Lead, Kindly Light!
Lead, Kindly Light!
Lead, kindly Light! amid th’encircling gloom,
Lead Thou me on;
The night is dark, and I am far from home,
Lead Thou me on;
Keep Thou my feet: I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.
I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou
Shouldst lead me on;
I loved to choose and see my path; but now
Lead Thou me on;
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will. Remember not past years.
So long Thy pow’r has blessed me, sure it still
Will lead me on
O’er moor and fen, o’er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone;
And with the morn those angel faces smile
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile!
IN 1833 John Henry Newman, a leader in the Church of England, went to visit Catholic leaders in Italy. There he contracted Sicilian fever and boarded a ship back to England. But a lack of wind kept the ship motionless in the Mediterranean, and a dense fog left them unable to navigate. Restless and sick, Newman penned the words of this hymn. Along with his desire for physical health, he wanted to see spiritual recovery in the Church of England. And he wanted the ship to get moving!
Finally, the ship’s captain pointed heavenward and said, “The star is shining tonight. If a wind rises, we can chart our course. At night one little star is sufficient.” Newman took that as a divine assurance. He later wrote that he had been looking for dazzling sunlight to guide him through his life, “but He sent me the kindly light of a star to show me the way one step at a time.”
Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left.
Isaiah 30:21
From the book
