When We Meet in Sweet Communion – Tillit Sydney Teddlie

Someone asks ‘What does a blessed life look like?’ Meet Tillit Sydney Teddlie of Texas, whom you might evaluate by how long he lived – 102 years. Or, you might look at all the songs he wrote – about 130 by the end of his life, including “When We Meet in Sweet Communion”, which he wrote as a 37-year old in 1922. (He was only a little over one-third of the way home then, at the age some of us might say was nearing middle-age!) Or, how about all the songbooks he compiled – 14 songbooks; or, what about the 61 years he spent teaching singing schools? What would the 1,000 people whom he reportedly baptized in his life say if we were able to interview them? Let’s see if we can discover what Tillit might say was the key, if he were here to answer. Hey wait, maybe he is here, in a way.

Tillit Teddlie, it’s safe to say, wasn’t busy crunching numbers and resting on his accomplishments. Tillit’s formula was not to focus his attention on his own needs and desires. It’s no surprise what he recommended for finding blessing. In 1922, as he partook of the same meal we eat today, he inclined his ear, and invites us to follow suit, and listen for God’s ‘whisper’ (it’s in all three verses).  He’d been engaged in music ministry for about five years (since 1917), and while we don’t know the particular circumstances of this composition, his poetry and what we know of his life give us clues about how he felt.  First and foremost, he loved being with other believers (that’s in verse 1), and experiencing the bond of Jesus with others. God’s payment was ‘matchless’ (v.2), along with the consequent reunion-meal with mankind that was ‘all surpassing’ (v.3), compared to other events in a person’s life. These axiomatic principles steered his heart and his actions. It certainly wasn’t the first time that he had eaten the communion bread or tasted the grape juice, but he apparently wanted to focus minds on this special part of a Christian’s devotion that day in 1922. What more needs to be said of this Texan?   

Introducing others to the Lord was a fire in Teddlie that was never quenched, probably because the source of that blaze was so enduring. He served in no less than six churches in Texas and one in Memphis, Tennessee, demonstrating that he was willing to keep moving about to stoke the fire, to keep it going as a preacher, hymn-writer, and publisher. So it’s not really that surprising to read that Tillit lived so long. Someone says ‘Was it the Texas sunshine that kept him alive for 102 years’? Or, was it contacting the blesser, and coaxing others to do the same? Maybe God just found him too useful to stop him earlier!  

A link to the composer’s obituary: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8846104

Brief biography is here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/t/e/d/teddlie_ts.htm

A more thorough portrayal of composer’s life is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tillit_Sidney_Teddlie