Abide in Me, O Lord, and I in Thee!

Above:  St. Julian’s Episcopal Church, Douglasville, Georgia, August 27, 2017

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Hymn Source = The Pilgrim Hymnal (1904), National Council of Congregational Churches in the United States

Words (1855) by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1812-1896)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Abide in me, O Lord, and I in thee!

From this good hour, O leave me never more!

Then shall the discord cease, the wound be healed,

The life-long bleeding of the soul be o’er.

+++++++

Abide in me; o’ershadow by thy love

Each half-formed purpose, and dark thought of sin;

Quench, ere it rise, each selfish, low desire,

And keep my soul as thine, calm and divine.

+++++++

Abide in me; there have been moments blest

When I have heard thy voice and felt thy power,

Then evil lost its grasp, and passion hushed

Owned the divine enchantment of the hour.

+++++++

These were but seasons, beautiful and rare;

Abide in me and they shall ever be;

Fulfil at once thy precept, and my prayer,–

Come, and abide in me, and I in thee.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++