The Lily of the Valley

September 8, 2018 (Saturday)
The author of this hymn is Charles W. Fry, born: May 30, 1838, Alderbury, Wiltshire, England (birth name: William Charles Fry). Died: August 24, 1882, Park Hall, Polmont, Stirlingshire, Scotland. Buried: Glasgow, Scotland. On New Year’s Day 1884, a monument to “The first bandmaster of the Salvation Army” was unveiled over his grave. On it was inscribed a verse Fry wrote: The former things are past, And ended is the strife, I’m safe home at last! I live an endless life! A bricklayer by trade, like his father, Fry was a versatile musician, playing the violin, cello, piano, cornet, and harmonium, and leading an orchestra and band at the Wesleyan chapel in Alderbury. He also helped the Christian Mission in Salisbury, and his family band accompanied Salvation Army founder William Booth in evangelism campaigns.
I never hear this song without thinking of Tom and Hattie Richardson, members of the Oletha Baptist Church, my first pastorate. I conducted both their funerals in 1952. Actually I only assisted in Tom’s funeral. I was only 20 and when the family came to be with their parents as he lay dying, I was completely ignored. I stood outside the first floor window of the hospital and watched Tom die. My first time to witness a death. When Hattie died 6 months later, I had turned 21 and the family asked me to do the service. When I first had met the Richardsons, they told me of a day many years before when their daughter ran home holding her head in intense pain and died. Whenever Tom’s health had permitted him to come to church, we would sing this hymn, because everyone knew it was his favorite. The words are very comforting: “In sorrow He’s my comfort, in trouble He’s my stay,” and other such words are found in this grand old hymn. No doubt he was still seeking the comfort that the song promised.
I learned a lot back then, and, as a matter of fact, I’m still learning, these many years later.