May 15, 2015 (Friday)
Every day this week as I have risen from sleep and have gone about my coffee drinking and pill taking, there has been a song in my head. A different song every day. Right now it is “Brighten the Corner Where You Are.”
This is a church song, but seldom heard in church these days. I don’t recall ever singing it with the congregation as a hymn. I heard it a lot when I was a child. It was often on the radio.*
The words by Ina D. Ogdon are based upon Matthew 5:14-16, and written 102 years ago; the first verse goes like this:
Do not wait until some deed of greatness you may do, Do not wait to shed your light afar; To the many duties ever near you now be true, Brighten the corner where you are.
The music was written the same year (1913) by Charles H. Gabriel.
The words of this song reflect the change in church music over the past 100 years. I may be wrong, but it seems to me the theme of many hymns back then was: “We are saved by grace; now let us serve Him faithfully.” The theme often repeated today seems to be, “We are saved by grace and God continues to bless us.” The old hymns, like this one on my mind today, emphasized both grace and duty.
As we pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit, let us not forget to let our lights shine, remembering daily that Jesus said, “As the Father has sent me, so send I you.” Brighten the corner where you are.
* Hear it like I did on the radio. Heart-warming. Click here.
Here are the words by Ina D. Ogdon. Click here.