life in Kansas, she vows to never be under a man’s thumb again. But Monty’s presence makes her heart race, and his care and kindness under different circumstances might win her heart.

When her ex-husband puts a bounty on her head for her return, Monty steps up to help. Can she trust this handsome rancher to protect her and not control her? Buy link.

 

 

 

 

Music For Our Souls - Joseph M. Scriven - "What a Friend We Have in Jesus"

 

THE HYMN

One of the best things I was taught growing up—in school, no less—was that Jesus was my friend. Not only did he know everything I did, thought, said, heard, and felt, but He knew my deepest troubles and sorrows. We learned this hymn in grade school, and it is one of many that have stayed with me through the decades.

Some weeks ago, I found it coming to mind in the wee hours of the morning, and the very next day we sang about the friendship God offers us through Jesus our Savior in our Sunday morning church service. We hadn't sung it in AGES!

I felt God using the hymn to speak to my heart, and of course, His timing was perfect to meet my need.

Later, I learned that there’s an interesting story to share about the life of the Hymn’s writer, Joseph Scriven. First, enjoy and sing along with this lovely acoustic version:

SCRIVEN'S STORY

Joseph Scriven was born at Ballymoney Lodge, Banbridge, County Down, Northern Ireland, on September 10, 1819, the son of Captain John Scriven of the Royal Marines and Jane Medlicott, sister of a Wiltshire Vicar, Rev. Joseph Medlicott whom her son was named after. Having come from a comfortably well-off family, Joseph was educated at Trinity College in Dublin and Addiscombe Military Academy near London.

Joseph Medlicott Scriven

During his years at the academy, Joseph came under the influence of the Plymouth Brethren, a fundamentalist group that rejected teachings of most mainline denominations of the day, believing strongly in the “priesthood of all believers” as spoken of in 1 Peter 2:5-9. They also believed in earnestly living out a life of Christian service.

Scriven graduated in 1842 and planned to marry the following year. Tragically, on the night before he was to be married, his fiancée accidentally drowned.

In 1844, at the age of 25, Scriven felt God was calling him to serve in Canada. He migrated but became ill after only being there a short while before returning to his homeland. Nevertheless, he eventually did make Canada his permanent home, coming back to live there in 1847.

Pray Without Ceasing

The beginning lyrics of his most famous hymn came in a letter he wrote to encourage his mother in 1855, after learning she was gravely ill. He had been living in the home of the Pengellys, in Bewdley Ontario, where he was engaged as a private tutor. There he penned his mother a poem of only two verses which he then titled after the entirety of 1 Thessalonians 5:17, which says, “Pray without ceasing.”

He also became engaged to the Pengelly’s niece, Eliza Roche. Scriven encouraged her to be baptized by immersion. The baptism was performed in April, 1860, in Rice Lake. If you know anything about northern climes, April is a very chilly month, still torn between winter and spring. Eliza developed pneumonia and died. Scriven was so grieved by her death, that he left teaching.

Nevertheless, he lived out the next twenty-five years fulfilling his calling to Christian service by performing hundreds of acts of charity. He was known to give his clothing to the needy as well as giving money and his own labor. He was sometimes seen walking the streets of Port Hope, where he lived during the summer months of the year, carrying a saw and sawhorse. He cut wood for the destitute, deliver milk for his landlady, and care for the sick without payment.

Scriven always shared his faith and what drove him to carry out such Christian principles. He could quote scripture for any occasion, and he even preached on Port Hope’s business thoroughfare.

In 1869 Scriven published a collection of 115 Hymns and other verses which did not include "What a friend".

It was in the Sackville home in Bewdley, where he spent his winters, that he wrote the rest of the words to his famous hymn. His hymn was published abroad and in the Port Hope Evening Guide shortly before his death in 1866, although publication doesn’t appear to have been his aim.

As it turned out, Joseph Scriven died at the Sackville home under, what some have called, mysterious circumstances in 1886. He had fallen very ill with a fever, and brought to the Sackville home to recover. The night had grown sultry. At some point during that long, hot night, Joseph M Scriven drowned. He was sixty-six.

He may have gone down to the nearby lake to cool down, or even to get a drink of cold water from the spring. His friend testified:

"We left him about midnight. I withdrew to an adjoining room to watch and pray. You may imagine my surprise and dismay when upon visiting his room I found it empty. All search failed to find a trace of the missing man, until a little after noon his body was discovered in the nearby river, lifeless and cold in death."

He was buried next to his second fiancé in her family cemetery near Bewdley, overlooking the beautiful lake. He left behind one of the world’s most beloved hymns and a legacy of Christian service toward others.

A tall obelisk was built upon his grave with the words from the song and the following inscription:

This monument was erected to the memory of Joseph M. Scriven, B.A., by lovers of his hymn, which is engraved hereon, and is his best memorial.

Born at Seapatrick, Co. Down, Ireland, 10 Sept. 1819, emigrated to Canada 1844. Entered into rest at Bewdley, Rice Lake, 10 August 1886, and buried here.

Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

Now that I know about the life and hardships Scriven, I am even more deeply touched when I sing this marvelous hymn.

What a friend we have in Jesus,

All our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry

Everything to God in prayer!

Oh, what peace we often forfeit,

Oh, what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer!

Have we trials and temptations?

Is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged—

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful,

Who will all our sorrows share?

Jesus knows our every weakness;

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy-laden,

Cumbered with a load of care?

Precious Savior, still our refuge—

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?

Take it to the Lord in prayer!

In His arms He’ll take and shield thee,

Thou wilt find a solace there.

Blessed Savior, Thou hast promised

Thou wilt all our burdens bear;

May we ever, Lord, be bringing

All to Thee in earnest prayer.

Soon in glory bright, unclouded,

There will be no need for prayer—

Rapture, praise, and endless worship

Will be our sweet portion there.

If you enjoy these histories of famous hymns, don't miss Cindy Huff's April post: "Jesus Loves Even Me" from the Pen of P.P. Bliss

__________________________________________________

The Angel and the Sky Pilot is a Selah Award finalist

in the novella category!

Meet Everett Shepherd, a man with a past, called of God to the lumberjacks in the wilds of northern Minnesota, at the turn of the 20th century.

“A preacher!” The guy nearly shouted. “You hear that, Joe?

We got us a preacher all the way up here.”

A wiry man with scraggly gray whiskers, who must be Joe,

sniffed. “I reckon they got to find a man wherever he goes. Can’t

leave well enough alone.”

Don't miss this rollicking story along with three other stellar novellas of first-time preachers in the Courting the Country Preacher historical collection. Also on Kindle Unlimited and Audible.

4.4 Stars on Goodreads!