RELIGION AND LIFE

It’s great to be young

One day two weeks ago I attended a meeting at which the Prime Minister of St.Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, addressed the audience. He made an impressive speech in which he spoke in glowing terms about the beauty and potential of youth. The speech was coming from a Prime Minister in his late fifties to early sixties. He spoke with pride about the high profile political positions that young people from his country occupy both on the local as well as the international stage. For example, the ambassador of St.Vincent to the U.S.A is the youngest ambassador to the USA and the youngest ever. She is in her twenties. Similarly, the Ambassador of St.Vincent to the United Nations is the second youngest. He is in his mid-thirties. Also, Dr. Gonsalves spoke of having appointed the youngest ever senior magistrate in the history of his country and a few young senators in their late twenties to early thirties.

THE HYMNS I’VE ALWAYS LOVED

By HANDEL ANDREWS

a.k.a. BRO. LIBIRD

This time I’m going to call your attention to five of my favorite hymns, and, arguably, the five best loved in all Christendom. Abide Wih Me was written by Henry Francis Lyte, a British curate, in 1847. He was born June 1, 1793 in Ireland. He studied at Trinity College, Dublin, and took holy orders in 1816. In 1847, as he lay dying of tuberculosis, he wrote "Abide with Me," one of the most popular hymns in Christendom. Rev. Lyte died in Nice, France, two weeks after completing it. When one attends funeral services these days one is constantly told that the service is a celebration, and the music is up tempo. Not so when I was growing up. Yes, funeral services were a celebration of the life of the dearly departed, but there was a solemnity befitting the occasion. "Abide with Me" used to bring tears to my eyes and still does.