Something was happening to John Reynell Wreford in the first
three decades of his life that made him feel pain or sadness, and so it seems
he recorded some personal thoughts about how he managed this episode. The prose
he created and which was published by 1837 as “When My Love to Christ Grows
Weak” reads like a confession and a journey that Wreford travelled, admitting that
he fought his own demons and sought comfort and resolution. What details of his
life could have troubled this Englishman, compelling him to write poignantly
and openly about himself like this?
John Wreford was born into a family of, and studied himself to
become a minister for Unitarians in England, an endeavor that evolved due to
his physical circumstances. After completing his study at York’s Manchester
College he became a co-minister at a church in Birmingham, a stint that
unfortunately was a brief five years because his voice apparently suffered considerably
from the strain of preaching. And so in 1831, at the age of 31, he left formal ministry
and turned predominately to teaching at a school he and a partner established nearby,
and also to composition. He produced several volumes, including some which he
wrote while still in ministry, but also some 55 hymns that were part of a
hymnal published in 1837. Some of them must have reflected his experience as a minister,
though we know not which ones for certain. Whatever the circumstances of the
time, it appears from the verses he wrote that Wreford was feeling down on himself,
his acquaintances, and his faith toward God. If his ministry was part of this
episode, is it too much of a stretch to suggest this could this have been
manifested in his failing voice? He wouldn’t be alone in this experience among
ministers, who have borne many sorrows over those inside and outside the church.
And, this was the time before microphones to project and preserve one’s voice
were available (they wouldn’t be invented by Thomas Edison for another two
generations, in 1877). Wreford did what many of the faithful do when hurting –
seek fellowship in the sting of Christ’s pain.
What was it Wreford gleaned from Christ’s suffering? He
seems to say that being unafraid to examine the misery of God is the start. All
five verses invite us to observe Him at His worst moments. It’s like I’m being
advised, ‘manage your valleys by watching how Christ dealt with His’. Verse
five is the climax, where I must re-enter my own life and apply something that
I’ve learned. What ‘might that lies’, we might ask Wreford; what strength is
there in affliction? Just look at what Christ found at the end of
His agony, he says. It’s something none of us should ignore, despite how
horrible its prelude might look. Keep looking if you still don’t see it…
Some biographic information
on the composer was obtained from the book “A Treasury of Hymn Stories”, by
Amos R. Wells, 1945, Baker Book House Company.
See these sites for further biography: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/w/r/e/wreford_jr.htm
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