In her heart, this Englishwoman was a teacher of children, though whether she ever set foot in a classroom is not clear. Jane Eliza Leeson’s 19th Century instruction, instead, came through her pen, as when she asked her Creator to impart something pretty basic to her in “Savior, Teach Me”, so that she could pass it along to her students. Her life’s attitude was such that she was probably unconcerned whether her authorship of the song was recognized or not. Jane’s objective was to communicate the root message, to coax her hearers that He had something to teach that no one else could. So, what was it that Jane, from deep inside central England (see it’s flag here; she was perhaps some 100 miles north-northwest of London) in 1842, wanted the ‘Savior (to) Teach Me’?
Love. In a word, that was the daily lesson that Jane Leeson thought God could teach us. What had Jane seen or experienced by the time she was 34 years old that prompted her to write five verses on this theme? That’s not too difficult to answer, looking at the body of work that Jane contributed largely across one decade in the mid-1800s, and from the little we know of her faith background. Jane had evidently learned, probably in her own childhood bible lessons, the basic definition of God – God is love (1 John 4:8). It’s perhaps the most fundamental thing to know about Him. So, Jane was echoing what she had known all of her young life up to that point. But, it was more than intellectual acknowledgement she sought. Responding to the love He’s shown was one aim that Jane emphasized in her poem. ‘Loving Him…’ (v.1); ‘...may I move…serve…follow…’ (v.2); ‘…Thy steps to trace…’ (v.3); ‘…rejoice to show…’ (v.5) were the manifest ways that Jane pledged would move her from mere recognition of God’s nature to adoption of His nature. ‘Serve’ (v.1), ‘Grace’ (v.2), ‘Obedience’ (v.4) were other words that Jane yoked to His love in ‘Savior, Teach Me’, in case her hearers didn’t grasp that these were likewise intrinsic to His nature. Did Jane herself live out this love, or did she just write about it? It’s said that Jane was very humble, and did not immediately seek recognition for her works, so we could say she instead re-directed attention from herself to the love-Giver of whom she wrote. Another way that we can see how Jane responded in her life to this love, was in the multiple publications she penned (between 1842 and 1853), especially for children. ‘Savior, Teach Me’ was included in one of her first publications (Hymns and Scenes of Childhood; or a Sponsor’s Gift [London: Burns, 1842]), but she didn’t stop there. She kept responding and applying the lesson of love she’d received from Him for the next 11 years and eight subsequent publications, employing the poetic gift that she’d received from Him. This love is evidently a potent thing!
He loved like no one else ever before. That’s another theme in her poem that Jane Leeson only implies just once, in verse one – ‘Sweeter lesson cannot be’. Jane learned quite a bit from this four-letter word, but she’d probably say the source is what makes this phenomenon so extraordinary. This love is still giving, in fact. Of all the earthly love songs I’ve ever heard, the characters’ lives ultimately move beyond the scenes composing the songs’ parameters. People die, or maybe the love wears out somehow, and so the object of love changes. Jane’s love is different. It’s from a never-dying, never-changing, and once-for-all-times-sacrificing God. You got a love that can top all of that?
See more information on the song story in these sources: Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1990; and A Treasury of Hymn Stories – Brief Biographies of 120 Hymnwriters with Their Best Hymns, by Amos R. Wells, Baker Book House, 1945.
Also see this link, showing all five original verses: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/s/t/e/a/steachme.htm
Also see this link for author’s brief biography: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/l/e/e/s/leeson_je.htm
Also see this site for author information: https://hymnary.org/person/Leeson_Jane
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