GLORY!

 A monthly story on a hymn of the faith.

Whenever Gospel musician Charles Gabriel was around Ed Card, he was boosted by the Card's joyful demeanor. It wasn't what you'd expect from a man who ran a rescue mission in St. Louis, Missouri. Yet Card was known for his ready smile and how he seemed to bubble over with the joy of the Lord. The man would explode with a “Glory!” during a sermon or prayer, and often closed his own prayers with a reference to heaven and the remark, “And that will be glory for me!” Card's joyful countenance caused others to nickname him “Old Glory Face.”

Inspired by Card's expressive faith, Gabriel combined verse and music for a hymn titled, “O That Will Be Glory,” first published in 1900. Surprisingly, one critic complained, “That hymn will never go. It has too many quarter notes.” In other words, it didn't have a catchy tune. But it definitely “caught on,” becoming one of the most popular hymns sung at large evangelism meetings from the U.S., to around the globe, including Australia and Great Britain. Before Card died, he'd learn that his Christian walk was widely recognized by Gabriel's Gospel song.

But Gabriel was far from a “one-hit” composer. More amazing, he began life in an Iowa prairie farm shanty in 1856. As a youth, he taught himself to play a small reed organ his parents bought. At age 16 he was leading singing schools. His mother discerned his unusual talent. When Gabriel told her that one day he'd write a world-famous song, she remarked, “My boy, I would rather have you write a song that will help somebody than see you President of the United States.”

Around age 30, he moved to San Francisco, Calif., to serve in a Methodist Episcopal Church. When the Sunday school superintendent asked him to come up with a missionary hymn for Easter, Gabriel composed “Send the Light.” A visiting mission representative took the hymn back East with him. Two years later, Gabriel was writing and publishing hymns full-time. Some of his well-known hymns included “Higher Ground,” “My Savior's Love,” and “More Like the Master.” He also composed the music for others' lyrics, including Civila Martin's “His Eye is on the Sparrow” and Ada Habershon's “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?”

In all, he'd edit 35 Gospel songbooks, eight Sunday school songbooks, seven books for male choruses and six for women's voices, ten children's songbooks, 19 anthem collections, 23 choir cantatas, 41 Christmas cantatas, 10 children's cantatas, and many books on musical instructions. For two decades he was part of Homer Rodeheaver Publishing Co.

Gabriel would die in 1932, in Hollywood, leaving an estimated legacy of 7,000-8,000 songs. Among his songs, “I Stand Amazed in the Presence,” which includes the line, “How marvelous! How wonderful is my Savior's love to me.”

The same singer takes all four parts in this rendition of “O that Will Be Glory”:

Bing Videos

Then, he takes all four parts of “Send the Light”:

Send the Light - YouTube

DILIGENCE

When culling my husband's desk files after his death, I came across many pocket calendars in which he kept track of his substitute teaching commitments. To me, they shouted the character quality of “diligence” in providing for our family. His elementary teaching career spanned fifty-five years, from college graduation to one year before his death at age 77. Nearly half of that was the high-paced calling of an elementary physical education teacher, the rest the challenges of substitute teaching. His “career change” within education came after we were nearly killed by a drunk driver. The trauma and stress of that accident mandated a lifestyle adjustment.

So what of the pocket calendars? When he turned to substitute teaching with its lower wages, he still had plenty of work. We'd always lived frugally, so managed. The “less-stress” was worth it. Some jobs came by the automated substitute calling system. Sometimes teachers called him directly. Other times, they'd catch him in the hall and say, “I want you for these days.” He'd whip out his pocket calendar and, if he wasn't already committed, they'd have their favorite sub.

To say he was popular would be understatement. He controlled his classes. He added fun to learning via a rolling suitcase full of games and rewards. For example, he boasted that he had special pencils only for students who were left-handed, like him. Of course, they were generic pencils—either hand—but it bonded those “lefties” to a beloved teacher.

If I could characterize his teaching life, I'd use the word “diligent.” In both sides of his career—the elementary p.e. teacher and the jack-of-all-trades (preferring elementary) substitute—he could be relied on to step in and keep a class going. Back at home, my work (besides freelance writing) was raising our two children to responsible (and academically stellar) adulthood, practicing frugality to help us live on one income, and helping care-give his ailing parents, whom we moved to a home next door to us. We were a team.

When his health started failing around age 75, and he had to phase out subbing, we were still a team. When I come across scriptures that commend diligence, I think of his example:

The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied. (Proverbs 13:4)

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men. (Colossians 3:23)

One common thread in our backgrounds was the expectation that we would work once we reached adulthood. Before that, in childhood, we had chores that weren't fun but expected of us. Plus school was a priority. So was respecting parents and adults in our lives. (They practiced Proverbs 29:15!)That wasn't just a “parent command.” It represented the desire of God, speaking through the apostle Peter:

Make every effort to add to your faith goodness...knowledge... self-control... perseverance... godliness.. brotherly kindness... love. (1 Peter 1:5-7)

Peter added that developing these spiritual traits would keep us from being “ineffective and unproductive” in living for Christ (v. 8). Like those substitute assignments my husband wrote down in his pocket calendars, character development is a God-calling that takes diligence. Shirking it dishonors the Lord.

(1) Among websites about biblical diligence is this link: 20 Bible Verses on Diligence (adiligentheart.com)

UNRELIABLE

How many months—no, make that years—had these stilts and pogo-sticks knocked around our storage areas and yard? I can't remember. When my grandboys tried to walk or jump on them, the results weren't pretty. Let's just say that I wasn't ready to stock up on a bushel of bandaids. Finally, I posted this photo (FREE! FREE!) on a local internet selling site.. A few days later these instruments of torture (for a grandma trying to keep her grands safe) were gone. Whew. 

The stilts' final “re-homing” got me thinking about folks whose egos exceed their actual abilities. The apostle Paul had something to say about that: “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you” (Romans 12:3). To paraphrase: Don't act big when you're not big. Be humble and realistic in accepting your strengths and weaknesses.

As for the pogo sticks, they reminded me of people who bounce around in life without really getting anywhere. It may involve bad friends, abandoned attempts at education or jobs, or physical and mental health issues that never get resolved. They just can't stick with a program and finish it. The apostle James, talking about perseverence as an essential lesson in faith, nailed it with this about indecisiveness:

He who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. (James 1:6b-7)

The apostle's sea-worthy analogy certainly described my grandboys endangering life and limb on the pogo stick. And it “nailed it” for doubters, can't-make-up-their-minders, and those who weave from one bad choice to another instead of steadfastly following God's paths.

Paul urged the Ephesian believers to “walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.” That included “lowliness, gentleness, longsuffering, bearing with one another, striving for unity in the body.” (Ephesians 4:1-3). Later to the Colossians, he urged walking “in a manner worthy of the Lord,” bearing fruit for God and growing in the faith (Colossians 1:10-11).

Such behaviors are far from wobbling all over the place like novice stilt-walkers and pogo-stickers. And maybe there's a message here about any worldly play-things (like unhealthy relationships, internet/drug/alcohol addictions, wasteful spending) that distract us from walking steadfastly with the Lord.

ENOUGH

I can't recall when this beleagured bird bath became a part of our yard. Perhaps it was a freebie somewhere because it already had a notch missing from its hard-plastic basin. But there's still enough of a “bowl” to hold bread crumbs, and when I get to the hard heel of a loaf, I usually break it in there. Within minutes, birds—typically sparrows—are feasting and spreading the word. It's almost amusing to watch the landings and departures escalate and then fade as the supply is picked clean.

Jesus noticed that, too, bringing a lesson recorded in Matthew 6 (The “Sermon on the Mount”):

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Although I've lived through lean times, when there wasn't much food on hand, I have never gone hungry. And in this season of “aging” and now being alone, I feel a kinship with the birds that swoop down for a few bread crumbs. It's not just about what's in my cupboards and refrigerator (I have plenty--and that includes the cookie jar with granola bars for growing grandboys), or what I pump into my car's gas tank. Or the wires going into my house for electricity, phone and internet, or the pipes that bring water and remove our sewage. I've always lived more simply, but do pause at times and thank the Lord for these conveniences.

More than that, I want more than enough of His love and assurance, of which He has an infinite supply. Paul reminded those who came to Christ through his ministry to make sure they were “givers” as well as “takers.” As someone living on “love offerings,” he never was sure of where his next meal would come from, or what Mediterranean culture where he preached would influence the menu!

I love how the book of Philippians ends with thanksgiving. Paul talks about contentment and generosity. Plus, how he learned that “our God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). Not the wants (not a perpetually-full bird feeder) but the needs. There's a huge difference—a divine difference—between those extremes.