George Matheson

Scottish minister George Matheson was born today in Glasgow in 1842. He entered the university there at fifteen, and during his time there his already-poor eyesight deteriorated to the point of blindness. Undeterred, he continued his studies with the help of his sisters and was awarded several academic honors. His first degree was in philosophy, followed by one in divinity, after which he was licensed to preach in the Church of Scotland.

Over the next several years he became a renowned preacher, adding to his fame when the first of his several books was published in 1874. He continued to write books and articles on theology and comparative religions even after his retirement in 1899, until his death from a stroke in 1906.

He published only one book of poetry, Sacred Songs (1890), though he did not include his most well-known hymn until the third edition in 1904. He considered O Love that wilt not let me go to be a special case as it was written with an ease that he never experienced again. Most of the poems in Sacred Songs are not suited to be hymns, but a few of them have also appeared in hymnals, such as this one.

Jesus, Fountain of my days,
Wellspring of my heart's delight.
Brightness of my morning rays,
Solace of my hours of night,
Loving thee I shall arise
To the hope of cloudless skies.

As thy presence on the deep
Calmed the pulses of the sea,
And the waters sank to sleep
In the rest of seeing thee,
So my restless, troubled will
Heard the mandate, "Peace, be still!"

Now thy will and mine are one,
Heart in heart and hand in hand;
All the clouds and all the sun,
All the ships have reached the land;
And thy love has said to me,
"No more night!" and "No more sea!"

George Matheson, 1890; alt.
Tune: RATISBON (7.7.7.7.7.7.)
Leipzig Choralbuch, 1816;
harm. William Henry Havergal, 1861


P.S. - In many churches today, the Gospel lesson was the story of the woman at the well (John 4:4-41), which brings to mind this hymn from a few years ago.

Two Years Ago: George Matheson

One Year Ago: George Job Elvey

Another Birthday Today: Emma Ashford

George Matheson

George Matheson was born in Glasgow, Scotland on March 27, 1842. As a child, his eyesight was weak, but it grew progressively worse until his college years, when he became blind. His sisters then learned Greek, Latin, and Hebrew so that they could help him in his divinity studies.

He was ordained in the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian) in 1868 and gained a great reputation for his preaching, which attracted listeners from great distances. Queen Victoria invited him to preach at the parish church near Balmoral in 1885. Matheson's published works: sermons, theological studies, and poems and hymns (generally dictated to one or another of his sisters, though in later years he had a succession of male secretaries) were also very popular.

We have already seen his most familiar hymn, O love, that wilt not let me go. He later wrote of its creation:

It was the quickest bit of work I ever did in my life. I had the impression rather of having it dictated to me by some inward voice than of working it out myself. I am quite sure that the whole work was completed in five minutes, and equally sure that it never received at my hands any retouching or correction.

Well, except this one:

The Hymnal Committee of the Church of Scotland desired the change of one word. I had written originally 'I climbed the rainbow in the rain.' They objected to the word 'climb' and I put 'trace.'"

Some have said 'climb' might actually have been the better word after all; that 'climb' implies taking action rather than waiting for things to get better.

He published only one volume of poems and hymns, Sacred Songs (1890), which contained today's hymn. Matheson was fascinated by the religions of the world, writing a history of them in 1877: Growth of the Spirit of Christianity. He believed that each of them made a favorable contribution to society.

Gather us in, O Love that fillest all;
Gather our rival faiths within thy fold;
Rend each one’s temple veil, and bid it fall,
That we may know that thou hast been of old.

Gather us in —- we worship only thee;
In varied names we stretch a common hand;
In diverse forms a common soul we see;
In many ships we seek one spirit land.

Each sees one color of thy rainbow light,
Each looks upon one tint and calls it heaven;
Thou art the fullness of our partial sight;
We are not perfect till we find the seven.

Some seek a parent in the heav’ns above;
Some wish a human image to adore;
Some crave a spirit vast as life and love;
Within thy mansions we have all and more.

George Matheson, 1890; alt.
Tune: BIRMINGHAM (10.10.10.10.)
A Selection of Psalm Tunes, 1834

Denominations remain quite territorial in our day; I'm not sure that any but the Unitarians have included this hymn in their published hymnals.

The rainbow seems to have been an important image for Matheson; it appears in both these hymns. In a prayer from Moments on the Mount (1884), he writes "Show me that my tears have made my rainbows."

Saint Margaret of Scotland

November 16 is the feast day of Saint Margaret of Scotland (c.1045 - 1093). She was born of English nobility, raised in exile in Hungary, and returned to England in 1066 when her brother Edgar attempted to take the throne after the death of their uncle King Edward the Confessor. Their attempt failed (you may have heard of William the Conqueror) and they fled to Scotland, where Margaret was later married to the Scottish King Malcolm III.

As Queen Margaret, she was active in church reform, bringing the practices of the Celtic church closer to the Roman church, and inviting the Benedictine order to establish monasteries in Scotland. She reportedly rose at midnight daily to attend church services. She was widely known for deeds of charity, and would not eat each day until she had served food to someone in need. She visited and cared for the sick, and set up hostels for the poor. At various times, especially during Lent and Advent she would give feasts for a few hundred commoners in the royal palace. However, there is a legend that no one ever recalled seeing her laugh or smile, so perhaps her piety came at a price.

She was canonized in 1250, and in 1673 was declared the (female) patron saint of Scotland. She came from a rather saintly family, which included her aforementioned uncle, Saint Edward the Confessor and her son, Saint David of Scotland.

I know of no hymns to St. Margaret (though there may well be some in Scotland), but of course there is a Victorian hymn tune named for her.

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.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,

I cannot close my heart to thee;

I trace the rainbow through the rain,

And feel the promise is not vain,

That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,

I dare not ask to fly from thee;

I lay in dust life’s glory dead,

And from the ground there blossoms red

Life that shall endless be.

George Matheson, 1882

Tune: ST. MARGARET (8.8.8.6.)

Albert Lister Peace, 1884

George Matheson and Albert Lister Peace both wrote other hymn texts and tunes, respectively, but none so well known and loved as this one. Matheson was Scottish, so I wonder whether Peace chose his tune name for this text with that in mind.

P.S. The window above is actually from my own church, depicting Margaret feeding the poor.