Wonderful Story of Love -- John Merritte Driver

He had evidently been captivated by the divine message, perhaps as he reflected back on his own conversion early in his first position in ministry. He hadn’t been at his work for long, yet he still had something to say. Every person’s experience is unique, and yet there must have been something in John Merritte Driver’s thoughts that rang true for others who knew him, allowing him to publish his hymn “Wonderful Story of Love” among a collection that others would use for their own worship. What was it that compelled this Illinois native to compose in 1885?

J.M. Driver was born in south-central Illinois in Jefferson County (see picture), and began ministering in 1880 at Prairie, in southwest Illinois, some 40 miles south of St. Louis by the time he was 23 years old. He was still relatively close to his birthplace, perhaps some 70 miles away. One can imagine that he probably still had family relatively close by, and could remember how his life had been blessed up to that point. Though details of his life are scant, his was undoubtedly a Midwestern rural or small town upbringing, probably with some religious emphasis in his family’s life since he would later attend college (at Illinois Agricultural College and Boston University) and be ordained as a Methodist Episcopal minister. Five years later he would be credited with writing “Wonderful Story of Love”, probably as one of the selections within the hymnal Songs of the Soul that he co-edited for publication that same year. This was actually his second effort as a hymnal editor, having produced the Bible Temperance Hymns some years earlier. He is credited with composing some 30 hymns, so while not incredibly prolific, as were some of his contemporaries (like Fanny Crosby), he was a useful tool. And, as a hometown, familiar fixture in southern-southwestern Illinois, what he said must have resonated with people there. He spoke their language.

By the time Driver was 28, his words indicate he had various reasons for expressing himself musically. ‘Wonderful’ was how he describes God’s care for him. All three of his verses call out to spirits of heaven for expression of this love, a supernatural quality that upon reflection might make someone alternately describe it as astonishing or incredible. Was Driver being biographic when he wrote in verse 2 about being far away, with God’s persistent love calling him back? Or, was he thinking about reunions in eternity with loved ones when he wrote verse 3? Was he, at 28 years old, already finding much of his earthly life difficult and tedious, as words in verse 3 – looking for ‘rest’ --  might indicate?  What was this minister, perhaps a rather ordinary Midwesterner, saying that was worth hearing? Maybe that was just it – a regular guy who had found something extraordinary. Want to make your dull life exciting? Are you thinking ‘Is this all there is?’ John Driver might have wondered the same thing once. What do you think he might tell us today?        

See following for song words and a very brief biography of the composer: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/d/r/i/driver_jm.htm

See following for list of songs attributed to J.M. Driver: http://www.hymnary.org/person/Driver_JM