“Open My Eyes, That I May See” - Clara H. Scott

1841–97

You might say there was a music explosion in the United States in the last half of the nineteenth century. Midwestern music teacher Clara Scott was in the middle of it. There had always been folk songs, and there were anthems sung in churches, but this was the era that mashed the two together. Through singing schools and music festivals, the common folk were learning how to read music, write it, sing it, and play it. Advances in printing, manufacturing, and transportation brought sheet music and instruments into many American homes. If you’ve seen The Music Man, with a salesman starting a brass band in a small Iowa town, you get the picture.

As a teenager, Clara attended a music institute in Chicago led by renowned music educator C. M. Cady. Later she went to a small Iowa town to teach music to young women. She also wrote and published music: a number of instrumental pieces as well as some hymns. Her Royal Anthem Book in 1882 became the first book of anthems published by a woman. In 1897, after publishing two more collections, she died in a traffic accident—thrown from a buggy pulled by a runaway horse.

Clara’s enduring contribution is one song still sung in many churches: “Open My Eyes, That I May See.” In succeeding verses, the lyrics offer God open eyes, open ears, an open mouth to proclaim his truth, and an open heart to share his love. Churches often use this hymn before the sermon to express a congregation’s receptivity to God’s Word. But it can also serve as preparation for one’s own quiet time.

Silently now I wait for Thee,

Ready my God, Thy will to see,

Open my [eyes, ears, mouth], illumine me,

Spirit divine!

Isn’t this what a devotional time is all about—laying ourselves open for whatever God has for us? Sure, God invites us to speak to him with thanks and praises, confessions and concerns, but we also need to be still and know that he is God. We need to let him share himself with us, in whatever way he wants.

Take a moment now to open up to the Lord. Use Clara’s words if you like.

Elisha prayed, “O LORD, open his eyes and let him see!”

2 Kings 6:17