LOVE DIVINE

How and when 18^th century hymn-writing “phenom” Charles Wesley wrote “Love Divine, All Loves, Excelling”--we'll never know. But the odds are that he was saddled up on his old, reliable horse, traveling between towns. That's how he reportedly wrote most of his thousands of hymn texts. Nobody knows the real number, but the best guess is 3,000-6,000. He kept a little card on his pocket to jot lyrics as they came to him along the road. When he didn't have a “jotting card” along, he'd slide off his horse at a home or inn at the next town and ask for pencil and paper--as soon as possible!

We don't know if “Love Divine” was actually  written on horseback. But we do know that Charles and his famous preaching brother John (together they rewrote spiritual history with the founding of “Methodism”) had life-changing conversions that altered the trajectory of their lives.

The men's father, Rev. Samuel Wesley, also wrote devotional poetry used for hymns like “Behold the Savior of Mankind.” (1) Reportedly, that manuscript was saved by a gust of wind that blew it out of the family home which had caught on fire. But father Samuel's fame didn't go far from the parishes he pastored. Besides, with nineteen children under his roof, life was busy. (His wife, Susanna, found a way to pray with so many little ones around. She'd sit down, throw her generous apron over her head, and that was the children's clue to leave mama alone for a while.)

Charles Wesley, despite his prodigious output, was not history's most prolific hymn-writer. The title has been given blind American lyricist Fanny Crosby (1920-1915), said to have written more than 9,000 hymn lyrics. But that number has been questioned as “low” as she often used one of her 200-plus pseudonyms.

Still, he had a remarkable gift for linking poetry to music—a gift many say was released in abundance when he and brother John (who became founder of Methodism), had a transforming spiritual experience through the influence of Moravian missionaries. Among his thousands of hymns, these are among the better known: “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling”(2) (3), “And Can It Be That I Should Gain?”, “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing,” “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus,” “Christ the Lord Is Ris'n Today,” “Soldiers of Christ, Arise,” “Rejoice, the Lord is King,” and “Jesus, Lover of My Soul.”

It's worth noting that “love” and “lover” appear in the titles/opening words of some of these well-known hymns. Our culture may have commercialized “love” with the hearts, candy, and flowers associated with “Valentine's Day.” But the love of God goes way and beyond all that. The apostle John, who in late life wrote the epistle that couldn't give enough praise to the love of God, exclaimed:

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. (1 John 3:1)

What can I possibly add to that statement? Amen, and amen.

1. Hymns of the Faith: Behold the Savior of Mankind - Holy Sojourners

2. Bing Videos

3. This You-tube records “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” at Westminster Abbey, with the late Queen Elizabeth and her son now-King Charles singing in the congregation: Bing Videos