She was nearly anonymous, and maybe a little clairvoyant? Could
that be the two characteristics most often associated with the all-too brief career
of songwriter Elizabeth King Mills? She had a notable spouse, and she also died
as a young woman, but if the words of her hymn “We’ll Work Till Jesus Comes”
tell us more, then we could also say she certainly put her hope and trust in
Christ, and speculate that she in fact longed for the next life. Was she unhappy with her mortal existence, as
one might surmise from her poem? What led to her early departure from the
Earth? What does the work-energy model of you and me look like – a scientific
equation (like one shown here), or some other model?
Elizabeth Mills lived only into her mid-20s in the early
portion of the 19th Century, so perhaps much of her potential went
unrealized. One might think that the spouse of a member of England’s Parliament
would have had more recorded biographic information, yet relatively few details
of Mills’ life are apparently known. She began life in 1805 in London as the
daughter of Philip King, and later was the wife of Thomas Mills, a member of
England’s legislative body. In April 1829 she died, but of what cause is
unknown, though we can imagine it might have been considered tragic because of
her young age – just 24 or 25. Was she aware of a health issue that could
shorten her life? It’s another question without an answer, yet one might think
she had some clue that earthly life held no guarantees. One of her handful of
hymns, “We Speak of the Realms of the Blest”, was written just a few weeks
before her death, and thematically hints of someone looking beyond this life. In
fact, some of Mills’ other song poems have the same trait, not too surprising for
a believer, but nevertheless perhaps revealing of her emotional state. “We’ll
Work…” shows Elizabeth imagined a peaceful, restful home, a place where she
could put aside earthly concerns. Was her life unhappy, maybe because of health
or another kind of challenge? For her,
songwriting may have been therapeutic, if this were true. Perhaps her
circumstances also allowed her to grasp an elemental truth – mortality.
Elizabeth apparently accepted one fact, which led to her
recognition of another. Not a lot of philosophical hairsplitting needs to
happen to know the following: death is real, and I need an escape hatch. Do you
suppose Elizabeth’s poetry evolved because her demise was imminent, cruelly
thrust upon her? If so, she could have been bitter. Yet, she must have instead sensed
that the other end of the life equation was not in doubt, courtesy of our
Creator. I didn’t like math in school, but I think the math solution Elizabeth
found is the one I need too. What about you? If He could construct me to work
like this diagram above, do you think He’s got the other stuff in hand too?
See this link for scant biographic information on the
composer: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/m/i/l/mills_ek.htm
See this link for the song’s verses: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/w/e/l/wellwork.htm
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