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Blest be the tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love;
The fellowship of kindred minds
Is like to that above.
Before our Father's throne
We pour our ardent prayers;
Our fears, our hopes, our aims are one,
Our comforts and our cares.
We share our mutual woes,
Our mutual burdens bear;
And often for each other flows
The sympathizing tear.
When for a while we part,
This thought will soothe our pain,
That we shall still be joined in heart,
And hope to meet again.
This glorious hope revives
Our courage by the way,
While each in expectation lives,
And longs to see the day.
From sorrow, toil, and pain,
And sin we shall be free;
And perfect love and friendship reign
Thro' all eternity.
Story:
The Reverend John Fawcett was the minister of the Baptist church at
Wainsgate, England.
In his time he was one of the greatest scholars in the land and an
able preacher. He wrote several books, published a volume of hymns and
founded a school for the education and training of young preachers.
An essay on 'Anger' written by him so impressed George III that the
king offered him any benefit a monarch could confer.
John Fawcett had been left an orphan at the age of 12. He had to work
very hard during his youth, regularly putting in 14 hours a day in
what was termed in those days a 'sweat shop'. By candle light he
learned to read and studied hard to improve his education.
Ordained at 25 he had taken the little church with its 100 members for
a modest salary; paid partly in potatoes and wool.
Now, after seven years, he had received a call to the great Carter
Lane church in London and was preparing to make the move.
The day came to say farewell to his congregation. The horse and dray
stood outside his house and, one by one, the items of furniture were
loaded.
Finally, the last item was hoised up and made secure. The Reverend
Fawcett began his round of farewells. There were young couples he had
joined in marriage; those whom he had comforted through sickness and
trial; the children he has held on his knee; and the old whose sorrows
he had shared.
They were a humble people; few of them could either read or write, but
they loved their minister and their devotion to him finally overcame.
The drayman was instructed to unload - John Fawcett would stay a
little longer. He stayed, in fact, for another 54 years until his
death in 1817.
He never did take up the offer from King George III. Commenting on the
incident he said he 'needed nothing a king could supply,' so long as
he could live among the people he loved ... those humble people whose
devotion had inspired him to write his famous hymn.
Bible Verse
Acts 4:32
- And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one
soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he
possessed was his own; but they had all things common.
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