Lead Kindly Light

Being musically minded and trained, sometimes I forget to focus on the lyrics of the hymns -which I hate because I love English, poetry especially.

My favorite hymn is "Lead Kindly Light". Tonight, I explored the lyrics.

They are so beautiful, and they mean so much to me at this point in my life.

1. 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.

2. I was not ever thus, nor pray’d 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.

3. So long thy pow’r hath blest 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!

I looked up information on the author, John Henry Newman. What I found was really interesting. John Henry Newman was an extremely active religious figure. Much of his religious activity occurred around the time that the church was founded, when religious confusion ran rampant. John Henry Newman fought to implement a sort of constant basis for his religion. He sought to unify varying branches. This quickly reminded me of how grateful I am to live in a church of sound footing -unified, constant, and unchanging. The world will change, but the Lord will not. I wonder what John Henry Newman thought of the newly emerging Mormon religion.

There were a few words that I wanted to know the exact meaning to, so I looked them up on one of my favorite sites: dictionary.com

Garish - –adjective
1.crudely or tastelessly colorful, showy, or elaborate, as clothes or decoration.
2.excessively ornate or elaborate, as buildings or writings.
3.dressed in or ornamented with bright colors.
4.excessively bright; glaring.

I didn't look up "moor", having remember what they were from reading Wuthering Heights. I don't care for moors, especially those with murky, crazed romantics lurking around.

I moved onto fen.–noun
1.low land covered wholly or partially with water; boggy land; a marsh.

I figured "crag" and "torrent" were similar to moor and fen, but I was only kind of right. They're similar in that they're unpleasant.
For Steve's sake, I hate to call any rock unpleasant. But what can you do?

Crag. –noun
a steep, rugged rock; rough, broken, projecting part of a rock.

Torrent. -noun
1.a stream of water flowing with great rapidity and violence.
2.a rushing, violent, or abundant and unceasing stream of anything: a torrent of lava.
3.a violent downpour of rain.
4.a violent, tumultuous, or overwhelming flow: a torrent of abuse.

Come to think of it, I already knew what a torrent was. I just didn't know I knew.


In the hymnbook, there are two scripture references to go along with. They are:
Psalm 43:3
3 O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.

AND

Psalm 119:133–135


133 Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.

134 Deliver me from the oppression of man: so will I keep thy precepts.

135 Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes.

I've always loved reading Psalms. It's simple and beautifully written.
I've always loved reading Isaiah. He isn't so simple, but he's equally as beautiful.

To close, I'd like to note that the comma in the first line makes all the grammatical difference. It becomes "Lead, kindly Light." Being the lyric retard that I am, I'd always assumed that the word "kindly" belonged to "Lead" and read like this: "Lead kindly, Light." Comma placement has always been an obnoxious passion of mine. I'm so glad my husband loves me in spite of it.

In the end, my little researching has led to me love my favorite hymn all the more.
It's inspired.