A sunset and a campground inspired Mary Lathbury to write the poetry – or maybe she was actually just reiterating some already-written poetry – for the hymn “Day Is Dying in the West”. Who do you imagine she was quoting as she penned the words in 1877? She was next to Lake Chautauqua in New York state, but the words she wrote could have been true of any place with a beautiful sundown experience. What’s your favorite one? Camp WaMaVa or Manatawny? I’d choose the sundown on a dirt-gravel road near Belmont, Ohio, I think.
Lathbury and other Methodists initiated the Chautauqua meetings as a religious/cultural/entertainment/ summer school in the late 1800s. A large tent (like the one in the picture) might have been one of the easiest ways to identify a Chautauqua meeting place, but for Mary Lathbury that summer in 1877, it wasn’t the tents she thought about when she composed. She came to that time already committed to God’s service as an artist, and was a keen observer of the creation. So, when the camp’s leader asked her to write a hymn text that they could use for the evening’s gathering, Lathbury stole some time looking at the horizon. She must have seen His hands at work as she recorded the words of the song. God is a fellow poet, she seems to say with the words she wrote…or perhaps more aptly stated, God was her poet-guide. After all, it’s His earth, His ‘evening lamps’ and shadows, and His ‘eternal morning’ that capture our attention--all poetry in motion. At least, they are if we see what Mary Lathbury witnessed that evening. Lathbury was 36 years old when she penned the words in 1877, and you might say she was already blessed with a vision. The song’s theme shows she already had a grip on life’s conclusion.
How God speaks about the end can be observed in His creation, she seems to say with each verse’s words, especially verses one and four. He tells us there will be a finish line, each time the sun sets. Does that occur to me as I travel home from work in that time of the season when the sun is low, in my face? My childhood home has a very noticeable sunset horizon, straight as an arrow, with three or four lonely trees stuck against the sky for contrast. I’ll admit that I never thought about God being a poet, that He was trying to tell me something each day around 8:00 PM during the 26 summers I spent there. With Mary Lathbury’s song, I’ll have more to consider, and appreciate about Him wherever I am, and whenever I have the chance to look toward the western horizon.
Information on the song was obtained from the books “101 Hymn Stories”, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1982; “Amazing Grace – 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions”, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, 1990; and “The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs”, by William J. and Ardythe Petersen, 2006. Also see this site for information about the Chautauqua movement that Lathbury helped start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chautauqua
Lathbury and other Methodists initiated the Chautauqua meetings as a religious/cultural/entertainment/ summer school in the late 1800s. A large tent (like the one in the picture) might have been one of the easiest ways to identify a Chautauqua meeting place, but for Mary Lathbury that summer in 1877, it wasn’t the tents she thought about when she composed. She came to that time already committed to God’s service as an artist, and was a keen observer of the creation. So, when the camp’s leader asked her to write a hymn text that they could use for the evening’s gathering, Lathbury stole some time looking at the horizon. She must have seen His hands at work as she recorded the words of the song. God is a fellow poet, she seems to say with the words she wrote…or perhaps more aptly stated, God was her poet-guide. After all, it’s His earth, His ‘evening lamps’ and shadows, and His ‘eternal morning’ that capture our attention--all poetry in motion. At least, they are if we see what Mary Lathbury witnessed that evening. Lathbury was 36 years old when she penned the words in 1877, and you might say she was already blessed with a vision. The song’s theme shows she already had a grip on life’s conclusion.
How God speaks about the end can be observed in His creation, she seems to say with each verse’s words, especially verses one and four. He tells us there will be a finish line, each time the sun sets. Does that occur to me as I travel home from work in that time of the season when the sun is low, in my face? My childhood home has a very noticeable sunset horizon, straight as an arrow, with three or four lonely trees stuck against the sky for contrast. I’ll admit that I never thought about God being a poet, that He was trying to tell me something each day around 8:00 PM during the 26 summers I spent there. With Mary Lathbury’s song, I’ll have more to consider, and appreciate about Him wherever I am, and whenever I have the chance to look toward the western horizon.
Information on the song was obtained from the books “101 Hymn Stories”, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1982; “Amazing Grace – 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions”, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, 1990; and “The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs”, by William J. and Ardythe Petersen, 2006. Also see this site for information about the Chautauqua movement that Lathbury helped start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chautauqua
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