God and Father, we thy Children - a note

There has been some enquiry as to the 3rd verse of the above Hymn by "Blind" G. Gustaffson. This is number 110 in the Scandinavian versions and 211 in most English editions of the Little Flock Hymn Book.

The third verse in the earlier Little Flock Hymnbooks sits rather uneasily with the rest of the hymn. Until the 1951, Taylor version, this had always read:

When our hearts this place accord him,
When, as Isaac, he has come,
We shall then in answer to him [So 1932: 1903 reads Cast the bondslave out and ruleth]
Cast out Hagar and her son; [1903: As the Lord upon his throne;]
Then our hearts bow down before him,
This world's glory waxeth dim;
Every hindrance then must vanish,
All be subject unto him.

This rather peculiar typology is not found in the Swedish original.

I give the complete text in Swedish here and a rough translation of verse 3:

Lär oss Gud, at vara stilla,
Vänta tåligt på din nåd,
Att oss intet må förvilla,
Från att akta på ditt råd.
Hjälp oss att din vilja gjöra,
Under det vi vandra här
Och med lydigt sinne höra
Allt vad du i ordet lär

Tack, att Anden kan förklara
Allt vad du i ordet sagt
Och för hjärtat uppenbara
Kristus och hans kärleks makt,
Som han va på denna jorden,
Vandrande din viljas stig,
Som han nu är, upphöjd vorden,
Krönt med härlighet av dig.

När vi honom så få skåda [ When we shall behold him]
Uti ordets klara ljus, [ Out of the word’s clear light,]
Då hos oss han börjar råda [ Then with us, he begins to rule]
Som en herre i sitt hus, [ As a master in his-house,]
Allt för honom måste böjas, [ Everything must bow down to him]
Allt är honom underlagt, [ Everything is put under him;]
Varje hinder undanröjas, [ Every hindrance is overcome,]
Allt besegras av hans makt. [ Everything is defeated by his power.]

Gud vår Fader, Dig vi prisa
Att i seger alltid Du
Skall oss föra fram och visa
Genom oss din kärlek nu.
Lär oss därför stilla vara,
Akta ständigt på dit råd,
Tills Du fullt skall uppenbara
Härligheten av din nåd.

G Gustaffson

The 1952 version of the Little Flock Book had a much more satisfactory rendering (possibly by Erik Carren.)

When with joy we thus behold him,
When his greatness fills our sight
Gladly we his rights acknowledge
Object blest of heaven's delight,
Then our hearts bow down before him,
This world's glory waxeth dim;
Every hindrance then must vanish,
All be subject unto him.

This is the version found in the Raven/Taylor versions from 1951 onwards.

Something dug out of the Spectator

Now I think the Spectator is not what it was. But I came across a snippet in a letter from my late grandmother purporting to be the work of R Kennard Davies a retired Headmaster whose compositions held sway some 60 years ago.

The contestants had to start with a line.

Some Thirty years before, these three had shared a bungalow in Bangalore and now.....

The winning entry went on

One is wearing dungarees
and serving Sangaree to Cingalese in Singapore;
And the one who played the banjo in the bungalow in Bangalore,
To mandarins in Mandalay now plays the mandolin;
But sadder far, Andalusian Ann
Is eating Marzipan in Zanzibar.

I also recollect some good epitaphs over the years. Some of them have stuck in my memory:

A Samaritan -
Here lies a man who often sat and listened on the phone
To those with lives so awful, that
At last he took his own.

A Race Relations guru -
Here lies a race-relations bod
Who doubtless now is telling God
That he commits a crime to keep
Distinguishing the goats from Sheep.

A traffic warden
Maud who held the kerb in thrall
Is now alas a goner
The greatest warden of them all
Has slapped his ticket on her.

A disc jockey
Unfailingly benign and brisk
No more may he beguile us
Rolled round on earth's rotating disk
Till doomsday raised the stylus.

I can't think how I have them all in my memory!