Scripture Verse

Thy will be done. Matthew 6:10

Introduction

portrait
John Whittier (1807–1892)

Words: This is a cen­to from John G. Whit­ti­er’s 1845 po­em To My Friend on the Death of His Sis­ter. It ap­peared in Voic­es of Free­dom, sixth edi­tion (Phi­la­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia, et ali­bi: Tho­mas S. Ca­ven­der, 1846), pag­es 160–62:

Sophia Sturge, sis­ter of Jo­seph Sturge, of Birm­ing­ham, the Pre­si­dent of the Bri­tish Com­plete Suf­frage As­so­cia­tion, died in the 6th mo. 1845.

She was the col­league, coun­sel­lor and ev­er rea­dy help­mate of her bro­ther in all his vast de­signs of be­ne­fi­cence. The Birm­ing­ham Pi­lot says of her, Nev­er, per­haps, were the ac­tive and pas­sive vir­tues of the hu­man char­ac­ter more har­mo­ni­ous­ly and beau­ti­ful­ly blend­ed, than in this ex­cel­lent wo­man.

Music: God’s An­gels J. Hy­att Brew­er, in The Aca­de­mic Hym­nal (New York: G. Schir­mer, 1899), num­ber 36 (🔊 pdf nwc)

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Hyatt Brewer (1856–1931)

Lyrics

With si­lence on­ly as their be­ne­dic­tion,
God’s an­gels come
Where, in the sha­dow of a great af­flict­ion,
The soul sits dumb!
Yet, would I say what thy own heart ap­prov­eth:
Our Fa­ther’s will,
Calling to Him the dear ones whom He lov­eth,
Is mer­cy still.

Not up­on thee or thine the so­lemn an­gel
Hath ev­il wrought:
The fu­ne­ral an­them is a glad evan­gel—
The good die not!
God calls our loved ones, but we lose not whol­ly
What He hath giv­en;
They live on earth, in thought and deed, as tru­ly
As in His hea­ven.