Scripture Verse

Is not this the carpenter’s son? Matthew 13:55

Introduction

Words: Will­iam W. Reid, Sr., 1927. Ap­peared in The Ab­ing­don Hym­nal, ed­it­ed by Earl En­yeart Har­per (New York, et ali­bi: Ab­ing­don Press, 1928), num­ber 27.

Music: Balducci Ar­thur H. Mann, 1928 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Reid (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

portrait
Arthur Mann (1850–1929)

Lyrics

illustration
Christ in the House of His Parents
John Everett Millais (1829–1896)

O Thou la­bor­er in the workshop,
Carpenter of Ga­li­lee,
Thou hast wear­ied in the noon-heat,
Thou hast hewn the stub­born tree;
Strengthen Lord, thy bro­ther toil­ers,
They who work in mill and mine,
They who fol­low field and for­est
Threshing grain and fell­ing pine.

O Thou tra­vel­er in the high­way,
Without place to lay Thy head,
Thou wast oft­en foot­sore, wea­ry,
Hungry for Thy dai­ly bread;
Hearten, Lord, des­pair­ing wan­de­rers,
Men for­got by fel­low men,
Give Thy Church un­swerv­ing pur­pose,
Life to touch their lives again.