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• 1 2021-04-24T15:17:08-04:00 "Abide With Me", contributed by Sandra Moose (2021) 3 plain 2021-04-24T17:56:31-04:00

  “Abide With Me”—a hymn; text by Henry Francis Lyte (1793-1847); tune-- Eventide by William Henry Monk.
  
  Little provides me with solace.  My inner self often feels like the Munch painting “The Scream.”  Work has been a blessing but can’t fill all the hours of the day.  When I feel overwhelmed by the silence and “black hole” that have pervaded my life, I find myself singing “Help of the helpless, O abide with me,” which was performed at my husband’s funeral.  It gives me a measure of comfort and encouragement to move ahead. 
  
  Abide with me:  fast falls the eventide;
  The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide:
  When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
  Help of the helpless, O abide with me.
  
  I need thy presence every passing hour;
  What but thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
  Who, like thyself, my guide and stay can be?
  Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.
  
  I fear no foe, with thee at hand to bless;
  Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
  Where is death’s sting?  Where, grave, thy victory?
  I triumph still, if thou abide with me.
  
  Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes;
  Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies;
  Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
  In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
  
  Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day; 
  Earth's joys grow dim; its glories pass away; 
  Change and decay in all around I see; 
  O thou who changest not, abide with me.