A Blessed Epiphany to you!
Today’s illustration is a painting by M.W. Remington called “God Made the Stars” which appeared in ABC Stories of Jesus by Mildred Speakes Edwards (Warner Press, 1954). Like many Bible story books, this one tries to help children see connections between their own lives and the stories from scripture, and to sense God’s presence in the world.
To go with the Remington painting is a hymn I first learned from the 1955 Presbyterian Hymnbook: “As With Gladness Men of Old.” My favorite words are printed below, and you can either sing along karaoke-style with the Eminent Organ at St Madocs Church Llanmadoc, Gower Swansea, or join in with the very joyful choir and audience/congregation for Corban University’s Lessons and Carols.
Most gracious Lord, may we evermore be led to thee.
Words: William Chatterton Dix, 1860. He wrote this hymn on the day of the Epiphany, while sick in bed; it was first published in his Hymns of Love and Joy.
Music: Dix, Konrad Kocher, Stimmen aus dem Reiche Gottes, 1838
As with gladness men of old
did the guiding star behold;
as with joy they hailed its light,
leading onward, beaming bright;
so, most gracious Lord, may we
evermore be led to thee.
As with joyful steps they sped,
Savior, to thy lowly bed,
there to bend the knee before
thee, whom heaven and earth adore;
so may we with willing feet
ever seek thy mercy seat.
As they offered gifts most rare
at thy manger, rude and bare,
so may we with holy joy,
pure and free from sin’s alloy,
all our costliest treasures bring,
Christ, to thee, our heavenly king.
Holy Jesus, every day
keep us in the narrow way;
and when earthly things are past,
bring our ransomed souls at last
where they need no star to guide,
where no clouds thy glory hide.
