“I don’t need a snowstorm today,” Ellen Gates said when it began to snow one winter day in 1860. “If I can’t go outside, I’ll stay in.” That obvious observation led Ellen, a poet and hymn writer, to a moment of inspiration that created in her mind’s eye the following line: “If I can’t cross the ocean, I’ll stand on the shore and help launch the ships.”
Like the floodgates of an open dam, her thoughts flowed and coalesced around her conviction that there are many worthwhile endeavors that are waiting and attainable by each of us. But we must be the catalyst and we must seek them out. Her religious rearing brought to mind these words from Ecclesiastes: “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.” With these words as her guide, she immediately sat down and began writing. The result was the poem Your Mission which, once completed, she dedicated to the Lord and sent copies to a number of newspapers.
Philip Phillips, a popular musician, read Ellen’s verses and saw their potential as the lyrics for a hymn. He composed the score and within a short period of time it became quite popular.
In 1865, at a meeting of the United States Christian Commission, President Abraham Lincoln was a guest. At the gathering, Philip Phillips sang Ellen Gates’s song. Upon hearing the hymn, Lincoln scribbled a note to fellow attendee, Secretary of State William Seward. It read: “Let us have Your Mission repeated.”
Here, then, are Ellen’s lyrics that moved Lincoln to ask for an encore:
If you cannot on the ocean,
Sail among the swiftest fleet,
Rocking on the highest billows,
Laughing at the storms you meet,
You can stand among the sailors,
Anchored yet within the bay;
You can lend a hand to help them,
As they launch their boats away.
If you are too weak to journey
Up the mountain, steep and high,
You can stand within the valley,
While the multitude go by.
You can chant in happy measure,
As they slowly pass along;
Though they may forget the singer,
They will not forget the song.
If you have not gold or silver
Ever ready to command,
If you cannot toward the needy
Reach an ever-open hand,
You can visit the afflicted,
O’er the erring you can weep;
You can be a true disciple
Sitting at the Savior’s feet.
If you cannot in a conflict
Prove yourself a soldier true,
If where the fire and smoke are thickest
There’s no work for you to do,
When the battlefield is silent,
You can go with careful tread;
You can bear away the wounded,
You can cover up the dead.
Do not stand then idly waiting
For some greater work to do;
Fortune is a lazy goddess,
She will never come to you.
Go and toil in any vineyard,
Do not fear to do or dare;
If you want a field of labor,
You can find it anywhere.
The message here is as clear as a cloudless sky. While we may not be able to endeavor and accomplish all that we desire, we can all strive toward and achieve some aspiration. While we may not be able to do ALL things, we all can do SOME things. While we may not be able to be EVERYBODY, we can be SOMEBODY.
However, we cannot travel anywhere by being sedentary; Oh, what beautiful unchartered destinations might we discover if we initiate the simple effort of moving ourselves forward!
Rise, then, for this is your duty! We will stand by you, so have courage and take action! -Ezra 10:4
Have an AWE-full weekend!
William “Bill” Bacque